What if Kingdra was in gen1? - Pokemon Yellow Solo Challenge

[@Catastrophe90]

Fun fact: Kingdra can learn Body Slam via Move Tutor in FR/LG (Seadra still cannot), so you could probably justify Kingdra learning that move in R/B/Y. I think it's the only movepool difference between Seadra and Kingdra in FR/LG

[@movezig5]

Kingdra _also_ learns Body Slam through TR in Sword and Shield, while Seadra _also_ does not, so this is pretty consistently the case throughout the rest of the series.

[@azeria1]

@@movezig5 that’s just strange tbh lots of weird move quarks the biggest I can think of is heatran it can’t learn eruption at all you can only get one in pokemon ranger one of heatrans best moves and one used in competitive is only available in a side game

[@valor1omega]

Shouldn't only what it can and can't learn in G1-G3 actually matter? Seeing as how much they messed with between the better G3 games and the g4+ games. It's like trying to use a ps 5 game to justify something in a PS1 game. Doesn't really work nor count, ya know?

[@FireFog44]

FRLG is a gen 3 game, and I believe the first time since gen 1 where Body Slam was available as a teachable move, meaning there’s never been a generation where Body Slam could be taught that Kingdra couldn’t learn it.

[@FifthPromise]

Came here to say this, would be interesting to see how this would end up with body slam

[@Secre.SwallowtailYT]

as a kid i use to think kingdra was epic, i always thought horsea was just the cutest thing ever and when gen2 finally came out it got a big upgrade, glad to see it getting some love :)

[@C_Train74]

That Growl on a Pokémon with 20 HP was peak Surge.

[@SnowyTotodile]

Aaaa, this was such a blast to watch! You should totally keep making gen 1 backports. I loved watching this and Misdreavus!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks Snowy! Can’t wait to try out one of your backports!

[@piratebear3126]

When Gen 6 changed the critical hit mechanics to be weaker but more consistent I started running crit abuse Kingdra competitively. It has Sniper so it still gets 2.25x power, Focus Energy + Scope Lens guarantees a crit every attack, and crits cancel Draco Meteor’s Sp Atk drop. Everything stacking on top of each other makes it’s pretty good stats excel. I also wasn’t a huge fan of Kingdra’s design in 2D games, but it got cooler in 3D and it’s beta design is pretty cool too.

[@Caun-88]

Gen 2 baby Pokemon would be interesting to backport for challenge runs some day, seems like sensible choice, like for examples a race between Magby and Elekid or how Tyrogue would fare compared to Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. The back porting thing is a cool idea I'm on board with the other viewers who are into it.

[@anonymone453]

Idk if Gyarados not being a dragon is for balance reasons. The fact that they made Dragon weak to Dragon and then made the only damage-dealing dragon move do flat damage is evidence that they weren't really thinking about it all that hard Edit: and let's not forget that the reason Gorochu doesn't exist is because they thought it'd make the Pikachu line too OP. Raichu. Too OP. Raichu.

[@Naxhus2]

See also: ghost moves, bug moves, poison moves, flying moves.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

Gyarados would've arguably been absolutely op if it was Water/Dragon. It already has pretty great stats and its movepool is actually pretty diverse.

[@Naxhus2]

@@ShiningJudgment666 The question is not "would it have been too strong" the question is "would the developers have given a shit"

[@anonymone453]

@Naxhus2 Exactly this. Like, Alakazam is top tier almost completely by accident. They fucked up Psychic's weaknesses so bad that you're better off using a STAB *fighting* move than anything it's actually weak to.

[@anonymone453]

@ShiningJudgment666 So make it evolve at a higher level. Or with an item that's only available late game. Or change its stats. There are plenty of different ways to balance a Pokemon. If Gyarados was meant to be a dragon, it'd just be a dragon. No, I think there was just a design ethos in those earlier games and the idea of Gyarados being a dragon didn't fit in with that design ethos for reasons other than balance.

[@GraceAndGlorySmash]

I'd love to see a mini series with traded versions of Alakazam, Gengar, Machamp, and Golem. Routing around the exp boost and disobedience thresholds sounds interesting. Maybe even include the in-game trade exclusive guys like Marcel the Mr. Mime or Dux the Farfetch'd.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Fun idea!

