Venonat Only - Pokemon Yellow

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...)

[@d.a.d.-ohgosh]

I've always wondered why Venonat evolves into a Fairy/Dragon type. So unusual. 🤔

[@Nathan_Moor]

I always felt it was frustrating that its type changes based on whether its the front sprite or back sprite😀. But its pretty neat having a Flying Psychic

[@d.a.d.-ohgosh]

@@Nathan_Moor I totally agree. Especially that super unique Grass/Fire type. Took them until Gen 9 to bring Fire/Grass back. But it would take a lot of thought to provide a good design for a Pokemon picking up Venomoth's torch of being the best Dark/Electric type.

[@brianmack2945]

Actually, the fairy type didn't exist in Gen 1. It was a dragon/normal type until the fairy type was added in later generations. Common misconception, but thought I'd help.

[@d.a.d.-ohgosh]

@@brianmack2945 right much appreciated. My mistake. Obviously Venomoth is a Steel/Water type 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@bitmen1296]

I don't know why everyone forgets that it evoles into a Poison/Dark type

[@SproingBoing]

Venonat exudes so much "Just a Little Guy" energy Also, fun fact: Before Scarlet and Violet's release, if you don't count the remakes, it hasn't appeared in a Regional Pokedex for 22 years

[@AppleFumble]

He's just a little guy Is that an AdeptusRidiculous quote? 👀 Haha

[@vizzy61]

@AppleFumble no.

[@Steve_A93]

Venonat has higher attack because both poison and bug are physical whereas Venomoths Fire/Psychic types are both special so it makes sense to flip

[@zenitfan4life]

So does the dragon/dark variation, makes sense!

[@RatherFarfetchd]

Imagine you've fought your way all over Kanto. Defeated every gym leader. The ELITE FOUR. Now you're CHAMPION! Just for a purple fluff ball to come along, decimate your whole team and take your title 😢

[@zenitfan4life]

Yeah, because ai is garbage in this game

[@iantaakalla8180]

“What? I literally have a wide coverage of types and archetypes of Pokémon!” “Yeah, but I know how you use your Pokémon, and you use it badly.”

[@RatherFarfetchd]

@@iantaakalla8180 😂😉

[@chess]

chess mentioned @15:00

[@C_Train74]

Hearing that story about your dad explains a lot about the approach you take on this channel when things aren’t going well: keep trying until the brick wall is scaled.

[@ktvx.94]

Scott's dad being an absolute gigachad lmao.

[@milianjosh]

Venonat was my favorite Pokémon as a kid. Something about the fuzz ball in the anime made me fall in love with bug Pokémon and have been a bug master now for decades ❤

[@jn.jr.925]

You always do bug teams?

[@milianjosh]

@@jn.jr.925 yep, I try to have as many bugs as possible in game. Love them, Volcarona, Scizor, Heracross, Armaldo, Galvantula... The list goes on!

[@jn.jr.925]

@milianjosh I think it's a shame that most bug types are weak in the first games... I like them too, I've always used at least one bug type in my kanto teams (I've even defeated Sabrina with just beedril lol). Heracross is one of my favorite pokemon, whenever possible I use it in Johto (I've spent many hours just searching for Heracross several times). I just think it's a shame in the first generations that bug types only have a few moves. By the way, what team did you use in johto? I already tried to make a team made up of just insects but I didn't get past the elite four 🤡

[@turbotreehouse9780]

Scott, as a singer who isn't a fan of his own voice, I think you have a great voice. Your narration has reached a great balance of sincerety and charisma. I always look forward to your videos, and I could have sworn I was an expert at these games, but you prove time and time again that i know NOTHING 😂

[@theSato]

Aaaahh a video over my coveted 1 hour mark! Thank you, your aids for my anxiety and insomnia are appreciated. It's my "ASMR" in that sense.

[@NativeGolfer10]

I love the double edge strategy. Almost almost every move has a viable use even though some may be very niche or could go against our play style. Loved seeing it in a playthrough and maybe you’ll get to use it again when the attack is greater than special on a limited move pool.

