Altaria Only - Pokemon Emerald

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...)

[@Clawdragoons]

I feel like Altaria could have done a lot better if you had chosen an attack boosting nature over a special attack boosting nature. You were using physical damage for basically every difficult fight, your physical attack is boosted by Dragon Dance, and your physical attack gets boosted before your special attack does, very relevant in the early game where the erratic growth rate is giving you the most trouble.

[@StatsNeard]

Yea a attack boosting and special d lowering would probably be the best

[@tehy123]

Probably the play against Tate and Liza is to hold onto Steel Wing until this battle

[@InfernosReaper]

Yeah, that would give a good move against the rock type mons.

[@shadowtitanx3962]

Or, have Hidden Power Ghost. Hidden Power cannot miss while Steel Wing has a chance of missing.

[@tehy123]

Mm, that's true

[@kabirdang1346]

Max ivs with hp dark isnt bad either

[@shadowtitanx3962]

Yeah, but Dark is Special. Ghost is Physical. Thus, HP Ghost would be better with Dragon Dance. Plus, you don’t have to deal with Calm Mind.

[@yamiryushi]

Hey Scott here is something I learned by using thief. The rich kids, especially the first one with the zigzagoon hold a nugget for whatever reason. If you wanna do thief strategies for money early to try to get flamethrower/ice beam/tbolt early, that is something that could help a lot. I don't know if ALL of them has it but I remember the first did and it blew me away.

[@artithegreat9113]

Someone already gave him the calculation for the theif strat and he would still need a decent amount of money after all trainers are defeated up to Wattson. They did give him a way to make that money but it would just take too long compared to not doing it.

[@d.a.d.-ohgosh]

So excited for the Dragon Birb

[@seifer447]

Dragon birb best birb

[@red-eyessolares1817]

I feel that Altaria is a mon that could probably see a second playthrough since it gets a lot more options by the second half in the game. You definitely need to consider when it’s the right to give Altaria certain moves. I think a potential solution for the Roxanne fight with Altaria could be to use a Leppa Berry to get more PP out of Astonish. Having more chances to flinch can definitely be helpful, and Altaria could potentially beat Roxanne at a lower level than 20. It would be interesting to test out if it’s faster to play the slots to get Flamethrower or to do the training for Wattson. If not that’s not the play, Swagger can be helpful since Altaria needs a ton of hits for Magneton anyway especially since you can combine it with Sing.

[@UnknownVir]

Slots can require a lot of resets too though.

[@tsawy6]

Formally I think all the mons would benefit from second playthroughs, Scott just isn't there yet. Like, even if Scott does 5 playthroughs, he'd still be able to get a better time in a year. Premature Optimisation is the root of all evil and all that. Also these runs are too long for that ATM I think Scott has said

[@hames100]

Astonish can only flinch on the 1st turn also

[@tsawy6]

@@hames100 what??

[@Leotheclimber75]

@@hames100 uh no. Astonish is like bite can flinch as long as you outspeed

[@wideright7567]

it was so nice to see wattson counter in safeguard, not needing to play around paralysis felt nice

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

It was very refreshing!

[@UnknownVir]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Not sure if pun on refresh but if it wasn't, it is now...

[@Leotheclimber75]

Hah move puns are great

[@antoniocalado7101]

A suggestion for when you pick up the rare candies at route 105 and 120; Instead of walking to the rare candy and turning around to it try to come via water from the top (105) or the right (120) so you exit the water and stand exactly next to the rare candy facing it. That avoids wasting time by accidentally taking a step instead of turning, though that might be more of an issue for me since I play at 8x speed.

[@tender_rain]

Didn't expect the Ice/Steel type Armaldo to do so much damage with Ancientpower.

[@GreenTense]

I love the consistency in these videos, thank you so much for putting so much effort into making videos for us and doing it with such top notch quality everytime!

