Sceptile Only - Pokemon Emerald - Gen 3 Starters Part 1

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Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle
3. No glitches* or exploits (the badge boost glitch is allowed)
4. No Double-Team TM before level 100
Patreon: / scottsthoughts
Twitter: / psychicflying
Send me a message at: [e-mail]

[@willlllllllb]

we're at the point where I'm excited for a Scott's Thoughts upload in the same way I am for Jrose11

[@mh11213]

Hopefully Scott's Thoughts can avoid having half the video being at the Elite Four.

[@richarddill692]

I actually enjoy Scott's Thoughts more...

[@adriunharrison]

100%!!!

[@MH_0015]

@@mh11213 I agree with this. I love Jrose11, but half the video doesn't need to be the E4 unless a lot of crazy things are happening. It makes it too long sometimes.

[@KiranasOfRizon]

I'm at the point where I'm more excited for a Scott's Thoughts video actually. I feel he gives a better analysis of just how good a pokemon can do in a solo run.

[@kylesmith9573]

Fun emerald fact. Defeating certain trainers makes the game switch up how gym leaders and Elite four will behave. The game will actualy lower their AI if you skip alot of trainers, because it expects you to be at a lower level. If you battle every trainer in hoene the Elite four starts using alot of nasty strategies, using potions better, and Phoebe especialy changes from battle ai to effect stall and becomes super annoying. Admittedly despite beating the game way to often (emerald battle frontier is my favorite post game) I've never actualy seen her use curse so that was interesting.

[@ryanbowen4029]

Whaaaaaaaat?! Do you have any evidence for this? Not saying I don't believe it but would love to read more about this.

[@Josh-xl6zh]

Don't forget for future runs kf you deliver the letter to Steven you can skip brawly and go to slateport if you ever need to just grind

[@FernandoRafaelNogueiraReis]

Can you skip Brawly up to when you get Fly so you can just come back and floor him?

[@iantaakalla8180]

No; you need to defeat Brawly to defeat Norman to gain access to Winona.

[@daniel6678]

Yeah you can't fight Norman until you have the first four badges. But you can also skip Winona for ages - certainly at least through your time in Lilycove, and IIRC basically all the way until the league. Not having fly for that long would be a major hassle though

[@paulnewton2284]

If I'm not mistaken, the game only checks for Flannery's badge to see if you can fight Norman. I know that's at least true for Ruby and Sapphire.

[@MournfulTears]

Hey Scott! It's not something people think of, but if you hold out until ~26 to evolve your Treecko, you get Mega Drain. In a solo run like this alongside Overgrow, you basically have an on-demand Super Potion that also one-shots anything that looks at you funny, even through resists!

[@annaangelic2318]

Your visuals for this series are always top-notch, and whenever even a small thing could be added, it is there! I actually feel inclined to check the visual components when using this as a "background" video, which is more than can be said for some other content, so thank you for being really engaging!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

You're welcome Charles. The visual side of the videos really motivates me. I want to make it as engaging as possible!

[@calebshmanderson]

I think HP Fire/Electric would have been amazing for Sceptile. The less ivs wouldn't really matter since it's just 3 less ivs and just the thought of fainting Skarmory is awesome. That being said that was a great video, can't wait for the other two.

[@iantaakalla8180]

HP Electric would be far better because it doesn’t just hit the Skarmory nicely; if Fire types come around you have an option for hitting almost anything neutrally even though Sceptile learns Earthquake. This also ensures Sceptile isn’t keeping Rock Tomb for Flying types. It does mean you have nothing in general for Glacia, but Sceptile should have Earthquake for the Glalie and Grass moves make nice work of the Walrein. I guess then Salamence from Drake would be far worse. Also, it’s Treecko; you’re not getting a consistent run without heavy overleveling or the use of TM32 but since you discouraged both you’re not getting a consistent run with Treecko.