[@christopherfleetwood5252]

IIrc one of the Gen 1 games had an in game Machoke trade, I forgot all about it until recently because I assumed that Game Freak would not let the i game trade evolve and so never bothered. 😅

[@garretnordlund1979]

​@christopherfleetwood5252 correct it's in the underground passage

[@ktvx.94]

I like how faithful you were with Kingdra's movepool, youtubers tend to be too generous with them. However, the two-colored sprite feels off. In Yellow, sprites use 2 shades of the same hue + black and white. So close!

[@skeetermania3202]

Any examples with other Pokétubers?

[@MarkofWisdom]

kingdra is one of the few pokemon that has no issues going to a gen 1 game since it's special attack and defense are the same. I love seeing these crossgen runs, they're really fun to watch and very creative For moveset-I actually disagree with putting agilty and hydro pump later in the learnset-if you actually check the gen 2 movepools for kingdra and seadra, they learn moves at the same levels. I think most (all?) trade pokemon are the same-both the middle stage and final stage pokemon learn the (mostly) the same moves at the same level, unless there is a significant type change like onix -> steelix or scyther -> scizor. Even the gen 4 extra evolutions like Probopass and Magnezone seem to have the same level up learnset and levels as their prior evolutions (Nosepass and Magneton)

[@hhjan594]

One reason Gyarados was given the flying type is that its design is based on the "Koinobori", a Japanese kite-like flag thing designed based on a Karp, that is often hung out on Japanese national children's day. Just google that term and you will know why that resembles Gyarados, that thing is something fish-dragon looking that looks like it flies in the sky.

[@InfernosReaper]

The problem is that it goes against the legend of the carp and the waterfall, which is the entire basis for magikarp and its evolution I almost get the feeling like Dragon type didn't exist when they first made it, which is why half of Lance's team is Flying type

[@hhjan594]

@@InfernosReaper it really doesn't conflict. Pokémon are normally a combination of different concepts together, and this is how Gyarados turned out to be. At the end of the day, Gyarados still resembles an Eastern serpent like dragon, so it fits the legend of Karp waterfall dragon legend , but the design and typing came from the Koinobori. It's just as simple as that.

[@GerikDT]

As I see it, they probably were planning on introducing several Dragon-types in generation 1, as they figured it would be a popular type, but decided not to for the sake of balance and wanting to keep it rare and mysterious. Other candidates I'd say were Charizard, Seadra and even Aerodactyl. In three cases, they switched the Dragon-type with Flying, and in Seadra's case they just dropped it entirely. Of course, you could still argue for their Flying-type status, as you could with most dragons, but it makes no sense to create all these clearly dragon-inspired designs without at least initially planning to make them Dragon-types. Flying is a very broad type that can in theory encapsulate most birds, dragons and even many bug-based designs, but if a design could logically adhere to 3+ different types, they typically use a hierarchy to determine what they eventually land on, prioritizing the more niche types. If the Bug-type turned out quite OP in gen 1, and Beedrill had "coincidentally" been turned into a Poison/Flying-type, it would still make logical sense, but you'd raise an eyebrow and probably come to a conclusion as to why. Dragon is even more niche than Bug.

[@InfernosReaper]

@@GerikDT I have suspected that a few Types were later additions during the development process. It's probably which is why all Rock types except the fossil ones are also Ground and why Brock's in charge of the Rock Gym, which has no Rock trainers. Dragon likely was something that was thought up later, which is why there was only 1 move for it and the resistances/weaknesses feels a bit less fleshed out than some of the others

[@InfernosReaper]

@@hhjan594 Perhaps, but *why* is the koinobori a thing? After looking it up, the answer connects to the waterfall story, apparently. While not surprised, I actually was kinda hoping it'd just a neat appreciation of fishermen or something

[@lamiaprincess6371]

This was a ton of fun. These Gen I port backs are really cool, I cannot wait until we get to port back Meganium into Gen I. I am very convinced that Meganium will be really good throughout :)

[@tylerd1297]

Its a good Swords Dance user but not having leech seed without breeding makes it a little worse than Venusaur, I think.

[@lamiaprincess6371]

@@tylerd1297 Leech Seed is really bad in Gen I, Meganium having access to Earthquake is huge

[@aussiegamerplays7284]

@@lamiaprincess6371 not combined with toxic it isnt

[@skarmory93]

​@@aussiegamerplays7284 or the overpowered sleep with sleep powder

[@aussiegamerplays7284]

@@skarmory93 people underestimate parasect and spore in gen 1

[@alexandrkrupka1766]

Kingdra can learn Body Slam in Gen 3 so I would have given him access to Body Slam in this playthrough.