[@sebarsht12]

I'm such a sucker for stats, so seeing all the stats and info Scott uses and in an excel-like table, it looks so satisfying

[@glowcloudwheatproducts495]

Scott: im keeping safeguard to use against wattson *5 seconds later* Scott: so anyways slugma puts altaria to sleep with yawn

[@DillyBobBanana]

Love your videos thanks for bringing attention to the pokemon that don't always get the love they derserve I think its amazing that you post a variety of solo runs thoughout gen 1,2, and 3 keeps things entertaining fresh and new learning all the behind the scenes game mechanics is always interesting too

[@gambleralex5083]

Love the extra videos this week nice work Scott

[@isaacwright1275]

I love Altaria and this channel it's been an incredibly stressful week for my family with dad having a liver transplant earlier this week. Your videos really help whenever times get tough so thank you Scott love your work keep it up man.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I hope your Dad is recovering well.

[@sarahnuovo2389]

I watch a lot of your videos and enjoy them very much :) Just writing to let you know that I love how you are always working to improve your overlay. This one is really sharp and really clear. Great work!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks so much. I’m quite happy with the aesthetics of the gen3 overlay now. It was the one that took me the longest to dial in.

[@challengerchris8242]

Scott you’re a mad man and love it thanks for posting so much content

[@zedslair9822]

I just noticed after all this time that during the presentation of the Flannery fight, Numel is sleeping and Camerupt wakes her up with a little push.... I love that detail!!

[@malcanater007]

This has been the best weekend in a while, so much content from Scott 💜💜

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

The extra prep work I've seen some One Mon Challenges people do just because they know Altaria is coming up, makes me believe this one is going to get a very good final time.

[@atraxian5881]

10 months too late but: "I'm keeping safequard for Wattson's thunder wave" 2 seconds later "Unfortunately I got hit by yawn, I hope to wake up soon" Safeguard: "am I a joke to you?"

[@celtyrysuje]

I think you could consider having more zigzagoons in the party. They would pick up more useful items to use or sell.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Pickup is banned, see description rules

[@celtyrysuje]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon oooooh ok so that's why the zig always has an item :(

[@UnknownVir]

@@celtyrysuje yep, yep!

[@andreapareti324]

11:44 lol, love the Aqua dialogue! Good job, editor!

[@abrarhossain8439]

I’m surprised you deleted fury attack right before Roxanne since it may have done more with crit phishing

[@riverwaters6770]

Happy to hear the pipes are feeling better bro. Looking forward to the Poochyena/Mightyena play- through Appreciate ya bud 👍

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks! (I’m glad I’m feeling better too!)

[@joshgregory1763]

I like how your screen setup shows so much info

[@Marchingvenusaur]

Scott's channel really has one of the best layouts for his videos as far as pokemon challenge KZbinrs go for sure

[@Lucurryo]

I am just at minute 3 of the video but duuude this Altaria blue, the blue attacks and the blue sky in the background just make me sooo happy to look at OwO !

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

It is a great shade of blue!

[@eyemaknut]

Shiny Swablu was my first shiny in Emerald. I think golden Altaria looks cool. Fun video, but I think Altaria is better in later gens, even without its Mega.

[@andersonantunesdeleu8591]

Honestly Scott, I didn't really expected much from Altaria! It has just reasonable stats, neither high nor low... That, besides the fact it can learn better moves only later on in the game, made it too difficult for Altaria to proceed, not to mention its growth rate, that didn't help either! Poor Altaria, so many factors against its success! But, you tried your best, right Scott! It always gives me fun watching your runs Scott! I thank you so much! Your future is promising as a poketuber! Congratulations 👏 you are very good!!!

[@nireus2299]

my favorite Pokemon ever,idk why but i saw her once and my heart was stolen. And now i always try to get one in my plays

[@kyle666man]

HYPED for Crawdaunt!! One of my favs 🦞

[@PrincessGoth574]

I love altaria so much, my favoruite dragon type. Ive used her so many times in playthroughs but never really thought about growth rates, I always level my team perfectly evenly when playing.

[@Red-jq6bw]

Oh! My favorite mon from this gen!

[@xfluffytraxy4996]

Fluffy dragon Birb ❤

[@Nikolaj11]

"So I 1hko Sydney's Mightyena and Absol" "From there the fight gets much easier!" Me: "You're gonna 0hko the rest of his mons?"

[@TheKingQazbatt]

the rage pillow

[@raulnatokapa]

Maybe Scott already knows this, but a tip: torkoal has an awful special defense, that's why dragon breath was good since dragon moves are special in Gen 3. So whenever possible always try to kill with good special attack the torkoal.