[@calebshmanderson]

@@iantaakalla8180 Drake's whole team can already be beaten by Dragon Claw so HP Fire would have been better for Glacia and Steven. The but here is that Glacia already falls to Sceptiles Grass-moves as we saw in the Video. HP Fire/Electric is only really needed for Scarmory since we have Earthquake for the Steel Types, so yeah we don't need HP Fire but still hits harder than EQ even with EQ's 100 bp, Max Power HP Fire is 70 bp with Sceptile's Higher SpAtk. i honestly just made it HP Fire/Electric because more options but then I started thinking about it and my inner nerd started theory crafting and now here we are.

[@enerc2333]

@@iantaakalla8180 rock tomb is 50 the PB, x2 of super cash becomes 100, while return to maximum happiness reaches 102, reaching E4, it is already at high happiness, that's why rock tomb, it is no longer necessary for that moment, HP, electric is the most optimistic for sceptile, if you want to defeat the ice type easier it is better to brick break and then you take it away at the end of the battle, then you put dragon claw for Drake and with the earthquake champion for the tentacruel.and for the end you reserve the HP electric for Steve and that's it.

[@ShadowKaiserin]

I love that this series is more than just a challenge run, its an analysis of how well the Pokemon stacks up against a given region. A lot of these types of runs focus on "can I win?" rather than "how well did the Pokemon do?" which is far more interesting if you're looking to find a new appreciation for a Pokemon or a new addition to your team for a future play through.

[@bvd_vlvd]

35:36 "Petal bug woods" 😂 didn't expect a blooper here

[@Gingerwolfman]

Early game you can get bullet seed which has more power than absorb most of the time. Since absorb is 20 base power and bullet seed is 10 Base power with at least 2 hits. Since you can get up to the 5 hits that'd be 50 power before stab. The only downside is the lose in healing.

[@demitriuschilds8390]

Wonder if King Rock would fit with it

[@danikirk5774]

Instead of replacing Pursuit with Screech, replace it with Bullet Seed. That's what i always do and I shred Brawley whenever I face him using Grovyle.

[@JeanVlogDandamme]

Bullet seed TM is also the reason why people who complain about nuzleafs no grass move moveset just haven't used their brain. All TMs in 3d gen were pretty efficient, bullet seed being the only "1st gen water gun TM"-like, a weaker attack only useful for the start. Hence why they made ALL Grass types from the start of the game a little weird with learning same type attacks

[@JootBird]

That surfshark transition was the best I’ve seen for any ad in months, well done dude

[@KD8_NotTheShoes]

I like the trial run idea consistency is key! Also, i feel liie this would have gone much better if you set up hidden power fire for the skarms, i do believe you get it in slateport in the shop area on the left

[@israelnevarez3118]

I always found it interesting that this starter stayed mono grass while the other two of this generation gained secondary typings.

[@PinkBunnyCorporation]

Uh....blastoise.

[@israelnevarez3118]

@@PinkBunnyCorporation good point

[@theSato]

@@israelnevarez3118 It's not a good point because you said "the other 2 of this generation" and Blastoise isn't of this generation's starters lol

[@baseupp12]

@@PinkBunnyCorporation delete your comment

[@TomasUjhelyi]

@@theSato Uh…blastoise

[@FernandoRafaelNogueiraReis]

Heya, Scott! I think it's very cool that you're getting sponsored and I sincerely wish you do not get scammed or do an ad for something you don't personally believe in. My favourite Gen 3 starter used to be Mudkip and now it's Torchic. Septquaza sounds like that channel Sandaquaza and very scary. By the way, I personally find a bit extra that you're trying the same fight 5 times in a row even if it's not the Elite 4 but, you do you, just don't get burnt out, ily!

[@montecito5986]

Your thoroughness is admirable!! I look forward to seeing this gen!

[@mullet_muffins]

Slight correction: in ORAS (gen 6), you can surf on a sharpedo if you have one in your party with Surf! It has a unique sprite and I think it even moves a bit faster!