[@greyscaleadaven]

Cool video idea! I might give this ROM patch a try, because in my rebalancing RBY notes I've included a change to seadra's typing to make it stand out and increase its overall viability (Water -> Water Dragon) while adding some weaker dragon moves like twister and dragonbreath to make dragon type pokemon feel like... well actual dragons (also giving lance enough dragons to have at least a team of primarily dragon pokemon and not flying ones lmao). Giving it a test even with buffed stats would give me a more accurate reading of how that might affect the balance of the game. Thanks for all your cool work, and looking forward to finishing the video!

[@mellysandshrew]

So happy to see another one of these backward imported mon videos! It's a fun little shake-up, I can't wait for whichever one you have planned for the next one!

[@ScottE-2]

Kingdra with its egg move Aurora Beam would definitely make the early game way faster and better as would Seadra and Horsea.

[@banditrests]

I’m crossing my fingers for politoed next. This series is so cool.

[@Ruckus907]

Hey Scott, great job! I love your videos and the fact that you've put so much effort into the overlays, programming, and your optimizations. These videos in particular are some of my favorites, the extra thought process of what would this Gen 2/3/4 whatever pokemon have in gen 1 is very interesting.

[@frostbite2890]

Gyarados, Aerodactyl and Kingdra - the dragons Gen 1 needed and deserved, but never got... looking forward to it!

[@BryanM86]

Ya dragonite definitely wasn’t a dragon

[@DesmondShannon87]

I thought Kingdra was Gen 2?

[@priestesslucy]

Or Seadra. The pokedex literally calls it The Dragon Pokemon. It's not like Gen 1 had any shortage of water Pokemon.

[@shadowtitanx3962]

Or Poison types for that matter

[@BryanM86]

@@DesmondShannon87 it’s not

[@UnknownVir]

It is interesting to see port backs, I think looking at gen 3 moveset as well as gen 2 moves would make a lot of sense.

[@SamBFP]

Love the back ports! Fun to see how newer Pokémon handle the first gen, great work Scott!

[@kevinkurani93]

The ports back to gen 1 are really fun. Keep doing them. Nice work!

[@shaneburke7274]

Hey man, I dont watch all your videos because they are a little long but I watched this one because Kingdra is one of my favorite pokemon and I just wanted to tell ya that I loved it! The layout is so cool! I love how you have all the stats showing, you explain the reasons behind what you are doing, and you even have custom artwork for certain trainers! Thats so cool! also, I love the commentary. Though I know its a script, its cool to hear your reaction as its happening on screen even though you already know the answer. for example, when you were fighting Koga the first time, you said "And I actually do hit the first 2 venonats" making me think that you aren't gonna one shot the next one but then you do and its just cool to have you narrate it as if you are watching it with us. Just wanted to share. Thanks for the video man, I enjoyed it. : )

[@888Grim]

These Gen I port-back videos are awesome, but I'm gonna enjoy anything you make, so make whatever you want or whatever is most convenient =)

[@alexolijar7531]

I think an interesting challenge would be to engineer a Pokémon (typing, base stats, learn set, tm pool) to try to minimize the amount of time playing a play through. You could use some restrictions (a tm learn set limit, basing the learn set levels on a starter Pokémon, etc) to provide some structure and balance but it would be really interesting to see what you and others create.

[@kenb2957]

It would be pretty cool to see. Poison type for sure idk secondary typing something like dragon or psychic for resistances, high speed special and hp, dragon rage on starting move pool plus the standard beam/bolt access, maybe thrash? It sounds like I'm just re making Nidoking but with better stats (and dragon rage) tbh.

[@JacktheRah]

To add onto this: You have a certain amount of max stat points which you can distribute how you want but with a minimum of points (idk maybe 40?`50?) in each stat. The catch is that you can only add 8 moves you can learn in total plus 10 TMs. But like you have finite resources and can try to make the best Pokemon with these stats. Another fun idea would be to determine certain type combinations from which you can chose. Idk like Psychic/Bug or Fire/Dragon. Meaning you can't chose completely freely. Maybe even randomise the type combinations. Though the type pairings might be better suited for a different run other than trying to do the fastest Pokemon with limited resources.

[@Shenaldrac]

This requires some hard limits on base stats to prevent people from just having 999 in each stat.

