Pidgey Only - Pokemon Yellow

Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle, except held items
3. No glitches, exploits, or save states
4. No movepool evasion-boosting moves before level 100*
Rule details:
-- I make no attempt to have the exact same rule details between generations.
-- I am allowed to manipulate my starter
-- I play the game at 4x game speed
-- For fair comparisons my Pokemon have perfect (or near perfect) DVs / IVs
-- I am allowed to catch HM users - I can use all field moves
-- Evasion boosting is allowed if the move is not obtained from the Pokemon’s movepool. For example, using Mimic or Mirror Move to boost evasion is allowed.
-- Surge's trash-can-puzzle is automatically solved
-- The bike is allowed in gen1 & 4, banned in gen2, and allowed only to bypass terrain in gen3
-- Saving between league members is allowed
-- I can pause the game and timer to take breaks
-- Items obtained with the ability Pickup can only be used if the starter obtained them
-- The footage is sped up & slowed down to match the pace of my narration
These Rule details apply only to generation 1:
-- All battle-mechanic glitches are allowed (glitches that occur outside of battle are banned)
-- In generation 1, I'm allowed to skip Marowak with the Poke Doll
If you didn’t read these rules and left a comment. Thanks for helping with the algorithm.
Patreon: / scottsthoughts
KZbin memberships:
/ @scottsthoughtspokemon
X: / psychicflying
Thumbnail art by BrianLS: / brianlsart
Illustrations by Sarina Vail: / sarinavail
Video Editing by Shawn McMullen
STAB: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
DVs / IVs: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Damage Calculation: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Stat and Catch Calculators: pycosites.com/pkmn/index.php
Gen1 Crit Rates: www.smogon.com/rb/articles/cr...
Growth Rates: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Learnsets: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Base Stats: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...)
If you're new around here, Venomoth is a Psychic/Flying type, you can't change my mind.

[@Xeraser2]

Petition to have furrowed, evil-looking eyebrows added to the Magneton whenever you bring it up.

[@gorrumKnight]

Churro counter for the overlay. 😂

[@rainfallen7574]

YES, any time he yells, add it to the counter

[@PureStealth]

Definitely don't retake sentences with meows, we need more Churro

[@baileyblight3867]

I'll never be able to unsee crying Pidgey.

[@N12015]

Yeah, it reminds me so much to cartoon crying with all the black and white dots.

[@nightfan1983]

I'm all for Churro photos popping up whenever he says hello ^^

[@GrandpaMaxGaming]

As someone who lives with an orange cap I can confirm that trying to get perfect takes is a losing battle

[@Lightborn1311]

In retrospect, you shouldn't have said anything at all during the Lt. Surge fight . . . I was already laughing the moment the fight started and not saying anything would have just been icing on the cake.

[@belodie]

Absolutely this.

[@p.zansei3280]

I beg to differ, Scott being silent when post commentating would be far too unnatural. That said, the set up was so, so perfect.

[@michaelklos8089]

Do a Bruno. "I quickly dispose of this mouse trainer with a double edge and we move on to lavender town."

[@noukan42]

KZbinrs: do LT.surge way out of order with massively overleveled mons every time they use a mon that can have trouble with him. Also youtubers: why Surge is so weak?

[@Jameslwallalce1990]

@@noukan42 I mean he is weak, he only has 1 raichu, and was 3 shot by a pidgey in the 2nd playthrough. It was closer, but, if I was an electric gym leader and a trainer came in with 1 pokemon, a pidgey, and beat me, I'd just give up being a gym leader.

[@Genwunner69]

hi churro :) leave the meows in!

[@Xeraser2]

The fact that Pidgey isn't even a full 20 minutes slower than its final form DESPITE all the training says A LOT about just how bad Pidgeot really is.