[@robmayer9141]

The reason Wallace becomes champion is a reference to the manga where he takes over for Steven during the events following ruby and sapphire (which are the character names for Brendan and May in the manga)

[@Regified]

The segway to that sponsor was so clean that I legit slapped my desk due to how stumped I was. I didn't even realize it WAS one until it happened. Take my like you smooth, clever dastard you. And my comment too. It helps with the KZbin algorithm. Edit: After finishing the video, I think there is an option available to Sceptile that would greatly alleviate three tricky instances, Winona, Drake, and anything involving a Skarmory; Hidden Power. In this Gen you get it in two places, those being in the Slateport City market after you encounter the Secret Power guy, and in Fortree City itself in a house with an old lady (don't remember which one). Specifically I believe Hidden Power Ice would be great for this run, since it's 4x Effectiveness against many of the games dragons would completely neuter those fights, particularly Winona since you don't have access to Dragon Claw. Even in Drake's battle, using Hidden Power Ice would allow you to skip going back for Dragon Claw, saving a good amount of time in that avenue as well. And finally, Skarmory's would be significantly easier to defeat thanks to Hidden Power Ice being a neutral hitting Special attack, which would give it less opportunity for them to Sand-Attack you in Winona's fight, or Toxic in Stevens. If you wanted Hidden Power at it's most effective, I.E it being Ice type as well as IV's and base power, you would want to go 31 in everything except Speed, which isn't really a problem anyways because of Sceptiles overwhelmingly fast base of 120, even with a Quiet nature. Edit 2: I just realized after posting this that Hidden Power Water is also an option for Flannery, and with how RNG reliant that fight is it's definitely worth considering, but since you can only choose one I feel the positives for Hidden Power Ice outweigh it, since Flannery is a singular battle, whereas Hidden Power Ice would be usable in 3 notable situations, not even including any normal trainers with Skarmory, like the unskippable one displayed in Winona's gym.

[@stormdrain23]

I love the Treecko line in generation 3. Fast, powerful, and super cool looking. But boy, the physical/special split wrecked this poor mon :(. It’s special movepool is woefully shallow. Even its signature move leaf blade is physical. Still love it, but I so wish it had been treated more kindly by the years

[@gabr.7878]

This new formatting is absolutely amazing, I'm loving it

[@BlackKraya]

I appreciate the bloopers/ pronunciation difficulties. We've all been there and it helps remind us that you're a human like everyone else

[@jaydenkween1828]

The brawly section has some huge time losses, I am pretty sure you can skip his gym entirely, so yeah, I think it's better to just ignore him and come back with fly whenever you can sweep

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I didn’t know this! Thanks for the tip. I’ll mention it in a future video.

[@iantaakalla8180]

This is probably made even more useful by the fact that Treecko resists Electric attacks so it may have less time struggling against most of Wattson’s Pokémon save the Sonic Boom Magnemite.

[@bp3366]

​@@iantaakalla8180LOL nachos

[@pannekook2000]

One thing that might be useful to know is that this is the first generation where there is a move tutor. You might have been able to save some time by relearning screech for skarmory on the Steven fight

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Good tip!

[@jaimenava8483]

I remember this gen was the first time I started with a grass type, treeko was the only 3rd gen starter that I genuinely liked

[@nickgohan346]

I also chose treeko but my first time starting with a Grass Type was Gen 2 :D

[@bensrandomshows1482]

You no liek mudkips?

[@Spiran_SphereHunter]

Yeah I chose Treeko first myself, Saw Grovyle and loved it but then Sceptile came and I reset the game lol, I really do think the first 2 stages are the best looking grass starter to date but we go from this sleek almost flying type looking raptor lizard to this big goofy Barney wannabe with a tree tail

[@jaimenava8483]

@@Spiran_SphereHunter not gonna lie I kinda stopped my grovyle from evolving for the longest time lmao

[@elainehelmont4647]

First gen I started with fire type,torchic too cute

[@Schedelke]

Nice first run of Gen 3. For future reference Flannery's Gym Puzzle: Top left every time except last room, there bottom right. Or maybe thats the second to last room, its been a while, but its always top left except once. Hope that helps you memorise it easily.