[@kennethwan91]

Thanks Scott for doing a solo playthrough of Altaria. One of my favourite Pokemons after Kingdra. You're amazing. Hope you can do a Kingdra solo run in Pokemon Crystal soon.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

But I just did Kingdra in yellow! It’s on cooldown for a little bit.

[@kennethwan91]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon no worries, I watched that on the day of release 🤗 take care and take it easy, Scott.

[@thecarterberry4308]

2 Emerald bangers back to back!!

[@MrVelyx]

"Kote! Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an. Coruscanta a'den mhi, Vode an." -Mandalorian Song adapted by the GRA. Never forgott you, Sev

[@PenguinMafia336]

Haven’t been able to comment in a couple videos, but I’m super excited for this dragon

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Good to see you again!

[@Matt_Zoran]

Damn you're uploadinh to fast. You're always my go to while driving and I had a lot of homeoffice during the last couple of days. Thank you for giving me sanity while driving long ways.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

You’re welcome!

[@lyonnaismatt]

I love you Scott, but please please please don't spoil the results of videos that you uploaded literally yesterday 😂 or at least warm us first! Gracias and thank you so much for all the fantastic content!

[@heartnet40]

I think human error has been a really entertaining and underrated aspect of these Emerald playthroughs, its kind of exciting and a demonstration of how good certain Pokemon are by how they bounce back from setbacks and misplays. Its definitely a small skill that not every Pokemon is going to have.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Human error and human judgement is what makes the story in most cases. These would be a lot less interesting if AI just stomped the game.

[@heartnet40]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon I definitely am very much hyped when a Gen 3 Pokemon I love does exceptional despite the setbacks. While I'm excited to potentially see you play more optimized playthroughs with Emerald in the future, right now I am in love with seeing the raw experience. That Milotic playthrough was so cathartic as a long time Milotic fan.

[@fahkyew7776]

I think the story can still be great. It just requires different framing. I think it would be super interesting to see the best possible decisions one could make throughout the game. And even then, a perfect player can still lose to bad luck or a fight that's just statistically improbable to win without spending a ton of time leveling up. I appreciate how these videos turn out, though. Sorry for necro bumping this thread, I'm binge watching a ton of Scott's content haha

[@theGinthebuilding]

Scott keep the emerald content coming!

[@speedey1997]

Great video! One thing I noticed: I think if you played this Mon again you should go for another nature. Especially with the erratic growth rate you should optimize more for the early game as this is the hardest part for Altaria and where you struggled the most. So I think you should pick an attack boosting nature that leaves your defence intact (like special defence or maybe even speed lowering nature). I think that would really help in the early game which is where you could save a lot of time. Also the +Attack is useful in the later stages of the game as well as you still use a handful of physical moves. Otherwise well played and greetings from Germany. Love your content!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Optimizing for the early game can be really shortsighted in a single attempt playthrough because Steven is so difficult for so many mons.

[@speedey1997]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Thats true, thanks for the answer, bro. Maybe if you do a second playthrough one day, you could try it. Keep up the great work, man!

[@TripleShizzle]

Great run!

[@NeoGodHand]

Sky Attack should act like Fly and Glaive Rush together. You fly up, semi-invulnerable, then attack with a flying type move with base on the level of (or greater than) Hyper Beam, but then the next attack after you land is guaranteed to hit you.

[@tylerhartman3034]

It depresses me that Altaria performed so terribly!! It's always so powerful whenever you have to fight it in game!! I also can't wait for when Kyogre finally gets a run!!

[@InfernosReaper]

Some of Scott's move choices were not great. He kept dragon dance far too long for what ended up being made to be a special attacker. Maybe if he gave it more physical moves for that play then it might've worked out better. Otherwise, just drop it.

[@indiradevi6217]

@@InfernosReaper steel wing was def better fro tate nd liza

[@InfernosReaper]

@@indiradevi6217 70 x 2 is definitely better than any other move he was doing against the rock types.

[@oEllery]

Altaria is such a cool Pokemon design.