[@mahnameisj]

Scott I think Venonat deserves a replay in the future. Being a monotype Water, Electric, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, and Ice type, it has a distinct advantage over every gym and that's before it evolves into the dual-typed monster that is Venomoth

[@SentretPeanut]

Venonant obviously steel/fairy competitive master ♥️ Edit: that Shakespeare bit was adorable

[@Articision]

As always, incredible! Awesome final run, did not expect the little purple ball to do that well after the first one. Love the detail you provide

[@shimauta1941]

That optimized run was pretty incredible. Great video Scott.

[@vincentwerts4724]

That was tough, but the little guy did do better than I thought it would. I noticed that Marrowak isn't placed yet. That's my favorite gen 1 pokemon, so I look forward to seeing that video. I predict alot of issues due to speed, misty and lorelie. Cheers.

[@Harry-mf6rq]

So cool to see my work in graph form in such a high quality production ❤

[@joshuaenns-wind9851]

Man, I love those end stats and graphs! I love that addition! Good idea Scott!

[@kode-man23]

Love the charts and graphs! Also, I like the risk vs reward approach. I think that it especially benefits first stage Pokemon, or stat-limited Pokemon that aren't going to complete the game at a blistering pace anyway.

[@briancaster2876]

8:27 All hail the Dark Lord!

[@TripleShizzle]

Great to see those optimisation charts at the end, fantastic run!

[@tsawy6]

The prodigal son! The optimisations here really felt like you made a great deal of progress on a mon that's natively really bad. Venonat almost felt usable by the end!

[@typhoon008]

You've had pretty good improvement on statisctics over there 😀 We only missed the number of "bonks"

[@male_maid5951]

loved the long time. made it great to watch

[@vasilykalugin6129]

I really liked the charts that compared the first run to your final run. You should keep doing those anywhere you could. Good job

[@laureate90]

I think Shakespeare also said: 'To sleep powder, perchance to dream eater'.

[@iantaakalla8180]

“Ay, there’s the ‘rub-rub…. rub-rub….’”

[@drakewatkins2580]

THE GOAT! Venonat and Raichu have always been tied as my favorite Pokémon

[@Burningtreeblood]

Not sure why.. but this has become one of my favorite episodes. leech life as a grass counter is fascinating when looking at how the game tells a story

[@Superman64GOTY]

For a Shakespeare quote, ya shoulda gone with "to sleep powder perchance to win -- ay, there's the rub, for in this status move what 'mon may overcome?"

[@briancaster2876]

Ok, i really liked those charts at the end of the video, if you could keep doing those I would really love it!

[@andyplaysgundam]

42:07 Such wise words from Shakespeare 😏

[@tmullins64]

16:29 It’s the Vermillion City song reference for me. After over 20 years I still remember all of the words.

[@shikishinobi]

My dad and I played a lot of chess and cards (playing, not Pokémon) and it was something we enjoyed together. I only ever beat dad 3 times, as he was very good. He’s no longer with us, but it will always be something we share, and gives you and me a little bit of common ground. Keep up the good work as always.

[@AppleFumble]

I've always agreed with Scott, Venonat should evolve into Butterfree etc. There was deffo a mess up that never got fixed imo

[@AppleFumble]

Only because I'm playing Heartgold on my ds and I noticed last night that even the abilities match up when you switch them around... 😉 what do you think?

[@bitterzombie]

Metapod is shaped like venomoth, not butterfree

[@GKoopa]

They would not miss something like evolving into the wrong pokemon lmao Even in gen 1 that's completely impossible. It is 100% intentional that venonat evolves into venomoth as it is now. Most probably the butterfree design was originally related to venonat and it was a decision made later into development to shuffle them around for whatever reason.

[@Kahadi]