[@cmck362]

An interesting exploit you might want to allow or ban is deciding if HM moves can be learned via level up. If you're crafting a pokemon from the ground up for the fastest playtime you can do some fun things with early HM access even if you can't get rid of them. For cut you could go from misty directly to rock tunnel. You'd skip going to bills house and the SS Anne. That's a pretty huge time save and it only costs one move slot. If you learned both strength and surf naturally you could skip the safari zone which is a minor time save, but both surf and strength are usable in battles. It's definitely not ideal to face the E4 with 3 HMs, but the time saved skipping those portions of the game might make up for it.

[@alexolijar7531]

@@Shenaldracyeah I think probably allowing the base stats of a third form starter is fair

[@tsawy6]

Whilst i do love the anachronistic runs, i think personally i like them being rare like they are!

[@CyberchaoX]

Yes, that is exactly the reason that Gyarados was not a dragon. An interview with a developer revealed this.

[@kennethwan91]

Thanks Scott for making the Kingdra video ❤❤❤. It is my favourite Pokemon. Hopefully you will show us the Kingdra solo run in your Pokemon Crystal/Silver/Gold videos too 🤗

[@mistermr2147]

I think Flygon would be a really interesting Gen 3 pokemon to port into Gen 1. Like Kingdra, it's a Dragon-type that has equal special stats. It also has a pretty feasible Gen 1 moveset (Earthquake, Rock Slide, Fire Blast are some.of the highlights) and completely unique defensive profile (Ground type not weak to water or grass is cool). I'd love to see a RB-style Flygon sprite as well. Just something to think about, great video as always!

[@Speedrunner0218]

Oh boy. This Pokemon in Gen 1 has no weaknesses since the only dragon move is dragon rage. I predict fastest yellow time so far

[@zenitfan4life]

Growth rate, move pool, and attack are arguably more important than weaknesses.

[@Deaf_Cat]

I love these backport videos. I'm still excited to possibly see agility luvdisc in gen 1.

[@ji30019hq]

Love these videos where you bring pokémon back to Yellow.

[@PapaSmurfJuju]

Also Kingdra is my favorite Dragon type Pokémon so I’m happy this was made.

[@nustacular]

I think something that could speed up the training a bit and make Kingdra more exciting is giving it the “traded” Pokémon increased EXP but also won’t obey you if you over level. It’s one of the things made to balance out the not slow growth rate similar to Alakazam, Gengar, Golem etc

[@JustinnePunsalang]

I haven't paid attention to the credits before and I am so happy that you have already reached Generation V. I am not supporting you monetarily, I hardly comment, but I am a silent supporter for sometime. Glad how things are turning out for you. I always look forward to your weekly videos.

[@FallenDesiny314]

This was really cooll. It's so cool and fun to port back these pokemon. Can't wait for the next one!

[@laureate90]

Definitely enjoying this format, mate, I hope you keep it up 🙂

[@hushmychild6745]

I love seeing how pokemon look from other advanced gens when they are introduced to gen 1. The sprite work is always interesting.

[@tjcddc]

Love how Scott looks mothera in the eyes, and goes surfing on him despite it resisting water being ice/grass this time

[@kennycallinan]

Your videos are very well-done and are a lot of fun to watch. Keep up the great work! And yes, more back port videos are desired because I'm a gen 1 boomer and prefer pokemon in a gen 1 context 😂

[@kingcygnus]

I love this series. The back ports are so cool and interesting. I agree though that they should be done only when it’s to answer a specific question like Kingdra which is “how would a water/dragon type actually do in Gen 1?” Great content as always, Scott. Looking forward to the next one.

[@rovera91]

Coul you please do a playthrough where you “fix” gyarado’s type to water/dragon?

[@xfluffytraxy4996]

42:40 finally Seel the reason i like Seel so much is first of All it just looks so happy, but secondly seals were the spirit Animal of my partner, who sadly is Not Here with us anymore. So im Glad i can give this blubbery Boy a home and a Name 🙂 Also of course thanks for the run, i always found Kingdra really cool (same as Slowking), but never had anyone to trade with 😅

[@daveelliot7552]

I’d love to see a gyarados with the water dragon type play through in yellow. Would be a machine to maybe even rival mewto

[@florianwiese97]

I feel like you should put it in the tierlist even though it's Gen2. I also think this would be a great series ranking all those Gen2 Pokemon. Great video as always❤

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

There aren’t enough back ports yet. Of course there will be a tierlist. Eventually.

