Shellder Only - Pokemon Yellow

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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.bul...
DVs / IVs: bulbapedia.bul...
Damage Calculation: bulbapedia.bul...
Stat and Catch Calculators: pycosites.com/...
Gen1 Crit Rates: www.smogon.com...
Growth Rates: bulbapedia.bul...
Learnsets: bulbapedia.bul...
Base Stats: bulbapedia.bul...)
If you're new around here, Venomoth is a Psychic/Flying type, you can't change my mind.

[@Zorgdub]

I love the art for the (w)rapping lass. Her belsprouts look like they're spitting bars.

[@thelucidexperience]

After it’s all done, we’ll see that the Pokemon has become a shell of its former self.

[@bigsmoke44gaming44]

I actually laughed at this 😂

[@iantaakalla8180]

As opposed to Cloyster, who really comes out of its shell (after Gen 5).

[@silver_was_found]

a Shellder of its former self?

[@inventiveusername5191]

It didn't have the mussel to make quick progress. It didn't so much run the game as _limp it_ .

[@thelucidexperience]

@@silver_was_found if i said that the joke would be dry, so I m-oyster-ized it

[@aemondtargaryen972]

Honest feedback, because I have given them to some in the videos in the past when you asked for it, THESE ARE THE TYPES OF VIDEOS I LOVE!!! It is extremely well polished and you are telling a story. It’s not a discussion or a live stream. These types of videos are the reason I subscribed to you in the past. You are one of the top 2 Pokemon players I watch (I honestly can’t choose my favorite, just know you are top 2).

[@andreapareti324]

Scott: "I'm gonna keep Clamp even within the League because of Cloyster." Also Scott: Deletes Clamp for Mimic in the first Lorelei attempt.

[@TastyMeerkat]

Venomoth Fact #28: In ancient times, Venomoth's powders, spores and ground up shed scales were used as a popular spice for food and as a hallucinogenic.

[@wesleynewcomb]

He who controls the Venomoth controls the universe

[@megariderfire1994]

Hmm...what will be the next Venomoth fact then? Venomoth being a distant descendant of the "Dark/Steel Type" Armaldo?

[@irish_owl21]

Hey Scott, did you consider going to level 30 for the wrapping lass? You were just a touch away from level 29, then a rare candy gives you aurora beam, speeding her up and the grass types in the cave too. Not backseat gaming, just curious if you looked at it. Love your yellow content my man!

[@ZealousPawn]

That is a really interesting idea, maybe it’s worth it. Hard to say though because it takes a lot of experience to make up for that level in the lategame when shelder* is already fighting all the moderate to good experience yield trainers as it is

[@irish_owl21]

@@ZealousPawn yeah I’m wondering if just one or two S.S. Anne battles would have gotten him there looking at his XP bar. It’s a minor time commitment that speeds up a very long/risky battle with the Lass and also a few battles in the Cave that involve oddish and also adds PP for moves super effective against the ground types in there as well. And also what (if any) impact it would have had on the run later with one RC used. I’d love to hear from Scott if it was an option.

[@ZealousPawn]

@@irish_owl21 I think he did mention in the follow-up playthrough that he had aurora beam in the cave, so it might just be speeding up the wrapping lass battle

[@youtube-kit9450]

About the exp growth rates: Iirc, the top x pokémon (fully evolved) by BST (gen 1) are the ones stuck with the slow growth rate, which is why so many pokémon you'd think of as mediocre have that. Aside from eeveelutions, starters and weirdly Kabutops, all pokémon with like, 430 BST or higher have the slow growth rate, which includes stuff like Rhydon, most stone evos, Aerodactyl and stuff you'd think is horrible to use since they're bad pokémon saddled with terrible movesets in gen 1. Scyther having 10 less BST is probably why Pinsir has that abysmal growth rate while Scyther has medium fast. After that, I think all bets are off on which have medium slow and which have medium fast exp rates, since fast was obviously "those 3 pink blobs families, nah not Lickitung or Ditto."

[@Zorgdub]

The Dark Lord peeking down from above the frame freaked me out a little. Good job, Scott.

[@silver_was_found]

all hail the Dark Lord Kabutops

[@michaelroywright9975]

Me going into this video: "Well, at least he will have an easy time with Brock since it's a water type." *looks at movepool "Oh no..."