Design idea change during development? Maybe. Mistake? No. They would not make a mistake that big, even in gen 1. Besides, people nitpick points on how Venomoth matches Metapod and Caterpie better or how Butterfree matches Venonat better, but they completely ignore the fact that there are still issues. First off, you'd have to assume their sprites were mixed up, not their names, because the names do match the evolutionary lines, and yet Venomoth does not look like a butterfly, and Butterfree does not look like a moth. That means that any "mixup" would have to have happened before they named them. The "horns" don't really matchup and are inconsistent (Caterpie has a Y shaped "horn" antenna, Metapod has no antenna or horns, and Venomoth has a trident sort of "horn" antenna). The link of "Venonat has proper antenna like Butterfree" is weak as well, since they don't match either and they're just antenna, butterflies and moths both have them. Neither one comes from a gnat, which Venonat is by name, or from a flea, which it more resembles. If it is a caterpillar, the varieties it might be based on become moths, not butterflies, and again, Butterfree more closely resembles a butterfly than a moth even if we ignore the names. The biggest thing is that designs often change a lot during evolution. Not everything is like Diglett becoming three Digletts or Poliwhirl getting more muscular but otherwise not changing. Weedle looks like a caterpillar and yet becomes a wasp named like a bee. Why does a caterpillar having its eyes change (which they still do for the "mixup") and changing antenna really matter in comparison to that?

[@clairevoyantarachnea]

@Kahadi Regarding the names- both of the Pokemon had Japanese names originally, and the Japanese names often do not 1:1 correspond with the English translated names of the Pokemon, which were created long after the original Red and Green versions were released in Japan, so I would not consider the English names to be relevant pieces of evidence one way or the other.

[@discgolfwes]

I love the charts at the end!

[@bradlauk1419]

"I know I use too many sleep moves. I'm working on it " "So anyways, I used sleep powder twice against the Arcanine" Never change Scott

[@danielkaragic7057]

wanting to take advantage of the female trainers in erikas gym doesnt sound right hha i really enjoyed that video as always! 1:05:19 damn, those type changing little monsters even know water hm‘s haha

[@snake_rattler4689]

This Pokemon's movepool is abysmal, espeically factoring in how its Attack is higher than its Special. Thankfully it learns Confusion at an early level in Yellow, compared to not at all in Red/Blue, which should help against Brock.

[@Muzii3EK]

I love the story about your dad! Or rather, I love that you included it. Didnt sound fun for little Scott; I can relate.

[@mr.number9279]

Venonat did surprisingly good. This was a really fun run. He has a lot of tools to use, honestly.

[@thebigbean8783]

Venonat is such a cool pokemon. I know it's not gonna do very well, but I'm very excited for this playthrough!

[@thebigbean8783]

I wish it was higher, but I knew it wouldn't be

[@MrMovees87]

Can’t wait to see how Venonat performs!

[@skeetermania3202]

I’m quite aghast at how well it did in that fifth playthrough. Who knew it would rank just behind something like Aerodactyl?

[@iss2075]

Venonat -> Butterfree is an obvious theory. They look exactly the same. And Venomoth looks like Metapod. And I love that you had a dad who understood Pokemon. My dad is braindead and he thinks video games are fake. He thinks they are videos and we are just tricked into pressing buttons. I tried to explain to him that if video games were fake it would be a massive scandal worldwide, but he doesn't understand. I found it so insulting that he believed that I didn't realise all this time that my video games were just videos. I was like 7 years-old the first time when I had this conversation with him but he couldn't understand that the buttons I pressed actually had an effect on the game I was playing. I'm 31 now, but having mentally disabled parents is really hard, so I am happy for you. :) I watch all your videos and I love them. Thank you. :)

[@perkypenguin1663]

I’m certainly not complaining about the longer videos! They’re fun to watch :) also I’m glad Venonat got some attention today. Edit: I realized that at 1:06, you used the Gastly cry when showing the Venonat graphic

[@elijahgalvan2794]

Ah Venonat before it becomes the psychic/bird type Venomoth

[@MrVelyx]

"Kill it with fire" -completely normal intend, when you see a Mosquito

[@korybaxter3069]

Appreciate all the content you put out Scott.

[@nbonasoro]

Am I the only one who just realized that in lavender towns pokemon tower and Agatha elite 4 room, those are grave stones and NOT computer monitors?

[@mlujua4279]

Loved the video. For next tedious runs, maybe stablish a reset limit? Like maybe, "I will start again only if I accumulate 5 resets in Brock"

[@danielanselme4868]

Gen 4 venonat was a beast as a lead in competitive battling. It had sleep powder with agility baton pass and toxic spikes. Holding a focus sash allowed you to get an agility and then sleep powder allowing you a free switch into a sweeper with double speed.