[@Kim_W]

Gen 2 Pokemon in gen 1 is a great idea, this was a fun watch and would love to see more ❤Kingdra was one of my favorite gen 2 Pokemon as a kid and I was so happy I had a card of it 🤭

[@DwunD016]

I'm surprised kingdra didn't get S tier. But high A tier is still great. Definitely love these backport videos. I'm trying to backport slaking into gen 1 lol. Although I've recently discovered certain GameShark codes work with Sanqui roms. I've been dabbling with changing starting move sets through that for certain mons

[@naraiceylob]

Moveset. Learning Bodyslam through tm would imo mean s tier.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

@@naraiceylob Yeah, it's movepool is pretty barren.

[@InfernosReaper]

@@ShiningJudgment666 It got Body Slam in Gen 3. Rumor has it, there may be a followup video to cover "what if Body Slam" Given how close to S-tier it was, it'll definitely get there, since he won't have to Surf grass and water mon to death on the Rock Tunnel journey

[@bateltheassistant]

I thought that Kingdra could do an s tier finish, because of the early game luck it had in the first playthrough.🤔 But I think despite it's great typing,it needed some kind of coverage to deal with the early grass types like in the case of the status condition junior trainer's case. But in the end it had some great results,and it did great with lance and oak.😊 I really liked the idea of creating a Pokemon yellow rom of Kingdra. I'd really like to explore that concept,and try out Breloom or Joltik in gen 1 , because I'd like to see how well their unique typing could do in yellow.🤔

[@InfernosReaper]

Body Slam wasn't available in Gen 2 except through trade. In Gen 3, Kingdra got access to it. I've heard a rumor he's going to do a followup with Body Slam to see how that goes

[@bateltheassistant]

@@InfernosReaper Yeah,body slam or even double edge could have been a solution for Kingdra in these cases,if it could have had an access to one of these . But keep in mind that even if that would be the case ,that would be helpful throughout the last segment of the early game ( Rock tunnel and SS Anne). If a trade back from gen 2 is really possible, I think that Kingdra can definitely have a sub 45 time. 🤔

[@mattulibarri6181]

I love this kind of video! Also I'm sure you know this but I was curious and looking at movesets and kingdra does learn body slam in gen 3. Since you can't learn body slam in gen 2 via tutor or TM I wonder if kingdra would have had body slam if he was in gen 1. I bet it would have. Thanks for the content Scott!

[@vgmaster-js2zv]

The way the type of Venemoth changes as I binge these videos is just great XD

[@breydenmckoryk4158]

Still waiting for the day Scott realizes that Venomoth is actually a Salamance/Onix type

[@n64_kfp]

Absolutely love back ports of newer Pokemon. There are so many cool things you could do with this.

[@lyonnaismatt]

I love it! I also really love the faithful mono generation runs too. Ahhhhhhhhhhh too many choices!

[@Surgemaster2012]

Is it me or does anyone love the music coming from the game's soundchip? Completely random, but I love it. Especially St Anne, Cinnabar Island and Gym battle themes. As a side note, Kingdra did well.

[@gaminggoddess85]

The original Pokemon Pinball had some solid tracks too. The Blue Field and its Catch 'Em theme are so, well, catchy. Made me never want to even play the Red Field lol.

[@MrZrbrownie]

Man, I remember when the Patreon list was implemented, and now you're in Gen 5!!! Love the support and growth of the channel.

[@DrivenArc]

I like to see pokemon given as much love as possible, especially in the early games where a lot of them just get a very raw deal, what with terrible stats, terrible movepools and the mismatch of types being effective in game. A series of backported pokemon and pokemon being given every move they could possibly learn (egg moves, time machine moves, Stadium or Special release moves) to make a sort of "Ultimate" version of the pokemon would be pretty fun. Especially the already high tier or Bruno tier pokemon. Even Ultimate Magikarp probably won't have enough to keep it from being hopeless, but Tackle and Dragon Rage might make it merely a slog to get through.

[@gerasimosst8643]

My first pokemon game with one of my favorite pokemon, instantly loving the video!

[@InfernosReaper]

To be real, if Gyrados was Water/Dragon, then it would be a just reward for grinding through the low levels with that trash fish(or paying the daycare) EDIT: Kingdra could learn Bodyslam in Gen 3 onward, so it should have been able to get it in Gen 1. Should probably check the Gens 2 & 3 movesets when backporting mon to cover moves that didn't exist in gen 2 but did in 1 & 3.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I did check all gen movesets. My goal is to make the Pokémon feel the most “gen1”. So I use the gen2 Kingdra and gen1 Seadra movesets as a base.