[@PinkBunnyCorporation]

39:40 petalbug. That was adorable.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I genuinely thought it was called that. Rip

[@tess4940]

I think the addition of Hidden power Electric would’ve been really helped Sceptile’s time. So perfect IVs might not be ideal, so a 30 in special attack instead of 31 might be very beneficial.

[@iSmurfYou]

that and using bullet seed early (for brawly/wattson) (its minimum damage matches absorb, so any time absorb would be used for damage rather than healing bullet seed is better)

[@lucaseder]

I really liked this video, normally the versus are really exausting although very nice, separanting like this, with this "trial run" before, made it so fresh and easy going, I really liked. One thing only, I think a video, after we have the 3 starters ones, discussing their times would be nice, you present the data and your Scott's Thoughts like you do in the end of a normal versus video. This way we got what we want \o/ and you still have one nice "click bait" video with the 3 starters with a call out to other 3 videos to the new viewer to watch and understand your thoughts and data ( sorry for the term click bait, but it's a good click bait it is how me and most of us found you I imagine, so it is good to mantaing while keeping it fresh and even better)

[@pokeperson1000]

Wallace is champion because manga lore. Not sure if that's actually true, but hey, it's technically canon that Steven stepped down and gave Wallace the title.

[@DropeRj_Original]

The improvements in your videos are quite amazing! there are some 'little' things in videos like you're talking about Treecko's status while they're highlighted in the lower left part of the video! I didn't notice those stuff before, but congrats on the progress!

[@Randroth]

I was saying to myself that "You shouldn't underestimate Juan." during your test run. And my words came true in the real run. Trust me, once he beats you with that awful Double Team + Rest strategy of his, you're gonna remember it. That's what happened to me. Anyway, great video! I am very glad that you're also including the post game battle with Steven in your runs, as I feel the game feels incomplete without it. I am very much looking forward to Blaziken, my favorite Gen III starter! (to be absolutely clear though, all Gen III starters are awesome in my eyes. Gen III starter trio is my favorite of all the starter trios)

[@anotherwaterroute]

Bruh you're so much better at these games than I think anyone ever realizes. I've been trying to get an Absol only run done for KZbin but my first practice run was 8 hours and my second was 6 and a half. Granted I was doing some stream chat, absol is worse than sceptile, and playing at 3x not 4x but bruh he got under 3 hours with one practice run. Hat's off sir, can't wait to see your next tour of Hoenn.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks, Another Water Route (also, please not another water route...) I certainly did not start out very good at these games. My skill is developing a lot because I play so much and spend so much time thinking about the game. In an upcoming video I'm hoping to show off a lot of my new found knowledge!

[@daveshn]

I just started watching this video. I'll make another comment later. But I need to tell you a speed run strat right now. At the start of the game, when you go into your neighbor's house, walk up the stairs, but don't go over to their pokeball. Instead, immediately go back down the stairs and walk out of their house. You will trigger their 'first meeting you' cutscene without having to take the time to go over to the pokeball and then back to their door again.

[@maksymilianszlezak2653]

Hoenn have the best starter trio in entire series change my mind Excited to see more gen 3 videos

[@kode-man23]

And it's not close.

[@EggscellentTree]

Despite swampert being my favorite pokemon , I think kanto , hisui and sinnoh have a better collection of starters. I dont like sceptile that much (however I do like his pre-evolutions) and blaziken is ok but doesn't stand out to me.

[@rexrobotdude5578]

Sceptile is such a underrated mon not gonna lie,everyone likes grovyle but sceptile is super underrated,all of the hoenn starters are great tho so I can’t wait for this series

[@RevinSOR13]

Sceptile is my Favorite Gen 3 Pokémon because he was the closest thing to Godzilla we got.

[@taliesin7913]

Scott, my dude, the huds for your videos these days are looking just about as good as I can imagine they can be. I thought the progress bar at the top, with the rival fights and badges was a nice, new touch.

[@ImmacHn]

41:16 "The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent." Xa Tu

[@leekyb3837]

I’ve been debating doing this exact series myself for the past few months and now I feel like I have to

[@dantemalick2872]

Watching this a year later and wow i can tell how much your style has changed and how much you have improved

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yeah! Hoping I’ll keep improving.

