It's time to eradicate the competition! - Re-ranking Raticate

Thumbnail art by: / thwiblcomic
His Pokemon Portfolio: imgur.com/a/rRNJ6FL
Playthrough Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle (except held items)
3. No glitches or exploits*
4. No Double-Team TM before level 100*
Other rules:
-- My Pokemon have perfect genetics to ensure fair comparison between species.
-- *Pokeballs & Pokedolls are allowed in battle
-- *The badge-boost glitch is not restricted at all
-- *Skipping the Rocket Hideout & Marowak is allowed
-- I play the game at 4x game speed (238 frames per second)
-- My Pokemon has perfect DVs
-- The Trash-Can-Puzzle is automatically solved so times are not affected by RNG
-- The bike is allowed (the bike skip is not)
-- Skipping the bike is not allowed
-- 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 & timer to take breaks
-- The footage is sped up / slowed down to match the pace of my narration
*Double-Team:
-- Almost every Pokemon can learn Double-Team through TM
-- The TM can be purchased in Celadon
-- Using it would centralize the meta
-- Every Pokemon would use it to overcome tough battles at lower levels
-- It raises evasion
-- It triggers the badge boost
-- Banning the TM allows Pokemon who learn it through level up to use it
-- I believe evasion is part of Pokemon and shouldn't be banned entirely
-- I don't want the videos to all be double-team spam though, that's not fun or entertaining
-- Only two Pokemon learn Double-Team through level up: Pikachu & Scyther
-- Minimize is the other evasion raising move, these Pokemon learn it through level up:
-- Clefairy, Clefable, Grimer, Muk, Chansey, Staryu
Yellow Version changes from Red/Blue:
1. You cannot use Dig/Escape Ropes in Bill's House or the Pokefan Club
2. You cannot talk to the trainers in Blaine's gym to battle them
3. Surge, Sabrina, and Blaine do not have Good AI
4. The Elite Four have better movesets
5. Koga, Sabrina, Blaine, and Giovanni have higher level teams
6. Blaine doesn't use Super Potions are full HP
7. The rival picks his eeveelution based on the outcome of the first two battles.
-- Lose in the lab: Vaporeon
-- Win in the lab and skip route 22: Flareon*
-- Win in both locations: Jolteon
-- *You cannot lose on route 22 because you blackout
Terms:
-- STAB
-- Same-Type-Attack-Bonus - a 1.5x damage multiplier
-- Stat Experience
-- The Gen1&2 equivalent of effort values. You can invest in all stats until they max
out at 65535
-- DVs or Determinate Values
-- The Gen1&2 equivalent of IVs (individual values), these range from 0-15
Resources:
-- Gen 1 Stat Calculator: pycosites.com/pkmn/stat_gen1.php
-- All Trainer Pokemon have IVs (DVs) of 89888 (hp, atk, def, spd, spc)
-- All Trainer Pokemon have EVs of 0
-- Gen 1 Crit Rates: www.smogon.com/rb/articles/cr...
-- Crit rate is determined by dividing base speed by 512
-- High crit rate moves determine their rate by dividing base speed by 64
-- All crits have a 1/256 to fail, even if the rate is 100%
-- Crits don't multiple damage by 2, it's a formula based on level
Illustrations
Sarina Vail: / sarinavail
Support me on Patreon
/ scottsthoughts
My Stream
/ scottsthoughtspokemon
I stream some first attempts on Twitch
I will be streaming re-attempts and races on KZbin
~~Connect with me~~
Twitter
/ psychicflying
Email
[e-mail]

[@LovevonMelenEkman]

I'm just so happy we have a guy playing pokemon yellow all the time, in our pockets, in the background, whenever we need it

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I’m on it ;)

[@GrandpaMaxGaming]

Yellow was my first Pokemon game so it holds a special place in my heart. I got it before I could even read well so it was mostly just button mashing. I remember The first Pokémon I ever evolved was a Caterpie and my game boy dies shortly after so I had to evolve it again but I was just so happy to have a metapod

[@XJoschYZ]

Missed the opportunity to make an "Under that girls skirt" joke in reference to the original opening.

[@thenotoriousmichaeljackson8938]

I watch these videos. But I rewatch em in da background

[@danw3576]

Scott's Venomoth has been terastallizing long before G9, Scott is a psychic.