[@grinbrothers]

Neat to hear your Milotic run went well but the Altaria run here interests me much more. Along with a being a cute Pokémon, I remember it as my eldest brother's signature Pokémon in his Hoenn experience (and a funny scenario where he ended up with three dragons on his team at one point due to Altaria and Flygon not starting off as dragons). 1:09 - I guess it uses it's bird feet? There's something strange about Altaria learning Dragon Claw, though I suppose you could extend that line of thought to how uniquely odd it is that Altaria is a dragon in general. 3:33 - Yeah, Sing + Astonish; I assumed that was going to be the case. I know you're only using Astonish but I'm surprised at how little damage you're dealing. Geodude's defence is nothing scoff at, even when facing a fully evolved dragon. 6:06 - The three Abra's is in a row was an insane bit of a luck. You clearly used most of your luck finding said Abras and that is why your catch rate was so low. 10:44 - I don't think you needed those extra couple levels for dealing with Brawly. Of course it's going to be helpful down the line but for Brawly, you were already more than prepared. 11:42 - I caught that Rocket Grunt joke there. Those Aqua grunts don't seem happy with the mix-up. 13:38 - Oh, you weren't aware of Electric resisting Steel? I suppose Steel attacks are not commonly used. It's a rare defensive feature to Electric types (who still have the puzzling case of not resisting Water). 15:57 - What about using Thief against Watson? No recoil unlike Take Down and isn't double resisted like Steel Wing is against Magneton (I believe Steel resisted Dark back in Gen 3). 19:27 - So you've ended up using Safeguard a fair bit; interesting. 22:32 - It does gain a powerful STAB physical move... but said move is Sky Attack which you already dismissed. Given the typing of the physical moves in Gen 3, a lot of them make sense that Altaria can't be taught them. It's a welcome surprise that this bird can be taught Iron Tail and Earthquake. 27:41 - I already see someone has commented this but keeping Steel Wing around for the Tate and Liza battle seems like it would be the best way to go about things. It is a move that can be buffed by Dragon Dance after all. 33:41 - Steel Wing would have also been beneficial here as well. I'd suggest Iron Tail as an option but the lack of accuracy on that move makes it a crazy choice (if you can even get it before the Rlite Four). 35:15 - So with Winona, Wally, Drake and in the remakes, Lisia, there are a fair few Altaria users in Hoenn.

[@alijohar4937]

Back to back emerald vids ♥️

[@dxjxc91]

I love how gen 3 added so many dragon type Pokemon. And a few of them are even non pseudo/legendary (which is something we rarely see after gen 3).

[@aeiouys1]

Hi Scott, love the videos. Would you ever consider leaving a few frames with the learnset up on screen in between elite 4 members? This would probably change/impact the flow of the video there, but I found myself wishing I could pause and look over the movepool between battles

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Will consider.

[@treyparkerofficial]

I love these runs! Without a doubt the best poketuber, the dedication and detail is amazing. Now for a question, have you ever thought of doing a Yellow version Missingno run??

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yeah, I get asked about it a lot. Eventually I’ll do it! For now just check out Jrose’s red / blue Missingno run.

[@treyparkerofficial]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon I have seen that run, believe me. However, I have to say that I think you've surpassed even Jrose at this point. Your dedication and how much you enjoy the game makes me enjoy the runs so much. But thanks for acknowledging me!!

[@mickgorro]

Fun facts about the Italian version: 1. Whitney is called Chiara; 2. Clair is called Sandra; 3. Growl is called ruggito (roar); 4. Roar is called boato (boom).

[@Junksaint]

One of my favorites.

[@OmniscientVoid]

I would suggest for mixed attacker runs to lower the HIGHER defense stat. Yes your stat total will be slightly lower, but you will be shoring up your weakest point and those stats are therefore worth more. Just a small suggestion, I love watching/listening to your vids while playing PokeMMO!!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

However, defense is needed for Steven, so that is a factor I am always considering!

[@uli11]

You know, I hadn't really noticed this until today... but I really think gen3 is my least favorite gen of pokemon (no shade to those who love it- there's something for everyone!). Yellow was my first gen and I loved it, and gold was my second and I probably played it even more than yellow. Emerald I just kind of... lost interest. I think its the combination of the pacing of the game, and rhe map layout, but I fell out of interest with Pokemon from that. It wasnt until I was grown up and picked yellow back up that I fell back in love w pokemon. Now I think my favorite is gen 4, specifically HGSS. It's just interesting to me how each generation is so radically different from the others, even with the core mechanic being more or less the same. Anyway, loved this one Scott! Really curious about how this series will continue to evolve!