[@brandontownsend2756]

I used to love the Sceptile line as well. I think it's because it was the first time having a really fast grass Pokémon. I found that fascinating as a child after gen 1 pretty much made me think grass types were super slow

[@p.zansei3280]

Scott, so happy to see another Hoenn playthrough ^_^ RSE was the magnum opus of Gamefreak. As for the "test run time bloat" consider taking this methodical approach: Divide the test run into milestones, When counting resets, keep note of where they happen, and how much time was lost because of resets, consistency tests, and forced backtracking. Once you have this information you can add another endgame metric to the test run, which you can call "sum of best" which subtracts all those figures from the final time, giving you an idea of what the "perfect test run" would look like. If you choose to, having those statistics lets you extrapolate other figures, as well - i.e average/mean for: consistency tests, backtracking time, time lost from resets, etc. alternatively, you might want to go several extra miles between solo and race challenges such as Median, variance, you can document most-whatever you could possibly want to the extent of your tolerance for calculating statistics. But I ain't complaining and not expecting anything that far from you. What you already do is awesome It's not 100% accurate but if it's above 50% accurate or above it should be good enough of a metric IMHO.

[@harrymanocha4533]

This was a very welcome surprise! Argos screwed up my preorder I put in 6 months ago for Legends Arceus so I'm very grateful of the pokemon content. And for it to be Scott's Thoughts gen 3 is the icing on the cake! Hopefully legends' release doesn't impact your views too harshly 🥰🤞

[@psyxypher3881]

Treecko and its family will always hold a very special place in my heart, next to Tyranitar and my Leafgreen E4 team. I /really/ wish that Leaf Blade was a special move so the Treecko family could use it to its full potential.

[@VideogamePianoMan]

Regarding Nature choice, I wonder if +ATK may have been more beneficial considering how much physical coverage Sceptile gets compared to it's lackluster special pool of Grass STAB, Pursuit, and Dragon Claw (read: Elite 4 only). You were already *just* missing important ranges with your Grass moves, which already provide extra reliability through increased crit rate (Leaf Blade) or HP Restore (the Drain moves), but hitting extra 2/3HKO ranges with moves like Rock Tomb, Quick Attack, Return, and Brick Break (+Screech, even though that 85% accuracy is horrendous) could have possibly added even more. But those are also just my two cents as someone who knows this game inside and out and loves it to death! I also think it was actually pretty clever to go -SPD (even if it hurts my soul to consider a +ATK/-SPD Sceptile...) Also, shout out to my favorite gen3 starter, and one of the best signature moves ever made!! (...until gen4 ruined it with phys/spec split, changed the animation from cool, flashy leaf blades to just a boring green sword, and gave it to several other pokemon...)

[@danikirk5774]

Yeah, I don't remember any other Signature Move being given to other Pokemon while simultaneously ruining it for the original that had it. The Gen 4 change ruined a bunch of moves, but also made other moves more useful for other pokemon, so it's kinda a catch-22

[@danteblake9701]

Hidden Power fire would be a godsend against steel types. What type was Sceptile's hidden power?

[@shanoc5902]

Something to note- If you plan to use Aerial Ace against Sydney you should probably always teach it before Jaun, since it bypasses accuracy checks it allows it so that if Kingdra gets 2-3 double teams you can pivot into an attack that will always hit instead of giving him an opportunity to KO you if you get unlucky.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

That’s a really good tip! Hopefully I can remember it when it matters.

[@bvd_vlvd]

43:03 just realised it looks like Sidney is holding Phoebe lol

[@MyPokebros]

I love Sceptile so much, playing this game when I was like 4 and picking Treecko fuelled my love for reptiles.

