Soft Lock Picking: Shiny Poliwhirl Cannot Escape

Are you willing to restart your game, if it means you'll lose a shiny Poliwhirl?
Soft Lock Picking Playlist: • Soft Lock Picking
Twitter: / pikasprey
Gameplay Channel: / @pikaspreyblue
(8-Bit end card music) Bulby: / mrbulbamike

[@umbrellaeyethingguy4665]

I love how in this case a softlock would be pretty easy, he just wanted to make it the most cruel one possible.

[@stealthops3353]

It's the ultimate cruelty

[@BaconNuke]

@@stealthops3353 Yep the options are continue while giving up a shiny, or just resetting the save file

[@hanselfinn8946]

@@BaconNuke more like stuck and reset lul

[@ShamrockFreddyGamer]

@@hanselfinn8946 No BaconNuke Was right the first time.

[@tardigrade8019]

@@ShamrockFreddyGamer But you cant actually continue with shiny poliwhirl

[@FakeHeroFang]

This is the mimic chest of Pokemon softlocks. There is no treasure, only pain.

[@lucinafailure]

Its an empty mimic chest, so even killing the mimic doesn't give you anything

[@shocck1]

Sometimes there is treasure. It is possible to escape, through many overlapping glitches. That’s the treasure.

[@defensivekobra3873]

Or an overworld voltorb, since those are already the mimic chests of Pokemon

[@josephmort4039]

@@defensivekobra3873 *puts on his DM hat* A lot of Mimics have treasure in them though from unlucky adventurers who lost their lives to it.

[@DemBigOlEyes]

Honestly it doesnt hurt me much. Shiny pokemon never impressed me and I have no qualms on keeping or releasing one. Saves me a lot of pain. The only thing that hurt me was when my gameboy advanced cartridge for Pokemon Sapphire got corrupted after I put over 4000 hours in it to capture every in game non-trade pokemon and level each one up to level 100. Now I feel no pain. Not anymore.

[@joshuathejosh_knutcase4165]

Seeing that this softlock series is Pikasprey's most popular series, he basically softlocked himself into making stupid softlocks that no sane human would break, and the only way to break his softlock is by quitting the series and sacrificing views So thankfully this series won't end for a while

[@amineaminos4245]

Softlockception or softlock downward spiral

[@TheIndignified]

Just his Pokemon series in general

[@thisrandomdude_]

*I N C E P T I O N*

[@Green-Midotatchi]

So... could we call that the defenition of insanity?

[@qtarokujod3401]

@@Green-Midotatchi doing the same fucking thing, over and over and over again, expecting shit to change. That is crazy.

[@shimblywimbles158]

The irony of Poliwhirl's "Prevent self-destruction" ability kills me

[@RGC_animation]

Man now even his ability can save you, rip.

[@nahirigathering1392]

it kills not only you. it kills also Poliwhirl haha

[@physicalattractionpodcast7479]

Rival: "You're still struggling along back here?" So evil.

[@Christian-et9sv]

if only he knew the pain red ensured that day

[@ShockInazuma]

@@Christian-et9sv Knowing Blue, he probably wouldn't even care

[@cyanideytcuriousseadoggo]

@@ShockInazuma no fucks given lol

[@kirbyfazendoummoonwalk9214]

@@Christian-et9sv thats why you kill his Raticate in Return

[@sagacious03]

Satoshi Tajiri, creator of Pokemon, & one of the founders of GameFreak, has his favorite Pokemon as Poliwhirl. What an especially cruel & tragic set-up you've created.

[@BloodfelX]

Huh - I guess that's why when I was young I could get a Poliwhirl plush so easily. Darn, I probably should've kept it. At least I still have the Gengar.

[@Trogloglation]

@boom boi**

[@evanhenderson1760]

Give it to him

[@doughhhboi1731]

@boom Yes

[@rokkraljkolesa9317]

@boom yes

[@arthurvergolino6859]

"did you do it? did you escape?" "....yes." "and what did it cost?" "e v e r y t h i n g . . ."

[@stealthops3353]

It cost the game

[@Reevro]

Just reset the game lol

[@onceever3097]

I knew someone would say this lol

[@churro1201]

@extreme odst but shinys are worthless why do people like different colors that most of the time the Pokemon look uglier

[@hisen3.146]

@@churro1201 People like the rarity. It's like a badge of honor that says "Hey! I got this

[@BigPelikan]

When I read the title, I thought there might be some game mechanic preventing you from doing in-game trades with shiny Pokémon and that's why the Poliwhirl had to be shiny. Turns out you were just being evil.