[@james_ford86]

Eh, normal/flying types were pretty bad in general in Gen 1. Farfetch'd was the best in a solo run. Fearow did well in spots, but also struggled at times. Pidgeot didn't struggle that much more than Fearow did. Dodrio was the best normal/flying type overall, but still wasn't that great, aside from having Tri Attack. So, if you're going to compare any normal/flying type from Gen 1, let alone Pidgeot, to some of the better performing types, then I'm sorry to tell you, that bird is always going to come up short. Now, as Normal/Flying types go, most competitive players prefer Fearow or Dodrio (if they even carried one at all), and they'd have a point. When it comes to in-game, however, I do think Pidgeot is better than Fearow due to its access to Sand Attack, which Fearow does not get, and better overall bulk. Pidgeot is harder to kill and isn't so much weaker than Fearow that it can't also handle a lot of the same enemies Fearow can. In fact, with Sand Attack, Pidgeot has a chance to overcome even some opponents that Fearow can't. The reason that Pidgeot wasn't preferred in competitive, aside from the stat differences, is that Sand Attack was easily countered by a decent attacking Pokemon that had Swift in its moveset, and this was much more common in competitive than in-game, due to the sheer number of Pokemon with good ATK that could learn the move via TM.. All the Pokemon in-game that have aceess to Swift are generally weak enough that Pidgeot can handle them if sufficiently leveled.

[@perkypenguin1663]

I love hearing Churro scream, please make the Churro pictures a thing when he screams in video. Also wow Pidgey sure is a Pokemon

[@LessonSmith]

Ummm, Venomoth is actually a Wind/Moutain type

[@shirounshiroun7555]

Bird/??? Type

[@elliot0E]

The overlay updates are amazing Scott. So proud of you and how far the channel is come. Thank you for producing what is, to me, the perfect content. You're amazing!

[@elliot0E]

Also, lol at "for now I'm trying to keep things simple." My dude literally has a custom pokemon overlay with probably... 1000+ lines of code?

[@TheAnalyticalEngine]

Come for the pokemon content, stay for the cat pics

[@baconlabs]

"You lost at Pokemon! It's like the beginning of the game! You got owned by a PIDGE!" -ChipCheezum, "Who Is A Pokemon In This Crazy World"

[@RecRoomPlays]

hot damn I wasn't expecting to see a Chip&Ironicus reference on a Scott video, especially for such a deep cut lol

[@ryomaanime4563]

I love to imagine that small and chunky bird going lightning fast and spamming hyperbeams to annihilate a dragon team

[@airhead3409]

It feels like forever since we had a yellow video.

[@Sara.Space.H]

I loved Pidgey as a kid... I mean I loved a lot of the pokemon as a kid but this one has a place in my heart as my first catch.

[@StonerWeeb]

I misread that as "first crush" rather than "first catch," was about to ask if you're okay, but now I'm asking myself if I'm okay xD

[@Shog64]

I always hated the crying backsprite, finally someone mentions it.

[@lazypaladin]

Ngl it still takes me a minute to register Blackouts not counting as Resets. *_My brian will get used to it!_*

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

Your... Brian....? 😂

[@tsawy6]

​@adventureoflinkmk2 undeniably the single funniest common typo. My school once organised a trivia night advertised in one flyer as the Battle of the Brians

[@nathanm1748]

Can i just say, I love how chill your videos are compared to other pokechallenge channles... plus your voice is super relaxing imo!

[@isaacwright1275]

Bro you are so good at making videos! Love the new overlay work, these videos are so high quality and super enjoyable

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks so much.

[@marshmellowbit3]

3 Self Destruct misses due to Sand Attack Disgusting

[@Xeraser2]

Really shows just how unbalanced Gen 1 was. "If it doesn't have 100% accuracy then it has 50% accuracy" is an annoying meme over exaggeration in every Gen BUT Gen 1.

[@joshuaenns-wind9851]

I’m so happy about the tierlist shift. It looks so much better. Thank you

[@nicholasreidy5530]

Great video! Love the Bird. Also LOL at Scott referring to forgetting about quick attack as his "mental model not doing a secondary check"

[@shootfor2]

This video got me thinking, a HM users only run could be a fun video. Give the bench warmers a chance to shine!