[@critormiss6084]

No, he's Steel/Fairy

[@james_ford86]

@@critormiss6084 No, he's Fairy/Fairy, the first of his type. Fairy moves now do 2x damage to neutral targets (double STAB as well), 4x to single weak Pokemon, and 8x to Pokemon who are double weak. Of course, this also means he takes 4x damage from Steel and Poison moves.

[@GeorgeTGF]

I think we have found Scott’s catchphrase, much like MDB’s fossil line, “a damage rounding threshold” is very much Scotts catchphrase. ❤ All praise the rat!

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

I always thought it was 69 -- Nice!

[@GeorgeTGF]

@@adventureoflinkmk2 thats not unique to Scott though, same for pp jokes. But damage rounding threshold - thats our lad Scott

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

@@GeorgeTGF oh, was gonna say I first heard 69-- Nice off Scott

[@JokuMenis]

Don't forget "as a result"! :D

[@GeorgeTGF]

@@JokuMenis very true

[@archiiebarrett]

Well it's a good thing the Rival doesn't have his Raticate for the final fight, clearly the programmers knew how broken it was.

[@brandondawson4086]

I'm sorry to hear about somebody breaking into your home Scott's thoughts , but I'm glad that everyone is Okay! Loving the videos and can't wait to see what you have in store next for us!

[@tyler5271]

When was that?

[@everquestonline1600]

Yesterday according to the video. Although they stole nothing so a bit strange of a break in.

[@tyler5271]

During the live stream?

[@TheTrooperMB]

@@everquestonline1600 The bakery where i work was broke into like 2 weeks ago , nothing was stolen but the door was forced however . I don''t know what's the logic behind this besides that the safe can't be lifted/broken easily

[@timgonzales2891]

This is why owning a gun is good.

[@vreeze33]

Raticate is such an underrated pokemon. It was one of the first pokemon that I ever used. I traded games at school to get my first pokemon game and the save file had a raticate and a charmeleon in the party.

[@EmeralBookwise]

As maligned as the regional rodents can sometimes be, the fact that you can get the so early on actually makes them some of the best Pokémon in a normal playthrough, and Raticate in particular is one of the best regional rodents with high speed, powerful stab, and some surprising coverage versatility. I'll probably always have a special place in my heart for Raticate from my own first time playing the game, and also because once briefly participated in collaborative story RP as a trainer with three Raticate.

[@typho6279]

This confirms that my panic attacks, when facing rattata and raticate, were valid. Always fearing they would use Hyper Fang and completely crush my puny starter pokemon

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yup. Those fears are valid!

[@ShiningJudgment666]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Too many close calls in my Yellow Nuzlocke with only low base stat Pokemon.

[@minikawildflower]

I remember getting hit by Raticate's Super Fang and being amazed at how strong it was since it has the 50% damage mechanic instead of a normal calculation, but I didn't understand that and feared it greatly as a kid.

[@bigpoggers6507]

Which is funny, because now you should still be fearing being brought into 50% cause that's usually the kill range in competitive

[@jamesworkshop9181]

i used it as false swipes before it was a thing

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I still fear it in Pokemon mansion if I'm slow and too low levelled (slow-growth rate Pokemon I'm looking at you!)

[@TheKharymusic]

Find somebody who misses you like hyper fang misses everything. 😂

[@TJF588]

Damn, critical hit.

[@PhilArmstead]

Your videos are beautifully edited; not just the overlays (the trainers spinning in and out of the battle in the bottom-right corner is a great touch) but it feels like all of the content that could have been cut for time _was_ cut for time which I appreciate.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks for the comment @PhilArmstead, I am really focusing on making each video as visually beautiful as possible. I also want to make everything matter. I respect your time and I don't want to include tons of bloat in the videos just to make the run time longer. The goal is always to get the video to the shortest possible run-time while explaining as much as is possible (of course some stuff has to go because pace is important!)

[@kevindudson2344]

Jessie and James - All we have left is a shred of our koffing! Scott's raticate - Now you ain't

[@kluonora]

0:12 Actually, Bibarel is pretty decent, it has good coverage (doesn't get walled by rock types and can hit neutrally with stab for things that resist water), plus it can get adaptability.

[@Mozumin]

Bibarel sadly does not get Adaptability. Its abilities are Simple and Unaware, and has Moody as a hidden ability.

[@jordanthejq12]

@@Mozumin Simple Swords Dance kinda nice, tho.