[@CoffeeFlavoredMilk]

I did a solo run with just Treecko and it wasn't too bad in all honesty. A good way to cheese Norman's Slaking is using moves like Dig or Protect. That's what I did to beat him in my solo Treecko run. Prediction: Blaziken struggles against Juan (really only his Kingdra), Drake(?, based on type match-ups at least), and Wallace, does generally pretty good otherwise. Swampert is a downright beast and considering there's no Grass-type specialist, he doesn't have a single particularly bad match-up outside of the early May fights. (Though minor worries in regards to Solrock and Tropius likely) I think he'll win based on time alone with just Surf/Earthquake/Ice Beam/Whatever as his final moveset.

[@taylor5427]

Love these videos! You got me back into Pokemon and a recently played Emerald as well... Freaking Torkoal!!!! Great stuff man, thanks for putting these up!

[@Livingtrope]

i remember doing a mudkip-line only run once in emerald, it was quite fun! looking forward to this series

[@JayHankEdLyon]

Might be acknowledged later in the vid, but while it's on the mind, Rock Tomb is outclassed by Return once Return is at full power unless it's 4x effective or it's super effective against a mon that resists Normal. Its BP is only 50 in Gen 3, so even doubled to 100 it isn't gonna outdamage Return's 102, and resisted Return's 51 beats Rock Tomb's 50. So for instance, vs Xatu there's no actual reason to use Rock Tomb, especially because of that miss chance.

[@christopherballero866]

For Gen 3 and 6 challenges it's best to catch a few Zigzagoons as they learn a lot of HMs and have the ability pick-up.

[@daniel6678]

Linoone with pickup is the perfect HM slave and honestly not completely useless in battle. I'd even love to see a Linoone solo playthrough - it levels up fast, it's fast, it has a wide movepool, and it's stats aren't half bad. belly drum goes brrr

[@Shmandalf]

I always name my Zigzagoons Chimken. Received Nugget from Chimken.

[@israelnevarez3118]

It blew my mind that if you hold off on evolving them, they learn certain moves. Took me awhile to figure that out.

[@redwings13400]

I bet you could get a faster time with Sceptile if you used hidden power electric! According to bulbapedia, you can get hidden power from a shop in slateport after obtaining secret power on route 111, which I'm pretty sure is before Flannery. This means you could have a neutral special move to use against flannery, then be able to completely crush the annoying skarmory in the playthrough, probably lowering your required level for Flannery, Winona, and Steven! I'm not sure if you are using hidden power in this generation, but you've used it in past generations, so I figured I'd throw this out there as an option.

[@blinkspot2667]

Nice video Scott! I was super happy when I saw Scptile in the thumbnail. Treecko was my starter on my first playthrough of the Hoenn region.

[@LeonusStawalker]

A couple things that might make Sceptile (or other future mons that might struggle similarly: 1. Hidden Power is available in Fortree IIRC, so giving it HP fire or electric would help a lot with the Skarms. 2. Winona is skippable until the E4, so if you need to grind for her you could go to Lillycove first. Backtracking to Fortree without Fly is a pretty big time loss, but at least you can then fly back afterwards. Brawly is also able to be skipped, so if he ever gives you a lot of trouble you could just fly back after Winona and clean him up.

[@KnightFerrocous]

I know you forgot about Overgrow in this video but for future starters off all generations the Last Chance abilities aren't to be slept on. In a casual playthrough you might only notice it once but a legit strategy used in speedruns is to purposely enter hard fights at low health so you get the sizeable damage boost.

[@red-eyessolares1817]

If you want to get BP consistently in the future, I suggest doing the lowest part of a Battle Facilities multiple times. The Facilities I would go with would be the Battle Pike since that requires the least amount of battles or the Battle Tower since it’s just early Pokémon and has higher BP.

[@RarutoUchiha2]

I think getting Bullet Seed right outside Petalburg Woods from a NPC below the flower shop may be better than Absorb. That and catching a Pokemon that can use Cut to get the Miracle Seed in Petalburg Woods could have saved some time on some battles and made them more consistent.

[@theSato]

Good to see a new video from you! I wish I had played Gen 3 back when it was current. The GBA was my "im getting too old and cool for Pokemon" phase, then I went right back from Gen 4 onward.. also - lmao, that setup & segue to SurfShark.