[@churro1201]

But that's not evil just reset your game ceruleon isn't that far away

[@davidhower7095]

You’re losing that Poliwhirl either way, though.

[@dracov333]

I had the same exact thoughts too! xD

[@churro1201]

@@davidhower7095 what's wrong with catching a new one? Especially since that poliwhirl is worse then a weedle.

[@thewanderers97]

@@churro1201 it's a shiny

[@theblahtaco]

"Finding it, that's not the hard part." "It's letting go."

[@Alatuber]

From where you’re kneeling it must seem like an 18-carat run of bad luck. Truth is...The game was rigged from the start

[@BuildaBarb]

"Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter."

[@NachoCheeseDorito-Kun]

@@BuildaBarb Patrolling Cerulean City almost makes you wish you could self destruct.

[@hoaujudaiyubel]

To many people have opinions on things they know nothing about and the more ignorant they are the more opinions they have.

[@HiImV]

When I was 6, I was softlocked in Vermillion City for probably over 3 years. When someone else played my file, then they taught me how to use Cut.

[@pussinboots838]

I don't think that's softlock

[@finnruel1813]

Thats not a softlock, that's just stupidity.

[@klee7478]

Same man. Couldn’t read english when I played Pokémon diamond and it took me weeks to progress 😭

[@butteredsalmonella]

I rememeber being stuck in Emerald because of those Wailmers in Lilycove.

[@xred6168]

I got stuck in goldenrod city for 2 weeks

[@Mag1kimp]

Imagine being an NPC and watching the future pokemon master walk into Cerulean City, know where all the hidden items are, beat Misty with no problem and then get rid of all their money and items leaving themselves with one shiny Poliwhirl and losing to the rival again and again. Finally after hours of torture he gives away his Shiny for a Jynx and smiles as it's he planned his own demise.

[@raziyatheseeker]

That distant look in that ten-year-old's eyes, as they condemned themselves to personal torment. I feel for both Red and Green, as well as those poor NPCs watching them.

[@kyutora1024]

The NPCs wouldn't even bat an eye since it is their fault he's stuck in the first place.

[@infernousgaming1393]

@@raziyatheseeker Not to be that guy, but it's Leaf, not Green. Green didn't exist in the games until Let's Go. Because of that, you could say, depending on your perspective, Green had it better because she didn't exist to experience this torment, or worse because she didn't exist in the games at all.

[@ItsJustChri5]

@@infernousgaming1393 she's talking about the rival. in the japanese versions he's named green instead of blue

[@ruisurengai]

@@infernousgaming1393 Not to be that, that guy but Green's real name is Blue. Which would make the original characters in R/B/Y/FR/LG Red and Green.

[@TrevCL]

I guess for this softlock, he really put the player through hail and back.

[@sunnysamaroo7610]

This comment deserves more likes tbh

[@cutekitty192]

This comment just made my day thanks for that :)

[@murkywaterz7663]

Boooooo!!!

[@lordokama9304]

*Ba Dum Tss*

[@pvshka]

Ok, you win

[@corhydrae3238]

This whole series is like a colorful happy Pokémon version of Saw.

[@Nickzstuff]

Ive never heard a more accurate...and beautiful way of describing these!

[@WhiteSnap]

You mean Saw-k?

[@blueezenith8931]

@@WhiteSnap leave

[@saltywafflez5133]

RC Mastergamer get his ass

[@WhiteSnap]

@@blueezenith8931 Sorry, that joke was a bit farfetch'd.

[@filthypenguintv4931]

This whole softlock is so poetic. To continue forward, you have to give up the one true thing you value most

[@SandTurtle]

Finding it, though, that's not the hard part. It's letting go. It's letting go. It's letting go. It's letting go. It's letting go.

[@SilentOnion]

Cats?

[@trilobitose]

Ok, time to replay dead money

[@Katzunowo]

This is the most complex and well thought out soft lock I’ve ever seen, good job

[@sawyersmith8943]

DO NOT CONGRADULATE THE EVIL DOINGS OF SATAN HIMSELF

[@stolentrevin]

Kat? Never thought i’d see you here

[@scrhh]

kAt liKeS POkEmoN???????