[@kluonora]

@@Mozumin oh, I confused adaptability with simple lol

[@indiradevi8136]

Linoone is broken with bdrum espeed

[@thiagobianki1684]

@@indiradevi8136 Linoone is really good, has all the cover moves against the Hoeen E4, can beat easyly.

[@piratebear3126]

Rats, rats, we’re the rats. Such an underrated Pokemon in general, he just brutalizes the game. Also Rattata and Raticate are adorable and that has to count for something.

[@onehandclapping_5356]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e56ciGBjnbmejdE

[@RandysOfWar]

Raticate is the giant rat who makes all of the rules

[@constructionbootgazer]

I would have lost it if he named his raticate Jerma

[@piratebear3126]

@@constructionbootgazer I name mine Jeremy half the time now thanks to the song

[@DoubleDrastik]

Raticate is a notorious sweeper

[@ShiningJudgment666]

It's pretty strong early game. Getting a strong STAB move pretty early makes is pretty threatening.

[@DoubleDrastik]

@@ShiningJudgment666 yeah and it got a lil coverage to

[@calebjohnson9740]

It gets swords dance in yellow legacy and it absolutely annihilated the elite 4 with body slam and hyper beam

[@Chefvonbreezy]

I’m glad you’re okay after the break in. And you’re an absolute trooper for us fans releasing this. You’re an awesome guy Scott I’m very happy that this hiccup hasn’t discouraged you. No one would’ve blamed you for taking time off but here you are, so thank you on behalf of anyone who doesn’t comment. I hope your new year is fruitful for you and your family.

[@conorg4713]

Sorry to hear about the break in!! Should of atleast got a Dig tm for the experience

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

In this case they just left their tools. So I did get a few items haha

[@tsunlastspock2206]

Great job with Raticate! Seeing that it got access to each of the big/significant moves, it was pretty clear that Raticate was going to do pretty well for itself, especially with how intuitive it could be, but the overall placement did surprise me! I'm glad that you and your living space and stuff are ok, break-ins can definitely make life feel less safe for a while after though so wishing you the best on that front.

[@tysonpestner]

Scott, every time you use a move like Blizzard when the opposing Pokémon had very little HP and you could have just got the guaranteed KO with body slam, I die a little inside. Do you want that Scott? Do you want me to die inside?

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I don't want you to die inside! I'm working on it ;)

[@tysonpestner]

You’re the man, Scott

[@Witzwo1]

Id love to see Raticate someday in a later Generation. To see how it changes.

[@kevinsips3658]

Unfortunately, I forsee that Raticate might have trouble remaining in the _-teir (no Spoilers!) the next time a shuffle-down occurs. The rankings might obtain a normal or uniform distribution on their own after a few dozen more playthroughs, but right now it's looking a little top-heavy. I think Scott really likes getting every pokemon as high up as he can get them (besides Seel).

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Seel deserves Bruno-tier

[@manuelcheeser8935]

Your runs and the video quality are so good man, they improved so much as well! I always have a great time watching you play, thanks for the entertainment!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

You're welcome!

[@slave2truth4freedom]

Great video excited for more! You're absolutely right about the rat. Besides remembering that hyper fang hurt I never thought much of this pokemon, but wow it's so strong all around!

[@derAlphabet]

I love these, thank you! Also I love the shade you casually throw at the godfather of your generation three Magikarps 36:32

[@ColinWEvans]

Just started watching. First attempt at Misty 6:56 you had Starmie down to orange, and then chose hyper fangs instead of a stab quick attack. Priority moves are OP in gen 1, and I think implementing quick attack into your runs will see positive results. Edit: literally just got to Surge and you used the strat there.

[@skeetermania3202]

How are they OP when there’s only one?

[@MelodicTurtleMetal]

@@skeetermania3202 2

[@schaufel8921]

Raticate was insane in my leaf green nutzlock this thing hits hard

[@victorjavilescolon8521]

When you battled Misty all I can think of was that episode when a Raticate breaks Starmie diamond 💎 😅

[@luciddreamworks]

You are pumping out so much content!! Thanks Scott!!

[@R.B.90]

I did not know radicate could learn all those moves. That said, no way young me was wasting those tms on a radicate lol

[@logans.7932]

Maybe not in RBY, but in RSE on, Raticate is unironically cracked. Guts Ability, Swords Dance, Hyper Fang, and coverage like Dig/Flame Wheel/Crunch

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Damn.