[@luizbezerra4373]

Before I watch the video, I wonder if, since we're going to Hoenn now, we're going to have jokes with the wrong types for the Hoennian Venomoth, aka Dustox

[@dragonknight1560]

Juan: THIS IS FOR MOCKING ME AS A GYM LEADER! KINGDRA SUPER SAIYAN! Kingdra just went Super Saiyan and it's just wow. This was an amazing treat Scott! Amazing video, great job!

[@valor1omega]

I always liked how he does his best to remove luck from the numbers.

[@DarthNoshitam]

I forgot how hard the gen 3 music bangs 👍

[@emperor_morpho3226]

I feel strangely validated knowing one of my favorite Pokemon runners also loves Treecko. Favorite starter line easily. (Sapphire was my first game, if my bias wasn't plain to see.) PS: Your production value is insane for a smaller creator. Glad I could be here before you blow up.

[@Reaperschest]

Now that gen 3 is here, we will finally be able to have a full run of only ringing the Chimecho!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

We will!

[@crawling0204]

zigzagoons have the ability of pickup, which can pick up rare candies; and the higher the pokemon with said ability, the higher the chances for picking up candies.. it helps. Just throwing it out there

[@danikirk5774]

Zigzagoon don't start finding Candies until around lvl 30 I believe

[@justinh826]

Ruby was the 1st pokemon game I completed, Crystal was the 1st I played. Grew up on this franchise as a 96 baby

[@kelthekonqrr]

That Surfshark transition was exquisite ✨

[@DkKobaADV]

I did this for an emerald playthrough when I was a kid! nice to see it more optimized.

[@genwunnergreen2100]

When you do a Torchic run, Lonely nature is probably your best bet. I got one in ORAS, and my Blaziken was absolutely goated the entire play through in it's base form.

[@AxDuncan2635]

Can’t wait to see you tackle more gen 3 in the future Scott 🤩 can’t wait for you to use my favourite Pokémon next! Also, I just feel I have to point out “Aerial Ace” never miss, so the double teams from Shiftry were a total waste on th AI’s part 😂

[@zenitfan4life]

It also does 90 damage with stab while straight up earthquake does 100

[@DoubleDrastik]

Mays bridge battle is notoriouss.. its hard getting a good team for that fight at that point of the game.. and usually people come there with less pokemon then her so they get caught offguard

[@turley5305]

If you do an Emerald run again, it should be with the Nincada line. That way when it evolves you can justify the double battles

[@Nicholas86753]

Yo! Finally! 3rd Gen! I'm so happy! And with my favorite Gen 3 Starter! Thanks Scott! Can't wait for the Lunatone/Solrock race

[@grahamcoombe5461]

The Treecko line is awesome! Great video Scott :)

[@pickler_pickler]

that segue into the sponsor was smooth as hell

[@jo.comics]

I used to love Grovyle when I first started playing the game. To the point that I'd give it the Everstone, so it wouldn't evolve. I didn't like Sceptile too much, hence the wish for it not to evolve. I think I liked it cause it looked a bit like a velociraptor and I was reeeeeally into dinosaurs at the time. I also played it in German and its name in German was Reptain, which, to 12 year old me, was just the coolest name ever 😂

[@paulnewton2284]

I'm not sure what your policy is on Hidden Power going forward, but it seems to me that HP Ice would have been helpful against Winona, Sidney, Drake, and Steven's Skarmory. I don't know how much that cuts into your IV's though.

[@tylerjohnson2377]

Hidden Power is purchasable around flannery if you need an extra coverage move for future runs

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Good point!

[@ghoum56]

Man, I love how you just keep learning and growing in each video! The focus on methodolgy is really cool, you really seem to care about getting good results which is awesome. Love the channel and can't wait for Mudkip!

[@iantaakalla8180]

It is interesting how it started as a relaxed single-Pokémon run and now it’s a process.

[@ghoum56]

@@iantaakalla8180 Oh absolutely, especially after that Q&A where he said he tries to do one new thing in every video. You can really see the improvement.