[@InfernosReaper]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Fair enough, I guess. Though, why no body slam? It's a gen 1 move that it *may* have gotten if gen 2 actually had a way to learn it, right? Is there going to be a followup for a "what if it had been able to get body slam?"

[@olavjorvik94]

Kingdra. My favourite water type ever since seing it at the 8th gym in my first Crystal run, on my very first cartridge game when it came out when I was 7 in 2001.🤩

[@cduke_Net_Architect]

This will be awesome. Easily one of my top 2/3 favorite Pokemon - in my favorite game.

[@cduke_Net_Architect]

Observation after watching the video: It really needs Body Slam or maybe even Headbutt to make it perform at the level that everyone seemed to expect. Not using its attack stat with a physical move really slowed it down at specific points.

[@sebarsht12]

Great video, Scott. Have you considered challenges where you take Mons that are at most PU by Smogon analysis and seeing if they would be viable in Yellow or Crystal (depending on typing).

[@tylerhartman3034]

Hey Scott how about a run with Lanturn? I feel like it would get astounding results with its excellent movepool! Having access to boltbeam+ surf would make it a monster! Kinda like Starmie lol

[@ShiningJudgment666]

Not really. STAB Electric/Water is cool but I feel it'll have a Lapras-like problem. Apart from HP, Lanturn's stats aren't overly great.

[@tylerhartman3034]

@@ShiningJudgment666 that sucks 😕

[@ShiningJudgment666]

@@tylerhartman3034 Actually it would probably be worse since Lapras is pretty good in Gen 1. Lanturn is faster but that's it. Lapras has it beat everywhere else. It also has the same Water/Ice/Electric thing that Starmie, Gyarados and Lanturn can do as a Water type.

[@tylerhartman3034]

@ShiningJudgment666 Yeah Lapras is pretty bulky because she can usually survive a Thunder from Starmie which is saying something

[@JacktheRah]

That was fun to watch! Also I want to say I very much like the Oak battle at the end. I've said it before but it just fits to naturally and is a lot of fun to watch.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

A great way to ensure I have time to show the entire credit sequence too!

[@snowyarticuno]

I always love seeing videos like this. I think it'd be neat if every once in a while you took a POkemon from the really later generations that you like, and see how they'd handle in Gen 1. Also be fun to see what "harder" pokemon have to deal with; like if you wanted a steel, dark or fairy pokemon or what someone who didn't attach themselves to a prior Pokemon could do with their movepool and so on. Movepool in general is always a fun question; some people always try to keep the signature moves, some pokemon only have moves that are from later generations so you kind of have to wing your way through it by looking at other similar Pokemon and those lead to interesting decisions, etc. one time i decided to try theory crafting, like, Rillaboom and its amazing how much of the movepool gets culled and how much you basically have to assemble a fully original moveset based on gen 1 trends. Or something like Grimmsnarl.

[@G0ATFAC3]

I can't believe your patrons have breached into Generation 5 already! You're growing so fast you may have to start slipping Digimon in there to avoid running out of space!

[@Draekmus]

Scott, Here’s a fun idea for future challenges: How fast can you beat Pokémon using optimal/only four moves? So, the idea is you have two challenges: Optimal Moves/Only Four. Optimal Moves is an addendum to your solo challenges where, for any battle, you can program your Pokémon to have any four moves it can legally learn in that generation, TMs included. Egg moves in any combination are allowed if the Pokémon meets certain criteria, such as being lower than C-tier. This is meant to help provide worse Pokémon have better performance metrics, especially if they have a move they learn later that would benefit them right away. This could help those especially with massive Brock splits. Only Four Moves is a challenge geared towards A-tier and better. You can choose any four moves that Pokémon can legally learn in that generation, including legal Egg Move combinations and Special Event Pokémon. HOWEVER, once you have chosen your four moves at the start of the game, THAT’S IT! You cannot learn nor replace any of those moves. Some of the best moves later in the game could be a liability in the beginning, such as Blizzard, so choose wisely! Definition of legality: in this context, a “legal” move covers any move -either through level-up, TM/HM, or move tutor- the Pokémon can learn in either its generation or any generation it can be ported to (I.e., Gen I Pokémon can have access to Gen I moves they can learn in Gen II, and vice-versa. Pokémon in Gen IV games can have any move they can learn in Gen III, but will not have access to Gen III or IV moves they learn in Gen V.) Egg moves: a legal Egg Move follows the same rules as any legal move, with the caveat that combinations of egg moves that cannot be obtained are disallowed. An exception to this rule should be noted if invoked. Event Moves: moves learned through Special Events (I.e., Surfing Pikachu) shall be considered legal, but incompatible with ALL Egg Moves. An exception could be made for special Pokémon at low tiers. Anyway, I thought this could make for an interesting challenge for some of your runs. How fast can Mewtwo beat Yellow with only four moves?