[@TheModdedwarfare3]

Hey, Scott. I have a suggestion. Could you add a rare candy symbol plus the amount you have somewhere on your UI? It probably wouldn't take much space and could be useful for the audience to see your current potential level. Great video as always, thanks.😊 Edit: Also perhaps a bag icon on TMs you have in your bag outside of battle.

[@zuloph]

I noticed an error in the video. When you showed Venomoth's typing during the Koga fight in the first playthrough you showed it as a mono grass type. It's actually a grass electric type, just wanted to correct the information so the KZbin algorithm would know, that fella is really good at reading comments

[@brycearnzen700]

Somebody has to have logical reasoning why Shellder can learn Teleport.

[@BollderKnight]

I'm the guy who had Shellder for his profile picture and kept nagging Scott about making this video. I know I'm late, went off KZbin for a while and changed accounts, but I'm super excited to finally see this :D It almost feels surreal after like 2 or 3 years of waiting. As much as I love Shellder, I know it's gonna be bad for a solo challenge. Let's see how bad it really is!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I’m glad I finally got around making it for you! Hope it lived up to expectations.

[@BollderKnight]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon of course you live up to expectations! I know you get to hear this from a lot of people at this point, maybe it's losing a bit of its meaning, but you really are just that good at what you do. I've been watching your content for a couple of years now, and aside from Jrose once in a while, you're the only Poketuber I watch at all. When you're done with your gen1 tierlist by the end of 2025, guess what... how about Shellder in Crystal or Emerald version? xD

[@discgolfwes]

The Bruno erasure is always hilarious

[@kevinsips3658]

Who?

[@silver_was_found]

we don’t talk about Bruno

[@iantaakalla8180]

No, no, no, no

[@philiphunt-bull5817]

_~We don't talk about Bruno~_

[@thegeneral19]

Woooo! I remember making a comment about doing shellder on one of your videos a long time ago, ty!

[@TJF588]

I would call Lapras a "Basic" stage Pokémon, but that's because the TCG uses "Stage 1" to indicate the first* evolutions (Ivysaur would be a :Stage 1", for example).

[@belodie]

Wait, Venomoth is a pure Grass type? I thought it was Grass/Electric!

[@sortfaar3]

ok so you probably already know this scott, but imma point it out regardless. why is the stat order wrong on enemy pokemon compared to your own? for your pokemon its: Hp, Atk, Def, Spe, Spc and crit, while for enemies its: Hp, Atk, Def, Spc, Spe and crit. speed and special are swapped around. also the speed stat in enemy team slot 5 is a different color compared to the rest of the pokemon? could be because of the background but seems weird

[@ipdramon2177]

Opened YT, vid is only 9s up. The day is good 😊

[@bettyunicorn6132]

I’ll watch this again. (Thx someone for my gifted membership! As a highschooler with no job I appreciate it!)

[@DarthNoshitam]

How does one get a gift membership? 🤯

[@bettyunicorn6132]

@@DarthNoshitam You just be in streams someone can just gift it to you.

[@davidhannum9017]

Hey Scott, had a Crystal run idea for you, Slowking, don't see too many videos on it in gen 2, and it would probably make an interesting vs video against Slowbro as they are branch evolutions of slowpoke! Politoed as well! I know you'll eventually get to them

[@kaseywalton]

This is one of your best fully produced videos. My only critique: Still using the name Sike. All other names you use are the actual trainer names or describe the trainer e.g. Sandy. Sike does not do either of these. If you want to give credit to Ike, I would recommend calling him Ike or Seaking Ike or something other than Sike.

[@arckrokosz3123]

Yaay seel retribution! Awesome video as always! Thank you for making my work day better! - number one seel fan

[@drizz_tv]

Maybe I missed you mentioning it, but did you consider using Tri Attack with Shellder? Not a huge improvement over Swift, but it could be useful.

[@latrodectusmactans7592]

Shellder being only water instead of water/ice always trips me up.