[@logans.7932]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon If only it was better in RBY 😭

[@emilydonegan3208]

Oh gosh, I’m glad you guys are alright! That’s scary though, and it makes sense to feel weird about it. Also, love this fat rat, it’s so cute.

[@Ruesen]

Raticate is a fun one! Got far in a nuzlocke of mine, but had to retire him after a certain point so he didn't get killed off. Still handled sabrina and misty's gyms wonderfully! Great special defense in 3rd gen. Also, yay for the Sandy mention!~

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Sandy got art now too!

[@priestesslucy3299]

Thank you for the holiday content load Scott 💞

[@azeria1]

Radicate gen three would be cool since it gets guts as an ability could make for incredibly fast times

[@EmeralBookwise]

Could be, but without a flame orb it's hard to trigger guts reliably.

[@rhodey_37]

@@EmeralBookwise literally just get poisoned by a wild Pokémon

[@EmeralBookwise]

@@rhodey_37: That's still not very reliable, as you still have to wait for a wild to both use a poisoning attack and have the poison actually proc, all the while taking damage and wasting your own PP, neither of which you can restore at a Pokémon center without losing the poison, also you'd be taking even more damage just walking around while poisoned.

[@skeetermania3202]

@@rhodey_37 Consider that these are time based.

[@arckrokosz3123]

Hooray!! Another good video on my favorite Gen 1 pokemon~

[@laureate90]

Sorry you got burgled, man. Glad everyone's safe and nothing stolen though. Appreciating the hell out of your stamina this month! Thanks for another great one.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

All safe!

[@laureate90]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Happy to hear it :)

[@diexditi3175]

I’ve raised ten rats in my time, I can confirm that their power levels are quite underestimated. Also they’re just so dang cute, especially the curly-coat ones

[@EsoiTheGrumpyMawile]

curly coat? is that cincinno by chance?

[@diexditi3175]

@@EsoiTheGrumpyMawile Not quite. Cinccino is a chinchilla. There isn’t quite a Pokémon equivalent to rex (curly) rats (but there should be, and their ability should be Cute Charm or Fluffy)

[@diexditi3175]

Does anyone else remember when Scott “wasn’t a math guy” and now he’s got some of the wildest analytics of any non-nuzlocke Poketuber? I’ve loved watching this journey, the production value improvement has been crazy.

[@NativeGolfer10]

I used Raticate in my E4 team the first time I played Pokémon Blue so it’s nice seeing it do well. Also, glad to see Agatha gets the respect she deserves as the second member of the E4

[@stanbrule9357]

But wait she's the third. The E4 members in order are: The ledge before victory road, Lorelei, Agatha, Lance.

[@TrueNomadSkies]

Raticate was always one of my favourite Pokemon. Super Fang is super cool, and Hyper Beam getting a same time attack bonus is well, a bonus. Dig is good too, and even with weak special having access to Blizzard is sweet. You can also get Thunderbolt, and early on you can have Water Gun/Bubblebeam. Buddy is pretty fast, and Hyper Fang/Quick Attack is decent early on too which helps because wasting time before the Pokemon gets good can hurt overall time. Also, I'm sorry that your place got broken into. It really is an experience, even if they oddly enough don't steal or destroy anything.

[@shimauta1941]

A fifth just wishing you and your production team happy holidays and all the best in the incoming year.

[@bateltheassistant]

I started appricating Raticate's strength when I started doing nuzlockes, that thing is really good,especially with the guts ability(that makes me wonder how well it would do in emerald or in firered?).🤔 Your careful planning on the routing is excellent, and with a bit of cooperation from the game, that rat was showing everyone that it's not just early filler to the team, it just waiting for the right trainer, to find out its hidden potential. And that's what you did, well done! 👏👏👏👏☺️

[@Zorgdub]

This rat really helped me a ton when I first played pokemon. It and Fearrow really carried me through the early and mid game.

[@wideright7567]

Raticate pushing S tier is crazy but normal types in gen 1 really got helped by body slam being one of the best moves

[@tylerd1297]

Generally helps that it learns all the strongest moves available in the main route including Dig and the plethora of special attacks, in spite of its bad special. Having Bubblebeam is still great for annoying ground/rocks and t-bolt/ beam along the way for coverage and PP. It actually performs very well in speedruns too.