[@LunarWingCloud]

A Scott solo challenge video going over an hour? Hoo boy we are in for a treat

[@mahdinner]

I like the longer videos with more focus on the optimized run. Feels like your older content (in a good way)!

[@michaellongoria289]

45:27 don’t mean to be inappropriate, but that caught me off guard my guy. Love the content

[@Salnax]

I’m glad to see that “Slowbone” has caught on. Venonat is proof that having both Psychic attacks and Sleep Powder is not enough to guarantee success.

[@TheMachoman94]

The fact that my recommendation for slowbone stuck makes me very happy

[@JimBeamFiend53]

Scott: When venonat evolves into venomoth, it gets better special than it does attack. Me: Just like Butterfree. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

[@TheBreakersBowman]

Funnily enough, I always loved early game Venonat in gen 3 and 4. It's ability gives both stun spore and supersonic the accuracy boost they need to make this cute fella a really scary para-fusion pokemon ❤

[@Camurgladius]

Tier list of major battles would indeed be a cool video.

[@deontaelindo4367]

Over the years I’ve learned to just love venemoth now 😂😂

[@dragonslayerz2220]

I like how the time chart of venonat's splits lists Bruno as a Hiker.

[@Burningtreeblood]

I love how leech life interacts with types 😮 bugs are so cool in this gen

[@cuneyta.3371]

nice run ^^

[@skeetermania3202]

Anyone here see JRose’s video? I’m guessing this one’s gonna be just as painful.

[@mh11213]

Scott doesn't ramble and drag out the videos, so even if long, it won't be as painful to watch as JRose.

[@skeetermania3202]

@@mh11213 Why say that?

[@Burningtreeblood]

This was the most informative episode 🤔

[@MelodicTurtleMetal]

Hell of a second (5th) play. So done. I like not counting purposeful blackouts as non-resets. Resets should be for failures only

[@BlahLab]

I'm so curious what you did before KZbin haha. The graphs and analysis give me engineering vibes, I'd guess EE or CE

[@ChrisG667]

I saw JRose’s video on Venonat the other day and I knew this thing would be a drag here too lol

[@pilkkimies]

I got an idea for a vs video. Sandslash vs Marowack. Both are slow high defense mono ground types. I was gonna originally suggest suggest Arbok vs. Sandslash due to them being version exclusives, but you are probably doing a Vs. With Weezikg, Arbok and Muk. Only time can tell.

[@She_fw_Tez]

Other than Butterfree venonat was m other favorite bug type... The diversity of psychic moves was great

[@vreeze33]

I always thought venonat was really interesting as a kid. I just never really used it because you encounter it so late for a weak bug and then I would already have butterfree or sometimes even beedrill. It looks interesting and being able to use psychic moves was cool to young me. It's too bad venonat never really gets a chance to shine, but with how late it evolves I'm glad that butterfree is available.

[@paleoscinkus542]

Great playthrough, I was pretty impressed by Venonat’s final results. I think Cubone also deserves a rerun?

[@mutevampire]

Every time someone calls him the Slowbone pokemaniac I have one of those Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the screen moments 😂

[@TJF588]

"Please look over" Mhm, mhm... Oh, Nice!

[@juanca2648]

Súper great video

[@frankwest5388]

During nugget bridge, I am not sure about the math, but I have seen that during some professor oak challenges it turns out that fighting a trainer and fainting repeatedly can much faster than grinding on wild Pokémon. It might be worth doing the same here with guys like Venonant

[@redreoicy6698]

See run 2 ;)

[@lamiaprincess6371]

This was such a fascinating video. The changes in routing strategy for the second run were really, really interesting (although I wonder if Double-Edge could have been kept further on personally) and personally, Venonat is maybe my favorite Bug-type from Generation I. I fell in love with it doing a Pokewalker only challenge in Pokemon Soulsilver and it was a really fun Pokemon to use there. So the time, for me, is really, really good. Taking risks and having a somewhat less consistent run for time purposes is part of what it's all about. Really enjoyed the video, and it's giving me another good reason to head back and keep working on that Geodude route. Your content is genuinely inspiring~

[@hYRo144]

Dang I just realised the only electric types that got a rank in the tier list are Jolteon and the surfing Pikachu - can't drag them out forever Scott ;)

[@evanmckeel5495]

Man, leech life was sort of the goat of this run??