[@1stCallipostle]

Alolan Vulpix being pure Ice is what gets me

[@mmburp]

Hey Scott :) Halfway through but before I forget it later, I have to ask, if it wouldn't be more effective to train a pokémon in the early game at Route 22 instead of Viridian Forest? Sure, the levels of the wild encounters are potentially lower, but the stat exp the pokémon gains should be way better, especially attack (Caterpie (30) and Metapod (20) have so bad base stats). Also the base exp the Pokémon on route 22 aren't that much worse (Rattata -> 57, Spearow -> 58, Nido F -> 59, Nido M -> 60, Mankey -> 74) compared to the Vididian Forest counterparts (Caterpie -> 53, Metapod ->72, Pidgey -> 55, Pidgeotto -> 113 [1% tho]) I don't know, if you ever considered that or tested it, but it might be worth thinking about. Edit here: You only train, if you have to use a bad normal move, so the thought is, to "push" the atk stat as much as possible (so it works nowadays at least) Keep up the great work :)

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I tested it along time ago with Wigglytuff. I’m rare circumstances training south of Pewter on Route 2 is enough to give 1 more attack and increase your damage against Brock by 1 per hit. That is actually the case for Shellder. I tried it but Shellder still doesn’t have enough health and it just lost over and over at level 16.

[@mmburp]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Thanks for the reply :D I wasn't sure, if the stat exp of mankey would actually make a differnece (couldn't find any dmg calculator)

[@karotconcarne3325]

Looking at this made me realize how sad I'll be when m'man gets around to doing Aron, cuz I love the mon, but it's going to be painful with all the flaws it has.

[@propsken4339]

Please for the love of Arceus, stop calling the self-destructing hiker, well, that. Obviously, his name should be Boomer. :D

[@stevensinger5885]

Ok boomer.

[@Munja03]

Boomie! Little Avater reference hehehe

[@sebf8]

Love the little shellder animations

[@kevingarnett1255]

Hi Scott, thanks for the video. I appreciate the editing you use to draw attention to what you're talking about on the overlay without completely covering the gameplay.

[@DementedDuskull]

Reminder: That thing sticking out of Shellder's shell is its foot, not its tongue. Real clams use those to move around. Look it up, it's gnarly.

[@PegasusPablo]

At last! I'm confident you did an amazing job!

[@HunnyDoo]

my mans just wrapped the wrapping lass

[@jamescallaghan7726]

As a kid, I never played shellder. This will be fun to watch!

[@FantasyJared]

Man, I forgot how amazing these videos really are. Thanks for the awesome content, Scott! Some of the relaxing and interesting commentary on the platform.

[@keltikglider9188]

After you finally finish all 151 Pokémon solo runs in yellow I think it would be a fun idea to do in S tier full team, versus a bottom tier full team and speed run that as a fun “thank you for supporting this channel” type video or videos depending on how you want to go about it. Btw great job with Shelder! Always love how you give great care and detail to each Pokémon you play with which is why I always love watching your videos 😁🤘

[@RenaissanceManchild856]

halfway through! could you save swift for sabrina at 49 and then relearn icebeam at 50 by level up? Slick edit at the 51 minute mark digging into the teleporter, by the way!

[@timfreborg8759]

I apologize for being the failed process a year ago. A very bad time in my life that I've gladly since moved past. Its no excuse; it was unprofessional of me, and left you in an unfair lurch, and I make no excuses. I confess I always feared the inevitable time when shellder saw the light of day, but part of me is still glad. Anyway, back to lurking in the dark for me.

[@KRACKSMACK]

Man, I have always wished this silly little critter was a better mon. Love the art style and design. As a kid I didn’t know about growth rates (obviously - who did?) so it just felt so frustrating

[@PraefMace]

Well, time to catch up with the recent videos! And as usual... DROOOPPPED MY BALLLSSS

[@mr.number9279]

It's incredible that Shellder's evolution is probably one of the absolute best Pokemon in Gen 1, but Shellder is... just not. Great runs.

[@RaynmanPlays]

12:21 The ice type in gen I is the only type in the entire franchise to be possessed by only fully-evolved Pokemon. This is actually a creative choice by the RBY team, referencing the fact that if you leave a child out in the snow and ice, it will die. And this post is referencing Big Yellow's Ice Types in RBY video.

[@three-b4212]

I'm a happy camper now. Shellder is adorable!

[@iantaakalla8180]

As a question, in one of the fifth rival attempt you almost get past the Kadabra. How lucky would you have to get to make an attempt on the fifth rival worth it at level 40? You were almost past him, and that could save a lot of time.