[@aurochtamer]

Hey Scott. Thanks for keeping me company with this video while I try out my new recipe for brown sugar, banana, and dark chocolate chip cookies for christmas. Happy holidays.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

omg that sounds so good...

[@shimauta1941]

A fourth one for spoiling us with daily content. Thank you again.

[@Ale_Ramone]

Thank you for your viseos Scott! They always make my day! One day I'll write a nice and better comment. You really deserve all the best

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

This was a nice comment, no need for something better. Thanks for making my day a little bit brighter :D

[@KD8_NotTheShoes]

What a great video today, raticate was fun to watch before and fun again, cant wait for the leaf stone evos video 😁😁😁

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Hope you enjoyed the leaf stone video ;)

[@KD8_NotTheShoes]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon i did!

[@MrZachensation]

Hey Scott, I originally thought your channel as the underdog of JRose, but good sir, I do believe you are in fact a peer. Love your content man. Confirmed, Venomoth is a fighting/steel type.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

That makes me really happy. I always wanted to be a peer of Jrose & MDB. I'm happy that you think I've arrived at this level.

[@Gnu_Hope]

I like the versus videos, they are fun but.. never have I looked forward to one the way I am looking forward to the eventual Radicate v Poliwrath video. I'll see you in the distant future.

[@JoshuaTheTransitProdigy]

You could've finished Starmie the first time with Quick Attack. It might not have CRIT but priority based attacks matter. No point having them if you're not gonna use it to *FINISH HIM!* At least you remembered it for Raichu, etc. Nicely done! **likes the video**

[@tiltmasterflex7220]

Rat Vs Frog sounds like a matchup for the ages. I can't wait.

[@Math.Bandit]

Seems like the challenge is that there are so many Pokemon to rank (150, maybe even 151?) that the nature of the project means once you get a good chunk of the way through you will have improved as a player so will then need to re-do the older rankings, which then will cause you to improve as a player and so on.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yeah. At first I fought this. I wanted to find a methodology that would allow older results to be permanent. Then I tried to make peace with it. Accept the fact that the nature of the project made it very hard to accurately rank all the Pokemon. Now I've come to love it. The fact that the process requires replays for accuracy means I get to play and stream more gen1. I love this game and more of it is always a good thing!

[@Jawbreaker8k]

Gen 3 and beyond, raticate with guts is OP

[@2old2dieyoungnow94]

pumping the videos to hit 50k before 2023? Because I’m loving it lol. Can’t wait for my fav Pokémon to get a crack at the tier list

[@thandraug3288]

Red knew he had to stop this monster before he got out of hand. Imagine fighting the champion with this hulking behemoth in his lineup.

[@rowleyj31]

Yes! Your Raticate run inspired my own. Top tier Pokemon this one! The little rat swept through the game easier than Blastoise, Haunter. Slower only to Kadabra.

[@TB64967]

Scott, I found your channel around February 10, two days after becoming sober for the first time in ten years (3 weeks sober when writing this). These videos have really helped me tune out the world and helped me fall back in love with Pokémon and have been a lifesaver. Thank you sincerely and I look forward to seeing everything eles you put out.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Congrats on getting sober. I can only imagine how challenging that would be. Thanks for sharing btw, hearing stories like yours always remind me that what I does matters in some small way. I hope to see you in the comments on another video soon!

[@TB64967]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon thank you for the kind words! Gotta comment on em all!

[@thebigbean8783]

I love raticate. It is so strong. I'm so happy to see it get a re-ranking

[@alloounou6900]

That irl story transition back to game was smooth.

[@hardspumoni6940]

I appreciate everything you do and I'll continue to watch. I've lost all motivation to keep playing today after finding out Ash's story is ending.

[@mickgorro]

Sabrina was dead scared of RAT POWER. She must remember something from a past playthrough. Who was it, Chaotic Meatball who coined the phrase?

[@skeetermania3202]

FlygonHG coined that.

[@diamonddom60]

How is this not called Eraticate the enemy

[@lamiaprincess6371]

Wooo I really enjoyed this. I did figure that Raticate's improvements would end up being a bit more marginal. Raticate just isn't particularly complex, its a fast battle machine with a good movepool. If I had to guess though...it's probably not even the best Normal type to beat the game. I think there might be 2 or maybe 3 that could clock faster than it, so I'm really excited to see how those will end up stacking up against Raticate.