[@stolentrevin]

Oof, could of just got a shiny staryon

[@mr.e3300]

i very much disagree, all he did was do a dumb joke

[@Matthew_Murray]

Me: "Why does it have to be shiny?" oh... mhm, yea that is evil

[@churro1201]

No not really

[@morecrafty247]

At first I thought that it was going to be that the NPC wouldn't take a shiny poliwhirl for some reason

[@booted4658]

@@morecrafty247 same

[@joshstephens413]

@@churro1201 I'm going to agree with you because I don't give a fuck about shinies.

[@isaiah1867]

It isn’t really that they don’t care about the shiny it’s basically it doesn’t really matter since it was hacked in and even if it wasn’t it wouldn’t matter to me since I didn’t find might just be because I’m a full odds hunter though 1/8192

[@ryaquaza3offical]

I’ve heard of soft locks before but this is straight up a torture method, imagine farming a shiny, then put it in an inescapable Cartridge just for others to have no choice but to release it. Even the Doomslayer quivers at the sight of such evil

[@justsomedangerbigfootwithweb]

Why do you have giratina as your pfp?

[@bread_the_god6737]

I swear to god I see you everywhere

[@animatepokemonadventures7889]

Name is rayquaza Pfp is giratina This is weird

[@rachelwachel]

@@animatepokemonadventures7889 it's ryaquaza, there is a difference

[@zdude0127]

Don't tell him, he would slaughter the Demon that posseses Pikasprey.

[@AlbertoLeal22]

He’s back, the crazy man that tortured Lorelei for countless hours is back

[@shapeshifterk]

He never left, this is his second channel, blue is his main, also he has been at least mildly active here for a while.

[@asra-5180]

Check out his other channel. He uploads a lot there.

[@hostiusasinhostilityhostil7853]

ngl that's kinda hot

[@ItsJustChri5]

@@hostiusasinhostilityhostil7853 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@theannilators7479]

And by “countless” you mean “after the death of the universe”

[@Sharcys]

Honestly I like the "softlocks" with an escape, cause the escape is usually so cruel and tedious it's sometimes even more interesting than the softlock itself

[@doctorxawesomestop-motion1234]

"What's wrong?" "I had to give up a shiny Poliwhirl and use a Jynx to escape Cerulean City!" "You lost a shiny? I'm so sorry..." "I HAD TO USE A JYNX!!!"

[@tonytang7550]

Ooooooh!

[@baxu2396]

jynx a good mon

[@NinjaAirattac]

it was level 43 thats good

[@stuartrobertkennedy8608]

Jynx is amazing!

[@usernametaken017]

Don't hate on ms ice mime

[@tehcharliebonanza]

“You’re still struggling along back here?!” Choice words, Gary.

[@Zichqec]

A DAY THAT PIKASPREY UPLOADS A SOFTLOCKPICKING IS A GOOD DAY

[@aturtlenearyou]

Today is a good day.

[@destrawa]

*facts*

[@siccleplayz2441]

A day that pikasprey uploads is a day that we know how evil he is

[@babalonne1770]

and a fr/lg one no less

[@shapeshifterk]

I would agree if it wasn't a new form of hell

[@nicolasrededeo805]

I love the Narrative that this soflock has. You think yoy are trapped, then you realise you can level up, then you realise you are trapped again, then you realise what you must do to escape...

[@renakunisaki]

The saw isn't sharp enough to cut through the chain.

[@Anon-lu6ct]

Rena Kunisaki you took the words out of my mouth

[@filthypenguintv4931]

This whole softlock is so poetic. To continue forward, you have to give up the one true thing you value most

[@GlitchManOmega]

@Versaro And then the shiny Poliwhirl shows up six movies later as the true antagonist.

[@semibreve]

The moment Pikasprey reveals how the softlock works feels like the second you figure out a hard maths question. Everything comes together, it all makes sense, and an immense feeling of satisfaction. This is too clever

[@doctorxawesomestop-motion1234]

THAT'S A HEALTHY JYNX ! BE KIND TO IT

[@lks19]

From DONTAE

[@damienthonk1506]

No Jynx is healthy.