[@Afro__Joe]

First video I've seen by you but I enjoyed the editing and, of course, beating the game with the baby birb... just wow.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for stopping by and checking my stuff out :)

[@Smileyrat]

Scott. The gravler and geodude tried so hard and you just wiped them all with sand attack. You've become the very thing you hate! ... keep it up. 😁

[@matthewhenry8008]

Nice, the image of this little bird zipping around anime style "K.O."ing dragons with hyper beam right after getting hit by it once (in video), seemingly in straight limit breaking fashion is forever stuck in my mind. Thanks Scott 😂

[@tjcddc]

Really impressive Scott. Pidgeot is hard enough to hold on to sometimes in normal playthroughs because it's movement can be underwhelming compared to other options. To do this solo with Pidgey is just absolutely impressive.

[@raptors11111]

Whoa a fully produced yellow video thats under an hour long? Thats fantastic!

[@claytonroberts1622]

So hype, was honestly expecting a spearow vs pidgey vs

[@arcuscotangens]

I love that sprite for the Pokemaniac's Slowpoke. So fierce!

[@markostyn6490]

5:55 Thanks for the shoutout! Happy to help with probabilities

[@Radar_of_the_Stars]

wow, already up to gogoat with supporters, big congrats

[@Medabee8]

17:01 - Dratini learns Hyperbeam by level up 😊

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yes, Dratini is the only exception. I cannot mention exceptions everytime.

[@GeneralWiggins]

I am HERE for the churro photos. The Pokémon is a nice bonus.

[@Penguindude1]

4:03 That's just the Vaporeon team twice. 9:45 kitty 11:05 I always thought Pidgeot's back sprite in Gen 1 looked like it was shedding a tear as well. I also noticed that your Pokemon's Speed is listed above its Special, but the opponent's Pokemon have their Special listed over their Speed.

[@Juddear]

I assume it’s because in later gens the Att/Def and SpA/SpD stats will line up more nicely, with HP and speed just chilling at the top. The way the opps starts are laid out doesn’t give that opportunity

[@AmnesiaPsyduck]

Can't unsee the pidgey crying! It's like the sweaty armpits on bugcatchers.

[@kb27787]

Unironically, there was a time where I thought this tiny bird was OP. Me (7 yr old): struggling with brock after having picked the cool lizard with the fire on its tail. My cousin (9 yr old): Just use the bird. The bird type beats everything. Use the move that doesn't deal damage. Me: Keeps throwing sand into rock Pokemons' eyes until we beat Brock after enough resets. My cousin: See? I told you bird type (that's what we called the "flying" type--not to be confused with the actual "bird" type of MissingNo) beats everything Whenever I had no idea which type was good against a certain Pokemon, I'd just bring out the bird and throw sand. With enough resets, it beats everything as the bird is quite fast and goes first. However, for today, I expect this thing to be F tier, or Bruno tier.

[@sarahnuovo2389]

Awesome content as always, have a couple for Churro! :)

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks so much.

[@JeffDvrx]

Pummeling 4 difficult trainers and Bruno with a pidgeon, how many resets will it take? Stay tuned to find out

[@robertstephens3847]

Hi churro. I love the cries. Keep them in don't worry about it

[@inflationking01]

Honestly love the photo idea

[@somectguy17]

i would love a churro picture every time we hear him

[@Steve_A93]

24:40 - gotta love that Gen 1 magic of the healthbar changing colours midturn

[@Flamestormq]

like the hud changes, as well as the split comparisons.

[@Chronoflation]

Poor Pidgy line. It takes til 36 to still evolve into a worse Pokemon than Spearow, it's early game rival flier, evolves into at level 20, which is already only 2 levels above the level 18 Piggeotto evolution. And it has worse moves despite it's general stat weakness and prolonged training to evolve into its final form. Pidgey got straight robbed, honestly. If only it were min-maxed better or, as I said, had better moves. What a waste of a good 3 stage design. I always like when the 3 stage early route Pokemon are at least competent enough to be like weaker starters, like Lillipup into Stoutland for gen 5, or Starley into Staraptor in gen 4. It's nice to have the first Pokemon you catch be one that's viable for the whole game, even if their utility drops significantly as the game goes on (though Staraptor's certainly never seems to drop off thanks to intimidate and close combat for coverage). I think Lillipup does it best, being really strong and fast early on, relative to early game Pokemon around the first gym, kinda falling off around mid-game as Herdier, and then getting a nice buff with it's final evolution giving it just enough power to hit decently hard, enough bulk to take a hit, and a good speed upper-mid speed tier to just let him outspeed some slower, bulkier Pokemon or even some above average ones if you get a boosting nature and EV train speed some. It'll never be your ace after the first gym, but it can save you in a pinch or be a decent coverage utility Pokemon with the elemental fang moves. And it gets intimidate, so more bulk

[@NastyMuckSpread]

That Surge battle was sure intense!