[@LilBruno63]

I love that so many are starting to appreciate Raticate especially is later gens with guts

[@guillermocalle2184]

Don't worry hiker. You become more useful in Emerald as a magikarp.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

hahaha

[@hawkticus_history_corner]

Raticate is probably one of the best First Route Normals Game Freak ever made. Obviously Stoutland beats it but that line is a 3 form whereas the Rats don't have that, but they still hang on as probably the best overall, and that's because Raticate is just dead simple and highly focused on what he does. Go fast hit hard.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

Raticate getting a strong STAB move pretty early on helps it a lot.

[@priestesslucy3299]

Not blindingly fast, but a normal type without any coverage getting through Brock in one try without over leveling past Onix is still impressive

[@EmeralBookwise]

Hyper Fang is brutal.

[@johncalabro8710]

The funny thing is that it does not learn bite until Gen 5

[@Bl3Moze]

You could say that Raticate really chewed through this playthrough. Unlike Blue, Scott didn’t let his die.

[@TheCulturedMan34]

Oooooooof

[@Bl3Moze]

@@TheCulturedMan34 Sorry, I know that was a real cheesy comment.

[@anni321]

I played sooo much ratticate lol, always had problems letting go of my early 'mons. Also rattata was my dads favourite so double reason to hang on. It did so well :)

[@leosmit8612]

God bless man glad things are safe

[@Zachpi]

I love this big rat, he's done so much for me in nuzlockes were it's almost garunteed as an encounter, and in the later gens guts+facade can do a shocking amount of damage, glad to see it doesn't need those crutches to do well either though!

[@jonathanchronister5210]

I've always said Raticate was short for eradicate lmao Love the name of your video and loved the video! Any game that I can get it in it's on my team. If you wanna try giving Radicate a solo run in Crystal I promise you, it will be a blast lol

[@jonathanchronister5210]

Also still greatest achievement in my Life, Radicate destroyed red without being hit once.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Omg that is a legendary performance!

[@jonathanchronister5210]

@Scott's Thoughts Thank you! It was definitely one of my favorite solo Runs I've ever done!

[@InternetLad]

Scott needs to get an octillery for home defense.

[@roymerkel8008]

I LOVE this tie breaker concept for polywrath vs raticate: loser gets kicked out of ***redacted for spoilers*** tier!

[@daksmos924]

I literally did a playthrough with it in yellow and it was honestly amazing

[@volleyballftw]

dont be so mean to Surge, he is just doing his job (realy well). Someone needs to show the player electric type sucks in this game before they try it and get frustrated...

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Oh that's so true!

[@EmeralBookwise]

Being a fast Normal type, Raticate could maybe be among the short list of Pokémon where taking the time to buy Hyper Beam could improve its end game consistency. It's such a shame there isn't even a single copy of that TM laying on the ground anywhere. With how busted non-recharging KO are in gen-1, it would be such a game changer.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

STAB too. It isn't just the base 150 power non recharge upon KO/Substitute break that makes it good.

[@EmeralBookwise]

@@ShiningJudgment666: Of course STAB, that's why I mentioned raticate being normal-type.

[@stanbrule9357]

I could see super fang ÷ hyper beam being a nasty combo

[@undeadsquire782]

when i saw this i yelled "WHY DID HE NOT USE QUICK ATTACK!" into facepalm

[@Polyphony1987]

I love your uploads omg!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks @Polyphony1987, good username btw

[@cadencenavigator958]

When I was small, we had a... not a break in, per say, but the handle on the sliding glass door to the back yard had broken and with it the lock, so we used one of dad's martial arts sticks to keep it from going too far on the track. Me and mom forgot to put it back one night after the dog came back in, and I guess that was the night someone was roaming around looking for houses to burgle. They got mom's laptop and I think a few knickknacks before the dog started barking and they fled, but in the morning when I woke there were police in our house with the back door open and drafty. It was pretty upsetting, so I get where you're coming from. Glad everyone's safe.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Whoa that's really scary. The thought of waking up and having strangers in your house is so terrifying. Glad everyone was safe in your case too.

[@ma.2099]

Any chance we get the gen two final evos soon? Or you going to finish all of gen 1 first?

[@ma.2099]

Ratatta and ratifate are so crazy powerful early game gen 1&2. Even more so in late game for gen 2. Great mon tbh

[@thenerdbeast7375]

This is a top percentage playthrough!