[@RezeedTheDataspirit]

How nice of you to give us a double feature.

[@Magic_bunny132]

Altaria is my favourite Pokémon!^^

[@shimauta1941]

My heart is broken by the results. Really hoped for better.

[@ninolifegawd4826]

We Need a SKY ATTACK, SKULL BASH, SOLAR BEAM, and maybe something like Future Sight gameplay strictly since u HATE these type of moves 😂🤣

[@Ectar2003]

Interesting seeing trainers with multiples of the same pokemon having different natures. I first noticed w/ Gladia's Glalie because the first one's stats are so evenly distributed. So the first Glalie has a neutral nature and the second on appears to have a Mild nature. The first Sealeo has a Brave nature (thematically appropriate for a lead mon), and the second one has a neutral nature.

[@emeraldbeedrill]

On road 104 (beach) under fisher (4-6 step down) is hidden Heart Scale And on Slateport Beach Right Above Old man with Zigzagoon one Heart Scale. Use it

[@Penguindude1]

I love Altaria, because it's such a poofy birb. Also, yay, Safeguard was useful.

[@DG-nv4pf]

Featherless altaria is a cursed image

[@DillyBobBanana]

For badge 3 steel wing is resisted or quad resisted with magneton it might be better to keep peck it suffers the same resistances and ends up at 15 base power because of stab bonus I believe instead of 17 that steel wing does but it has 100% accuracy instead of 90% like steel wing

[@dudeist_priest]

36:42 Wailord falling on the rest of the team was a nice touch 😂

[@darkessinzero]

Would it be beneficial in your Gen 3 runs to have a hord of pokemon with the ability pickup so you get more items to sell and maybe even some more rare candies to use in the end? Or do you think that this would make your metrics to uneven?

[@animefreak8535]

Yes one of my favorite Pokemon the cloud Dragon Bird

[@ChrisZi.]

Good Job Jcott

[@redreoicy6698]

2:40 since damage calculations are based on the ratio between the two battling pokemons' stats, there is no difference between going from 40 to 36, or from 400 to 360. Although more stat points are gained/lost, it's the same 10% increase/decrease in damage.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I think I probably misunderstand what you're trying to communicate. However, there is a big difference in boosting a stat that the Pokemon has a higher base stat in...

[@redreoicy6698]

There's a big difference in how many points get added. But there is no difference in the change of damage. Regardless of how many stat points a stat has, going from a neutral nature to a positive nature is approximately 10% more/less damage. You shouldn't worry about how big the base stat is, only how important that stat is to the run.

[@DillyBobBanana]

altaria such a cute underrated dragon type without looking so much like a dragon type which is neat I wish it was better it got a mega and that dragon fairy type is great but sadly cant use it that way anymore

[@kevinsips3658]

Emerald double feature, I'm a big fan

[@Fallenhero4567]

Thanks Scott!

[@TheMoogleKing93]

Hype for the least dragony dragon

[@SjaduK]

You've mentioned that you chose a mild nature because you rather lose a small amount of Defense than a lot of SpDef. That only seems like a good idea, but in actuality it makes no difference or it might even be a mistake. Damage is calculated as a Attack/Defense times many other factors. The negative nature effectively just adds a 1/0.9 factor into the equation, meaning you take ~11% more damage regardless. When it comes to defense it might be even better to lower your higher defense value: Lets say you get attacked from a Pokemkn with 100Atk using a 100 power move. You have 50 Def. You will take 100/50*100=200 damage. Now add 11% onto that and you take 222 damage. Now assume you have 200 def instead: You will take 100/200*100=50 damage. Add 11% and you take 55.5 damage. Relatively speaking you will take the same amount of extra damage, (11%), but in absolute numbers you will lose more HP if you lower an already bad defense value. In other words: If you have a strong defense you can afford a little less of it. But if you already lack defense and you lose some more, you're in trouble.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Ahhh this contextualizes another comment that I just read. When thinking about it defensively this makes sense. One final thing to consider of course is type effectiveness. Sometimes it doesn’t make a lot of sense to try to shore up one stat because those hits are just going to KO anyways. IE. Terrible special defense, 4x weakness to ice

[@SjaduK]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Yes, of course. There might be some cases where lowering the lower stat might still be better. I was just referring to your reasoning why you chose the mild nature. I'm sure that you will work the perfect strategy out, if you ever have the time to do re-runs!