[@RealCaptainAwesome]

Behold the legendary Zapdos. Kneel before her and tremble. Birb has entered the chat

[@theSato]

PHEW. have been doing the Platinum videos at bedtime lately but I've really been craving an hour-plus gen1/gen2 video again (this one isnt quite there but I'll call it close enough, bless, I should sleep good tonight)

[@CBATOTHINKOFANAME1]

100% yes to the cat pics, hey churro you handsome man 🐈

[@sushilbhandari4068]

Video quality is so good

[@TaroTsujimoto74]

Churro is the MVP of this (and every) run

[@justinkleinsasser4385]

Not sure if you thought about this but replaying the top 3-5 Pokémon with the worst DVs think would be a fun video to see how important good stats are

[@mickgorro]

Scott: ...the incredible obstacle that is Lt. Surge. * silly music * Me: 🤔🤔

[@Fancy_Lebowski]

Pidgey the Dragon Killer.

[@lordgeovanni]

Hi Churro! Sounds to me that it is a win-win for us. You get more piece of mind over not having to do retakes forever, and reducing edit time. We get cat pics. I think we are benefiting more here...

[@llSuperSnivyll]

When you were talking about the required Speed to move before Starmie, the first thing I thought was, indeed, "But you have Quick Attack!" But I then thought that maybe you wanted to play safe and also Sand-Attack first.

[@andreapareti324]

Hi, Churro! Definitely do the picture strategy: it's easier for you, since you'd hopefully be able to avoid redoing so many takes, and pleasing for us as well, since we'd get to both hear and see a kitty.

[@themoabrigade]

my fave Gen 1 birds.... the Pidgey line, and Articuno

[@tenebrasm]

To be continued...

[@hanfman1951]

The venomoth classic electric rock😂

[@Maddtodd]

Scott, i had an idea while you were talking about showing previous splits on the screen. Would you, or your editor, be interested in adding a line graph of all the Yellow pokemon, while you talk about the pokemon, highlights as different pokemon finish, reminiscing etc.

[@reshawshid]

I love cats so hearing one meow in a video is a plus. If anything maybe you can make a game out of it? Having a meow counter to show how many times he meows per video, or have a poll as to how many he meowed in a video. Just ideas.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Meow counter. Fun idea

[@Marv1089]

For the Churro situation, maybe have a “ChurroCam” where Churro’s face randomly shows up overlaid on top of an NPC’s face or hidden somewhere else whenever he meows/interrupts your recording? It could be a fun game for viewers to count how many ChurroCams show up in every run you do! Idk how much editing hell that’d create though…

[@kyle666man]

10:01 absolutely YES. Cat meows and photobombs ftw!!

[@ddd7612]

Definitely I am all for adding the churro pictures whenever he meows!

[@floridagirl4896]

Yes we love the cat!

[@jamesbarron7568]

We need a custom Churro playthrough so badly!

[@Orrphoiz]

Hi Churro! >w< cc: also, bug love! c:

[@MNAV33]

Go go go Pidgey ❤

[@Ubernewb111]

fun fact, regieleki can move so fast it breaks trick room. when set up with agility and tail wind it's speed Stat is so astronomically high that it breaks the games speed Calc and sets it to 0, guaranteeing that it will always go first in trick room

[@A_levs]

YOOO SCOTT VIDEO LETS GOO

[@KishoKitsune]

You gotta pay the Cat Tax every video going forward. It's the rule of the internet that the cat tax must be paid when called for.

[@Bicker2k11]

Love your videos just wish i found them years ago

[@TheMoogleKing93]

Ah Pidgey, you're not good, but at least you have nostalgia on your side.