[@UnderstandSoccer]

I love the non gen 1 pokemon in gen 1! Great vid! And I like the Oak battle, too. No other Poketubers do that...

[@wideright7567]

I have a feeling Kingdra might just be the *king* of yellow

[@gaminggoddess85]

Better than the King of Limbo

[@ChrisNelson93]

I feel like this will be a great one

[@valor1omega]

Man I would like to see more of these done, i like how you tried your best to balance a g2 mon in a g1 game.

[@anni321]

I like this format. Interesting to see how the 'mons do. hope you're well today :)

[@enitheway]

I probably stated it in Misdreavus video as well but it's something that cannot be stated too often. The juice of these types of runs is the fact how the newer Pokémon would perform in previous generation with same limitation that others had. So 🦭Seel of approval for not adding Dragon Breath. Kanto games have been re-released couple of times so if you would like to play a modded with Dragon Breath Kingdra, Let's Go Pikachu is better yellow-ish version for that.

[@vetledeilkas538]

On my flight back from South Korea yesterday, I was playing pokemon yellow, and right before Vermilion City, I had to fight these Pidgeys with Sand Attach, and I instantly remembered your videos haha! Almost got KOed as well because I kept missing!!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Sandy is a real threat!

[@WhimsicottFanatic]

The idea of back-porting Pokemon to Gen1 is a neato concept, as well as an interesting thought experiment overall by trying to get in the mindset of those devs from way back when when it comes to crafting a theoretical learnset and stats [well, just Special stat I guess] Another interesting thought would be doing a run where, instead of back-porting a 'mon from a later generation to Gen1, you back-port [almost, there may have to be exceptions for one reason or another] any changes all Gen1 moves may have had over the years Most notable example being Leech Life going from a 20BP/15PP move to an 80BP/10PP move in Gen7

[@dodomeki321]

Another great video ive watched every video you put out i love working out to pokemom challenge runs 😁

[@perkypenguin1663]

I’m happy to see another “Gen 2 Pokémon in Gen 1” video! This one was really interesting because of no weaknesses in the day, and I just generally like that you really try to imagine what the Pokémon would be like in Gen 1 rather than heavily relying on creating moves for that Pokémon. On a somewhat unrelated note, your comment about Koffing relying heavily on SmokeScreen during its solo got me thinking: what if it didn’t have to rely on evasiveness so much, but rather an offensive set? Sludge, Thunderbolt, and Fire Blast is solid type coverage, with Fire Blast being key for Sandslash, and it even leaves room for Mimic and/or Rest. I don’t know if Koffing actually has solid enough stats to pull off an offensive presence, but it’s worth thinking about I think.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I’m pretty sure I tested fire blast against Sandslash and it didn’t produce good results.

[@perkypenguin1663]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Yeah, I can’t imagine Koffing achieving amazing results, it’s just something that got me thinking. That maybe an offense set would be good for late game, but then again, I’m not the one doing these Yellow solos.

[@OneMoreDesu]

One day you'll have a super gen1 rom patch that will be a work of art.

[@Surgemaster2012]

I'm glad you clarified the dual typing misinformation, since a lot of people don't know that going into Gen 1. This works especially bad for Grass/Poison types, in which Earthquake calculates its poison typing into the equation, meaning that if Venasuar for instance is hit by a Ground type move it would be super effective instead of neutral. This also is the reason why Bug is quad effective on Grass/Poison types.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

It doesn’t change the damage as your comment suggests. Just how information is displayed. So it would say “it’s super effective” when it would do neutral damage. It also affects how the AI picks moves.

[@GrandpaMaxGaming]

Great video as always. The only change I would recommend making if you do any more porting of Gen 2 Pokemon to Yellow would be using some of the pre-existing palletes for Pokémon in yellow. Kingdra could have worked with either Seadra or Lapras's pallete. I know what you have now should theoretically work but All the other Gen 1 Pokémon are stuck with a choice out of the small selection of color sets. Would just keep the custom sprites from sticking out so much. Seriously though, great video

[@shironeko1843]

I'd like to see Hipmontop in Yellow. However I imagine how things would go.