[@rikaniebangbang]

I smiled at how extra nerdy this new method with the test run is. Love it. Btw where is Hidden Power in Emerald? HP Fire or Electric would've been a fantastic solution for Skarm, right?

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

HP Fire or Electric is certainly the answer! (Also, yes. Extra nerdy format because I'm an extra nerdy sort of guy!)

[@leeeroyjenkins555]

While I find the treecko line to be cool, I have always prefered the torchic and mudkip lines. The Chikorita line is still my fave grass type tho.

[@zenitfan4life]

Too bad it's so terrible in a Gen 2 playthrough

[@leeeroyjenkins555]

@@zenitfan4life meh, that never bothered me. Plus I mostly have her as my partner in the PMD games where she is an awesome cleric lol

[@grinbrothers]

It was interesting seeing a Sceptile run (only Hoenn starter I've never used) and the Nature talk was interesting. It was also funny seeing the dramatic difference in the Tate and Liza battle here compared to your Butterfree run and that Test run finale against Wallace was amazing. Criticism wise though, I'm not keen on the Test run at the start with repeats of every significant match, at least bundled within the same video as your actual run. It really slows the pacing and bloats out the video a lot, which would be easier to digest separately in my opinion. I'm also still of the opinion that Emerald is better suited for Duo runs rather than Solo runs, given the mandatory Double battle gym.

[@daveshn]

Sorry to see that this means that we won't have a three-way race between the Hoenn starters. There is a little polishing that can be done. Not just in the general play style but also because it is quicker to play the game as May rather than Brendan. The reason is that when you have Brendan has the rival, he says significantly less text. This is a factor used a lot in emerald speedruns. There's also a minor thing that makes her faster. If you look at the positions of the house, when you leave and get the running shoes, her mother has to take one less step than his. I know you don't go for that strict of speed run. But every little bit if you care and the amount of text will make a large difference.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

That’s a really cool fact! Thanks for sharing.

[@mharr]

Bloopers Time = Best Time

[@thenerdbeast7375]

I would have recommended Rash anyway because the lost special defense really wouldn't have mattered by the time you got to special attacks that really hurt.

[@Conrad_the_renegade]

Sceptile is my favorite Pokémon so I’m glad to see a video like this! I feel like everyone does solo runs with random weak or bad Pokémon so finally seeing my favorite is nice

[@harveylane6744]

Sponsor Segway was mega smooth. So kudos for that 😂

[@paulnewton2284]

You can ride a Sharpedo in ΩRαS too, I think

[@TechHug]

SE Rock Tomb is 100 BP, while max happiness Return is 102 BP. Since there are no Ghost/Flying types in this gen, Rock Tomb isn't really useful after getting Return unless you need to reduce speed for some reason. I don't think that there are any Pokemon you need to fight with a double weakness to Rock Tomb.

[@shadeaquaticbreeder2914]

Love the vid but did you not think of staying a treecko till you get mega drain at least(lvl26)? I usually use mega drain, leaf blade, screech, physical move of choice. Aerial ace is usually a good go to

[@mason3229]

When I was a wee kid playing ruby on my Gameboy advanced, I soley used sceptile for the first like 4 gyms. When I found my game cartridge again about 8 years later. I had a lvl 50 something sceptile and all my other pokemon were like 10-20. Sceptile for the win.

[@RustedKing]

I absolutely love this new format!

[@muskoks5385]

Looking forward to seeing how Blaziken and Swampert measure up with Sceptile.

[@dakotahadley2865]

Let’s get to 30k! This is one of the most thorough solo playthroughs I’ve ever seen lol I know this took a long time! Good job keep it up 👍🏼

[@ThibsyCube]

Love the nostalgia the music gives me! Treecko was my starter in my 2nd playthrough of these games and I must say that I did not get attached to this one at all. In matter fact, this was my first and only time I boxed my starter

[@DaermaeonBranKor]

My favorite region and my favorite starters! Have fun, my dude. I’d love to see a Trapinch run some time!

[@Metalhammer1993]

Darn that surfshark add was SMOOTH nice job.

[@TheDominic1011]

Can’t wait to see a mudkip run in the future!