[@jonathanfrank9207]

I can you like, poking a picture of churro into the frame of the video every time he speaks, like he's saying hello. Either that, or putting like a discord-style photo of him, and making it look like he's speaking in a discord call.

[@RM-zw6im]

Add photos of churro every time he crys for attention lol. Also, I think it would be funny/kinda cool if you did a Persian run through but use Churro in all the pictures of Persian. Even the back sprite lol

[@Chogathable]

I was pretty sure Venomoth was a Ghost/Electric type. Also in case it hasn't been mentioned, I noticed your Spd and Spc are arranged opposite to how the opponents are.

[@PrincessGoth574]

Hi Churro!!! Im youre biggest fan!

[@asdfasdf-xb6bv]

i like the cat images idea. i imagine it would be less work for you, and it's a charming way to briefly acknowledge it without repetitively explaining it every video. let's save the repetitive explanations for more topical things, like how you handle optional trainers, damage thresholds, explaining why venomoth is always a different type, etc. (it'd also let me catch meows that i never would've noticed without explicit acknowledgement lol; i wouldn't want to miss any of them)

[@vampocalpyse]

have you mapped out the efficacy of blackout farming on Blane? idk the effective xp yield of ninetales and rapidash but if you can consistently knock them out it could save some other trainer grinding.

[@tsawy6]

I love the thumbnail today!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Brian’s work is on point as always

[@justinsims655]

Not only are Churro pics good for these videos, I also recommend he be acknowledged as co-host if he speaks during a live stream.

[@animefreak8535]

Question Scott I working on a playthrough challenge in gen 1 and I have to ask you the gen 1 master do all boosts reset to zero after using a healing item or just the badge boost boosts

[@SporkyMcFly]

Only the extra badge boosts. It corrects the stats, then applies the current modifiers.

[@animefreak8535]

@@SporkyMcFly ok 👍 great

[@Conklestothemax]

I think it would be neat for the overlay to have a pop up with the unaltered stats when crits happen in Gen 1

[@reeroo11]

Thanks Scott for the Professor Oak Battle at the end 🎉

[@n64_kfp]

I'm pretty sure I had the same thought about crying pidgey when I used to play the Gen 1 games

[@bryandauzat293]

Why am i having flashbacks to when i spent a full day grinding a pidgey into a pidgeot in the patch of grass before pewter city in red, before using it to sweep all the way through surge. And then my gbas batteries died and i hadn't saved at all....

[@lenlimbo]

10:04 More kitty is always better, so yeah, I like the idea of the photo each time we hear a meow.

[@thedancingguy828]

I always saw the Gen1 Pidgey crying too lol

[@Red-wc1br]

Yasssss churo when he meows!!!!

[@pepus777]

Please follow through with the Churro idea. I for one would love it.

[@Redmage913]

Brock’s Preparation H - if all you have are rocks, we have the soothing!

[@flamingmoomba5608]

Yes for cats and miaows. It'll be fun to move the picture around the screen like a wheres waldo

[@jrjard]

Constructive criticism given in the spirit of improving the overlay: I feel like the gradient on the stats is too drastic, because it gets to its darkest values where the words and the numbers are, which are already black, and it hurts readability.

[@OriasRofocale]

Hi Churro! More cat photos is always welcome.

[@PraefMace]

->Pidgey solo in Pokémon YELLOW. What could PAWSSBLY GO WRONG? -Bubsy, probably Also dropped my BALLSSS

[@mikebp443]

Saw a video of the weird nes yellow version Maybe you can do a play through for a fun vid

[@kevinsips3658]

Hey Scott, how’s the experience efficiency of blacking out in the elite four in Yellow? Probably doesn’t work for Pidgey but are there Pokemon it does work for? Would it let you use rare candies earlier sometimes? Maybe for Rattata or something?

[@TastyMeerkat]

Venomoth Fact #15: After the release of the gen 1 games, Venomoth broke its promise to not interfere with the production of the Pokemon games for the greater good of everbody. Fluttering down, slapping the developers upside the head with its wings and telling them they better up the power of Wing Attack in the next games, cause having it essentially be 'Peck the Second' was stupid.

[@seitanile]

This man just called Bruno a hiker The disrespect 😂