[@Gungho73]

Cloysters stats as it is are deceptive when you take away its absurd physical defense, in a game that speed/special tends to be more valuable. That won't stop me from cheering this little shell guy on, hoping for at least a C place finish! Let's watch.

[@TJF588]

Hey, Scott, longtime viewer, but why don't you just talk to the trainers in Blaine's gym??

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

16:29 and 21:53 and 54:33 oooo 69 nice 45:30 and 47:44 oooo 69 nice... although you missed it :(

[@iwanabana]

Comment before watching through the video: why not use rare candies as early as possible when it proportionally benefits slow growth rate this way?

[@swayingsmiles]

I adore the newish shakes on the gym leader introductions!

[@johanmedioni7856]

That was a really good one. Congrats on the sponsorship!

[@adrov849]

Hi Scott. I’ve watched a lot of speed runs on KZbin and I really like yours. I’ve mentioned it before but one thing I have never seen is a speed run with a full move set from the beginning. I’d really love to see you do Red, blue or yellow with Starmie with Psychic, Surf/hydro pump thunderbolt and Blizzard/ice beam. I just want to see just how quickly it could finish the game

[@ZealousPawn]

He has a Starmie video!

[@adrov849]

@@ZealousPawn please read my comment properly. I know he has a Starmie video. I’m asking a full move set with Starmie from the start

[@ZealousPawn]

@@adrov849 ah, my apologies. Read it too quickly and thought you were talking about a preferred final moveset. Lots of people wanted him to use surf so that’s where my mind went lol

[@DLC88]

Eh, the fancy pants smarts ain't Fer me. I jist like me a pikachus. An d the fan art is growing on me

[@pyromaniak2736]

Scott gave playthrough 2 (3) shelter sturdy and thought we wouldn't notice lol

[@austindmunday]

have you done polls to see what your subscribers like to watch more? gen 1 2 3 or 4?

[@CBATOTHINKOFANAME1]

Great to see you got a sponsor on this one man, good job!

[@DLC88]

Be interesting to see a slowbro actually evolve like in the anime. Like ninjas you need a spare pokeballs

[@veghesther3204]

Its doable too bad ICE beam at lv 50 is its really only GOOD lv up move.

[@Ryno12345able]

Clamp should stack well with withdraw, I don't know if it does

[@TooMuchDad]

Thought we were gonna get to see some tri attack usage, I guess we’ll have to keep waiting lol

[@weaselrider]

Fuck yeah, Scott~! You got a fucking sponsor!

[@KigerrEE]

Good guy scott letting dugtrio plug their sponsor

[@Nagassh]

This is one of those evolution lines that I had zero interest in back when I played Gen 1/2, but these days if I ever play a pokemon game I find myself drawn to it for some reason. I feel like as time went on I lost a lot of interest in the "cool" lines I liked when I was younger and end up having developed a more enduring love for some of the other lines, they end up being my "new" pokemon in many later generations rather than the "actual" new pokemon (provided I can find them).

[@hbkboyhbk]

What’s your Pokémon team in yellow?

[@MobileGamingChronicles]

Lv23 is when things get better, but until then it's just 😢😢😢😁😁😁

[@philippsteiner8346]

Still waiting on the Starter middle evolutions

[@SmashMath151]

8:55: Pretty sure you missed a first stage Water Pokemon! Unfortunate moveset and stat distribution hold Shellder back. I noticed on your first attempt that you had 33 Attack at Level 16, which is exactly enough to always do at least 2 to Brock's Onix, but only had 32 in the second playthrough. Could optimizing stat experience be faster than the extra level?

[@TJF588]

20:24 for the first Shellder split of 2024~!

[@SquallLionhart409]

Shellder has the blistering speed of Sandshrew, Porygon and of course, Rhydon. It has the excellent special attack of Graveler, Diglett and of course, Rhydon. Shellder's fantastic attack is on par with Koffing, Venomoth (my favorite Dark/Steel pokemon) and of course half of Rhydon. On the bright side, it's defense is equal to Blastoise.