[@johncalabro8710]

Hey Scott with Venomoth are you going to do a play of scarlet and violet with terra type change?

[@DaKirbinator]

YES, glory to Raticate!

[@tsawy6]

Rat Power! Yeah, it's interesting, the Dragonite has stats that are so much better than the dratini that he takes pretty much the same amount to kill with ice moves. You're dealing twice as much damage but it has twice as much bulk! (The products of their HP and special stats is something like 13100 and 26700

[@evanbug98]

one of the most underappreciated Pokemon

[@rhlstats]

Have you ever considered a situation where using focus energy (to actually reduce your critical hit rate?) when you use badge boost glitch, a crit will actually ignore your stat changes… so theres probably a scenario where using focus energy could be useful (half kidding lol)

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I have considered this. There is 1 Pokémon it might be relevant for.

[@rhlstats]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon slash charizard?

[@matthewbrown6573]

It's horrible to hear someone broke into your home but it's good to hear you and everyone else is OK. Also you missed out on using "eraticate" in your title

[@brettwilliamson7129]

Here's an idea, if u have a pokemon with a high crit chance, use focus energy to keep ur badge boost.

[@travisalexander6440]

I think Raticate deserves that S spot over Poliwrath for a few reasons: it "struggled" against Brock whereas Poliwrath had Water Gun, so it had to play catch-up the entire run; it is much more consistent and unreliant on Hypnosis; and, even though Raticate was 3 seconds slower, it was 2 levels lower and had 2 fewer resets. If ever you needed an idea for more content, that VS video should be fire. I am interested in seeing Raticate walk down Poliwrath.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I'm excited to do that one in the future!

[@DonYagamoth]

One thing I tend to keep thinking about whenever you just about miss the damage ranges with Thunderbolt is - Thunder is horrible with 70% accuracy... But if you're attacking twice anyways, the chance for it to miss twice is only 9%, and theoretically a 70% chance to oneshot (if the additional base power actually happens to push it over the edge). I think the biggest downside is going to grab Thunder though, but I do feel like it would be a fair choice, as much as I understand you disliking it - but put into context of Thunderbolt just not quite doing the job, it looks actually quite good

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Good way to think about it.

[@connor-3455]

iv noticed alot of pokemon are getting S-A ranks lately is that just how much better you'v gotten at the game? it'd be nice to see a graph showing Date/rank since there might be a trend going on

[@rhodey_37]

It seems to me that he's doing Pokémon that he suspects will have good times, and he's been right about most of them

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

@oscarives7966 yeah, in May I set the goal of releasing a video everyday in December and to reach that goal I had to plan carefully which Pokemon I would do so that I didn't get lost in many long playthroughs. Magikarp was my brutal run for the month!

[@PrincessGoth574]

Have you ever explained how you plan out rare candy use? I'm really interested bc to me it only makes sense to use them directly before the champion bc that's ur highest level

[@alloounou6900]

I think he tries to hoarde them for the elite four. If a Pokémon really desperately needs it and it'll save his sanity, he'll use some before then. If he struggles against the champ, he'll use them there.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I have a software called RBY XP router that allows me to plan out the entire run. I can run damage calculations, see ranges, see stats, compare speed, and plan out my experience exactly. In first playthroughs I want to try and wait as long as possible to use rare candies and when I use them I want to use as few as possible. That's so I can finish at the maximum level and not get hit by a wall in the late game. In second playthroughs the goal is to use them as soon as possible so that I can skip as much time training and clock in with the fastest time. What I'm trying to figure out is the right moment where using the candies gives me consistent wins in the mid-game without compromising results/consistency in the late game.

[@Jmig2124]

Does focus energy badge boost? If so, seems like there may be a strategy for badge boosting those with a high crit chance.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Focus Energy does not badge boost

[@rexdavis12]

Sorry to hear that someone broke into your home. My only advice is to stay strapped.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

All safe now!

[@DoubleDrastik]

Glad you and your fiance are still save 💜🙌🏾

[@ChickenTeller]

I've always wondered why raticate can learn moves like bubble beam and ice beam...

[@jacksart7810]

Maybe my favorite running joke from this series is how consistently shade is thrown at Bruno. The guy doesn't even get mentioned half the time!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Wait… who!

[@valentinsilva1850]

Sandy: I'm gonna put some dirt in your eyes...