[@LongNguyen-qx6cy]

Scott, here’s a suggestion. In order to get a TM at the game corner, catching 5 Zigzagoons for Pickup as you grind and then you can sell those items to save for a TM before Wattson!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Unfortunately my rules ban pickup so I can’t use that strat. It’s just to rng based and makes comparing results much messier.

[@THEDEY2]

Not sure about today's run... i'm pretty sure Altaria will do much better when the re-run comes ^^

[@ScottE-2]

My favorite Dragon from gen 3, it used to be Flygon but Altaria has grown much more on me in recent years. That solo run has got to be one of the harsher ones, while some time could've been saved with proper training the early game is too punishing to a lack of responses to certain types. But I don't think it'll be as utterly brutal as Volbeat and Illumise. They have Eratic and Fluctuating respectively with some subpar starting moves. They both can learn Thief but early on... they don't have much to work with until after Roxanne. Their best special attacking moves are Thunderbolt and Giga Drain. Hidden Power will have to be Fire to deal with threats like Skarmory however Volbeat's Special Attack is way lower than it's physical but has Tail Glow to somewhat compensate. While Illumise does have better special attack, it doesn't learn any special moves naturally. With the exception of Silver Wind as an egg move, it has no stab moves. To add insult to injury, it isn't until Sun and Moon that they get a boost to their defenses from 55 to 75. Something both of them desperately need if they want to even sniff the chance of surviving Steven. Those two would easily have some of the slowest times for the bug types.

[@davidwagner3710]

Curious if the time investment to get the dragon claw TM would help with the Elite 4

[@cazcappy]

my Blaziken will forever live in fear of Winona's Altaria

[@gaminggoddess85]

The second cutest dragon birb after murderchicken manakete Fa from Fire Emblem.

[@shaynecarter-murray3127]

I feel like the starting moveset is the biggest factor for the first gym or two. A high stat beast with trash moves seems to have a much harder early game than a weak 1st stage 'mon with a super effective skill

[@valor1omega]

I hate facing this thing. Facing the gym leader with it makes trying to give it a status condition is annoying as soon as you do the freaking thing only needs to be withdrawn to heal it. I did a pokemon challenge of my own with Nidoqueen and every time I paralyzed it with Body slam she withdrew it healing items status condition. This pokemon gave me the most problems and forced me to train a lot. Trying the solo challenge with no items made me realize several things. 1. I had no idea how much I actually relied on items to get me out of trouble 2. I have more respect for those who do solo itemless runs 3. How annoying some pokemon/trainers can be 4. I started to rely on that pokemon with pickup ability (had five of them for a while) to make extra money while training. 5. I will be leaving solo challenges to the professionals

[@MrMacdaddymcfly]

If possible you should try to edit Yellow and play with a Mewtwo that has a different level up group. It would be cool to see how fast it can actually go and exactly how much of a difference it would make.

[@input-latency2684]

hello person scrolling by, hope you have a good rest of your day. also you say “sky attack will never see serious play on this channel” but guess what Gen 1 Red/Blue MissingNo. has for it’s starting moveset?

[@thatturbotruck]

You need to port in draco meteor in some run in the future. I used that move with a Dragonite in hgss and was surprised how powerful it was. 130 base power + stab + dragon fang.

[@mr.cauliflower3536]

Unless you're gonna be EV-ing the other defensive stats it actually makes sense to lower the higher one to avoid taking huge damage. However for altaria I think spdef might be more useful since ice is special

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Lower defense also makes the final fight against Steven harder. Where as lowering special defense doesn’t really impact that fight at all. It’s worth saying that Steven is really brutal and I’ve got burned before not planning for him from the very start.