[@perkypenguin1663]

I'm glad that after all these years, Scott finally released the Shellder solo. It's funny how Cloyster's high BST gives it the slow experience group since Game Freak wanted to make it harder to raise, which makes Shellder an absolute slog to use. For some feedback, when you compared how well each Water type did vs Brock, it would have been good imo to give time splits past Brock for each Pokemon (at least for the ones you've done already). It would give more of an idea of how bad Shellder has it early on in the game as opposed to other Water types.

[@Drowzee64]

Excellent job playing around Koga's Venomoth's super effective Grass/Electric typing.

[@ryomaanime4563]

Tri attack in an unexploited possibility Shellder has better atk than spe, can use this coverage and doesn't learn body slam so it's a rare opportunity

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Agreed. If only it had a secondary effect in gen1, I’d probably have put more thought into it if it did.

[@kb27787]

I had no idea this thing (which evolves into the mon with the highest defense stat in the game) was Surge-tier bad... Sabrina's Kadabra at the same lvl (not Alakazam) one-shotting this thing with a crit psychic says it all really... All the stats are in defense, but no HP or special.

[@banditrests]

Weird Gen 1 bide mechanics would make a good KZbin short, I think even most serious players would be surprised by the speed tie quirk.

[@Nick_Slavik]

In setting up using withdraw, wouldn't that raise your attack via badge boost glitch?

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yes

[@travisblankenship5167]

Fell into the pigeonhole trap with clamp

[@keysradiotheradio]

Do withdraw and double edge have a good synergy or does the defense boost not apply to self-inflicted damage?

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Self inflicted damage is just a % of the amount dealt to the enemy, so defense doesn’t help.

[@realperson69]

If you do one extra battle (or several fewer battles) before Misty, you can retain your badge boosted Attack going into her Starmie.

[@thebigbean8783]

I'm pretty behind at the moment, so I can't watch this yet, but I've been waiting for this playthrough for so long! You've said it's gonna absolutely suck which makes me sad, but getting shellder on the channel is so hype! Great pokemon!!!

[@Gabbo-uf4eq]

The end is the same as the start 🤯

[@CelticGuardian7]

Shellder the one-HP wonder.

[@TJF588]

"I can finish the rival off and conclude Silph." Makes sense, there are no significant challenges there past the rival~

[@nassimfortas3057]

Hiii i think on the end screen the level diff as well as the game time diff should be positive ^^ grear video!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

It's color coordinated showing that the first run was that much faster

[@bobosmith101]

grats on a sponsor

[@PLF__]

after like a month and a half of at least watching part of one of your videos each day(usually way more) im finally caught up to the current upload!

[@MazterP28]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJ6og2iDYpise7ssi=Xiz3pJ4j2Iwz0bqH - cloyster uses hydro pump and twineedle in gen 1 stadium

[@minikawildflower]

I spent so many hours trying to find and catch Shellder in Blue Kaizo, this is satisfying

[@demarge1065]

Wouldn't the gametime in round 2 be +27 instead of -27?

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

The colour indicates that the first run (light blue) was faster by 27 minutes

[@TJF588]

"who, of course, is Agatha." That one second of edit is beautiful.

[@Radar_of_the_Stars]

certified shellder moment

[@alexschlessman5355]

Congrats on the sponsor man

[@Xhalo1183]

I haven't seen that many 1 HP survivals since Let's Go.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yeah, this run was filled with them.

[@BrieDonadieu]

The short for this was epic! so glad to see you breaking into shorts!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yeah, making the Shellder short was a highlight of this year.

[@weebrahim]

They probably gave it slow growth because of how pearls grow in them irl

[@johnsnow7691]

thanks for the content

[@Muzgrob]

So close to the finish. Cant wait to see the complete tier list and then watch it further optimised over the years.

[@nordicbarnacle5505]

Rock heart 😊

[@ZonicZDonut]

just saw this uploaded one second ago and instantly clicked 🤣

[@nbonasoro]

As much as we make fun of Giovanni, isnt he and team rocket the most successful antagonist in the series? He made mewtwo and I think Ditto, porygon and porygon 2.

[@WalkerSunriseChannel]

Mewtwo and Ditto were created by Dr Fuji and his team decades ago during attempts to clone Mew. Porygon and Porygon2 were developed at Silph. Giovanni had nothing to do with any of them except for trying to control Mewtwo with machines (which failed).

[@tneon9132]

Wobbuffet o7

[@dannylongfellow]

Scott is sponsored now! Hell yeah!