[@ArispeMatt]

I don't recall if there's a way to get a trainer with items to be forced switch out, but as I recall with two exceptions the items technically refresh on switch. It's just that the two trainers that have an item use and switch script have their script set up such that using an item means that they stop checking for switching. (And if the sources/my understanding are right, Agatha is bugged in that regard; she's supposed to have one more Super Potion than she will use.)

[@joejames1249]

Random thought after seeing surfboard pikachu on the tier list at the end of the video... with your recent work on back-porting, will we ever see early generation costume pikachu runs?

[@Shaqfu69]

Foaming at the mouth waiting for starmie!

[@ChrisZi.]

Good Job Scott

[@alessandromidili1433]

The sandshrew using struggle is new :)

[@PatrickStahlitrm]

Maybe you did this for a subsequent run, but I wonder whether using Mimic on Hyper Beam when facing Lance’s first Pokémon would be helpful at all. Maybe not.

[@male_maid5951]

with some of these weak pokemon, would facing "all" the channelers in pokemon tower be efficent training due to the stat exp in special?

[@anilbalram7768]

Ah baby form of the ambiguous mascot

[@isaotron]

I love the longer videos

[@surtrgaming1730]

The likely reason for Sabrina not having AI modification 3 is because, against Psychic types, it would just spam Recover over and over. In case anyone is curious, no normally this doesn't happen when you have not very effective damaging moves and regular status moves, but because Psywave is a "set damage move" that ignores type resistance, Psywave is considered a viable alternative to Psychic moves... and then Psywave is not picked because it's a Psychic move and there's an alternative to the resisted psychic moves... Welcome to Gen 1 logic.

[@sagi3933]

The moment you've shown how much time you've invested into running repeated Venonat playthrough's, I had to like the video. I usually forget to do that in most cases. You should probably implement some "behind-the-scenes" stuff in your videos more often, if just a little, it works better than any "please subscribe" could =)

[@SomeLesti]

Lord helix suspects he was unamused.

[@SmashMath151]

How is the Venonat line a Grass type in the TCG when it's Psychic/Flying in the games? Venomoth typing meme aside, Sleep Powder and Psychic really save Venonat's otherwise shallow movepool and the playthrough is still quite slow. I'd guess it would have to be around Level 90 to win without SP. Also, when you have a really inconsistent Brock, would it be better to blackout after KOing the Geodude? It might be faster to just reset if it's a long, narrow loss to the Onix, but might be worth considering especially when 1 level really helps. I know this messes up EXP routing though.

[@breadpope0358]

11:30 the same high attack low special is also true of Slowpoke, a water psychic type with higher attack has always been weird to me ever since it hit me like a truck with tackle in early game sun and moon, talk about a sticky situation!

[@genuinedistress4752]

Was that surfing pikachu on the tier list at the start? Have I missed that video?

[@JustinnePunsalang]

A Poketuber called Squidgy advocates for Double-Edge. He says the damage payoff compensates for the recoil damage, especially if the Pokemon has a higher Attack than Special Attack and because Double Edge has 100 base power and 100% accuracy.

[@Batlas]

I wonder if it wouldve been beneficial to black out on brock when losing to keep the geodude xp.

[@Duothimir]

Poison is literally only a detriment in Gen 1. Every Pokemon with it wishes they didn't have it. Even Gengar is held back from its true nightmarish potential by being part Poison.

[@HarveyMeadowlark]

The self destruct hiker, petition to name him BOOMER

AW YEAH, ITS THE BOY

[@apache3133]

Blackout training is something I've always wondered if you'd consider cause I imagine grinding against the elite 4 using the method would be better than Pokémon on victory road in a few of the games.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yeah, grinding against the league is 100% faster in Crystal. Wild Pokemon are so under levelled there. I haven't run the numbers in Emerald yet, but if the solo mon is highly leveled I'm sure the league is faster in that case too.

[@ZerglingOne1]

Did I miss something at 5 minutes? Do you use archived footage for the start of every Brock fight? Because you had 1 pokéball on your bar and then a 2nd one materialized after the intro. Edit: also why didn't you disable Geodude for struggle? Is it because Struggle is stronger than tackle?