[@mr.cauliflower3536]

Also I remembered that natures also boost EV gains, though I'm not sure if it's always been like this

[@bobjoe3492]

Sing and yawn are similar in that they take 2 turns to put your enemy to sleep

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Hahah

[@commandercoldbird1777]

Question Scott. How come you don't catch a few zigzagoon for pickup spam in your playthroughs? Route 1 ziggy have a chance to pickup nuggets. And with how grind intensive some pokemon are, that would be a great way to get more money. Plus it'll save money on healing items and pokeballs because they'll be picking up super potions, great balls, ultra balls and a bunch of other useful stuff

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Rules, see description. Pickup is banned unless it's on the solo mon

[@Narses101]

It wasnt a misplay against the double teaming Kingdra, it was amazing Gen 1 Good Ai. Scott sees a dragon move is super effective and keeps using it.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Ahh! Of course.

[@skeetermania3202]

Aerial Ace and EQ’s coverage would be sufficient for the Elite Four. Because of that, you get a free space for Rest or Substitute, the latter of which improves setup ability.

[@tesladrew2608]

Don't forget Steven

[@skeetermania3202]

@@tesladrew2608 Of course, there does need to be an option for Skarmory. Just add Flamethrower or Fire Blast.

[@Leotheclimber75]

Was about to ask about the stab display against tate&Liza AS you spoke about it lol

[@loulou3676]

You're overlooking a very reasonable strategy which is to simply gamble until you have 4000 coins :D :D :D

[@Gungho73]

That "fishing for a blizzard miss" feels like being some fire type against Gyarados in Red/Blue single mon runs and hoping for no Hydro Pump. When the balance comes down to that that's a shame for these single mon playthroughs.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yeah, it does feel like that!

[@jptheflipper3825]

well that rougher than I thought it was going to be, Altaria is a lesser dragon type yes, but with Dragon Dance it has potential, I think with a replay later, it could do great, give it a mild nature to boost special attack and have Dragon Dance for physical. Also I was rewatching your Eeveelutions playthroughs earlier today and I had a thought, what if you back ported Leafeon into Yellow like you did with Misdreavus, I think or even into Crystal when you do the Kanto trio, it would be be so OP, S tier for either game especially Yellow where it could have Swords Dance for badge boosts, razor leaf for crits and body slam because its you, give it a think you might like

[@InfernosReaper]

Dragon Dance didn't mater much because he focused more on special moves He either should used more physical moves or dropped Dragon Dance. Instead, he ended up with a "worst of both worlds"

[@jptheflipper3825]

@@InfernosReaper its an option yes, dragon dance, earthquake, aerial ace maybe rest would cover most of the bases, but remember Dragon dance boosts speed as well as attack, if speed is an issue it is useful for that

[@InfernosReaper]

@@jptheflipper3825 To a degree, yes the speed boost is helpful by itself, but by neglecting the attack side of thing, he was leaving a lot of performance on the table.

[@SquirrelGamingProductions]

Keeping Dragonbreath on the same moveset as Ice Beam was a waste. Altaria should've gone for an all physical ending set of Dragon Dance / Aerial Ace / Hidden Power Ghost / Earthquake in the midgame part of this video, with a sudden shift to Sunny Day / Solar Beam / Flamethrower / Ice Beam vs Glacia / Drake / Wallace / Steven

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yeah, but Dragonbreath is cool ;)

[@SquirrelGamingProductions]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon true its cool As far as your nature +Atk -Speed is probably your best bet. You needed the extra damage vs Roxanne, it'll help Hidden Power Ghost ranges vs Tate & Liza, and very few things that are faster than you can actually threaten you, especially with Dragon Dance Another commenter said this too but there's negative value in saving Rare Candies with fluctuating growth rate since you level faster by getting levels. Burn them as soon as you level up after you get them for max exp

[@Chefvonbreezy]

I actually really like Alteria a lot. It’s just very underwhelming for a dragon Pokémon. Dragon dance is a broken move tho either way you should be able to pull it off with minimal effort. Double team is a non factor with Aerial ace, earthquake, and probably return with dragon dance for the E4 most likely for me. Flamethrower is nice but dragon dance is going to make everything else hit way harder.

[@PegbordFegs]

Ah yes, 55% accuracy, AKA the incompetently-rigged coin flip

[@shadowtitanx3962]

Moreso than Hypnosis.