[@ryuuronin9852]

Modded in a whole pokemon from a later gen > modding the dragon type onto Gyarados and calling it a day.

[@LonelyShade4]

love these types of videos, they're my favourites

[@MrVelyx]

"Just bought a Pony made of diamonds. Because i am rich!" -Handsome Jack

[@nightfan1983]

I love those videos (ok, not saying much, I love all of your videos...)! How much effort would it be to implement Pokemon with "new" types to Yellow, like Dark, Steel and Fairy? 🤔

[@gaminggoddess85]

I believe there are already romhacks that implement them.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Types are fairly easy to implement.

[@kiora1947]

Oh this is gonna be fun love when I can catch his vids early

[@scrubplaceholder6216]

A gen 2 mon in gen 1! Im really curious what moves you all imported. Super cool you figured this out. The time will be fast, very fast, I'm sure of that.

[@evanmckeel5495]

These are a cool idea for a series. A Dark type in Gen 1 would be interesting since there weren't any. But lots of extra programming :p

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Not that much actually… adding a type is pretty trivial.

[@zhk964]

Scott It was brutal to see you pull a juan on misty. I can feel her pain.

[@Lightborn1311]

Wait a second . . . if you can add in Pokémon who don't even exist in the game, could you change the typing of existing Pokémon? Could . . . could we see a video of a "What If" Gyarados with water/dragon typing?? That would be so cool.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

We can see that video.

[@ChaosWindScar99]

At first I was like wait a sec... but then I remembered the misdreavus video. Interesting interactions for sure here.

[@meanbeanmachine]

If you are close to running out of Water Gun PP in Mount Moon, can you restore PP by replacing it with Bide and then teaching the Water Gun TM?

[@zenitfan4life]

Yes

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Big brain plays! I think this is probably slower than just healing in the center though. Center heal is 4.5 seconds and I doubt I could menu through 2 TM teaches in less time than that. Plus the overworld routing into that center is really hard to mess yup so you don’t lose much time to walk bumps if you’re playing badly.

[@pear-head]

Neat idea. Ik it's more work to do the verses videos, but they're by far the most captivating. Kinda has a sports feel if you like one mon more than the other. Port gen 2 mons into gen 1 for verses videos!!!!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

It’s like 5x the work. I love the versus videos too, they are special events when they show up!

[@JakeTheHawk]

If anyone wants to see more of these "Pokemon not in Gen 1 added to Gen 1" solo runs, I highly recommend Gym Leader Matt's channel! He's done quite a few if you want to scratch this itch.

[@GymLeaderMatt1987]

My man! No mention of it in this iteration!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yeah, GymLeaderMatt is awesome!

[@treyparkerofficial]

Hey Scott small thing I noticed: in the overlay for this run, the move pool lists Ice Beam as having 95 power, when in gen 1, it only has 90 power. It doesn't get 95 power until gen 2. But also, great run as always! Can't wait for the next one!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

That’s incorrect. Ice beam has 95 power from gen1-5 and it was changed it 90 power in gen6. m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Ice_Beam_(move) You might be confusing this with Blizzard. It has a 30% freeze chance in the Japanese copies of gen1. Or. The fact that blizzard has 90% accuracy in gen1 but is changed to 70% in gen2.

[@treyparkerofficial]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon then I could very well be wrong and thank you for clearing it up

[@JayFnkay]

One of my fav mons!! In yellow??! Let’s goooo!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

In yellow

[@Chronoflation]

Yeah! I'm Darkrai in the credits! Awesome! I like this play, it's tough to play so fast when you practically have only one offensive type option for half the game

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Glad we corrected that! Enjoy being Darkrai!

[@erchromchromer3702]

I LOVED TO SEEs the proff oak's hidden battle

[@NativeGolfer10]

Claire’s Kingdra frustrated me so much bc I never could figure out how to evolve it before getting access to the internet. This made me want to try to get it and see what it can do in Johto

[@MoonyRanalie]

I have a crazy idea: Iron Bundle vs. gen 1, and how it would compete with the other water/ice types

[@derekclawson5707]

It would be interesting to see which 3 starters as a team would do better than the other for Gen 2. I am throwing it out here because you might be interested in making sport out of it too with a 3 party run.