[@axeltheking4157]

LMAOOO

[@_Bailamme_]

I don't know why but the fact that it's written like that gives me the creeps, like it's straight up coming from Resident Evil

[@amberhernandez]

This was a message written in the hopes someone would be kind, but now finds itself being twisted to taunt a tormented trainer :(

[@williamkim8866]

As somebody who watched the whole smeargle playthrough seeing you use the poliwhirl brought tears to my eyes. Please send tissues.

[@dustykh]

I need tissues for a different reason

[@kurtislachance9958]

@@dustykh ah, to blow your nose. I gotcha

[@guitarfreak80ftw]

The smeargle playthrough was something special hahaha

[@TheVP_SSBU]

I remember those days. Mt. Silver right?

[@TheVP_SSBU]

Well, in front of it.

[@MelodyFrogface]

Seeing as Poliwhirl and it’s line are legitimately my favorite Pokémon ever, and Jynx is one of my least favorites, this softlock would be inescapable for me even if it wasn’t shiny.

[@TreyTheWilliam]

"Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well."

[@SamanthaVess]

My people! I have a half-dozen Poliwhirl plushies!

[@atraxian5881]

May I interest you in... A gameshark? XD

[@dioxoi8369]

I can see that by your profile picture

[@bidoof367]

i'm sure you can't guess what pokemon i like

[@timbtw3656]

2010: creepypasta about lavender town 2020: creepypasta about cerulean city *It's evolving, just backwards*

[@anthonystrangio]

What do you want, a creepypasta about Indigo Plateau?

[@notagoomba7298]

Green grass

[@woodyblox7724]

MultiTarded No, it’s evolving just backwards, my god, it says it right there 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@ballisticblaziken2990]

@@woodyblox7724 devolving means evolving backwards or unevolving

[@purpleheartneptune6267]

WoodyBlox that’s devolution

[@richardhawkes4719]

Pretty sure it's possible without the trade. I present this now for peer review :) Hail doesn't inflict damage on the turn that it stops. So on the fifth turn of it hailing Poliwhirl won't be able the use Hail (the move will fail but use up 1 PP) but the weather effect will stop meaning no damage is inflicted. So if you get a lucky run where the enemy pokemon just uses Tail Whip or something you can use up 5 PP for Hail but only take damage 4 times (1/4 of total health). If the enemy keeps using tail whip you can use Hail 16 times but only get hit 13 times (because you missed every fifth one). You won't defeat the enemy by doing this because Hail will only damage them as much as it damages you. And Hail is of course still going after you use it for the last time so you have to run away at this point or else it will knock you out while you're trying to use up Belly Drum and Substitute. You should have a minimum of 3/16 and and maximum of (4/16 - 1) of your health left. Find another enemy kind enough to waste their turns doing something useless while you use up all your other moves. The first time you use Substitute it will take 1/4 of your max health away as usual but still leave you with more than Asprey had - essentially as if you'd been hit by Hail 15 times instead of 16. You'll now be able to use struggle and will have between 1/16 and (2/16 - 1) of your HP left (because of the rounding thing) which should always be enough to defeat something and survive the recoil. Simply keep grinding until Poliwhirl reaches level 51 and learns Hydro Pump. Then let your anger out on Blue and those bridge punks. Of course this requires your foe to obligingly wag their tail at you for 16 turns while you use up Hail - but you could split this into three battles of 5, 5 and 6 turns and save in between. And then you've got to do this all over again every time you faint. But that's just time, right? If anyone can do it, Asprey can :) I always pause your softlock videos and try to work out the solution. This is the first time I've EVER been convinced that I'd worked it out and then you just go and trade with the NPC!? Shame...

[@Cyrikyty]

I thought of this too, but consider the amount of effort and resets this would take. You are asking the wild Pokemon to not use a damaging move for 5 consecutive turns. The best one to use for this is Spearow, as 2 of its 3 moves at level 12 are status moves, being growl and leer, while also knowing peck. There is an approximately 12.5% chance it will not use peck, 5 times in a row (Assuming all moves have equal chance to be used, which should be the case). You need to reset until you get this to happen three times, with the chance of 6 consecutive not-pecks down to 8%. You then still need to proceed to reset until you used up a total of 20 additional pp from substitute and belly drum. To knock out 3-4 Pokemon. That give you incredibly little experience. Starting at 43, and needing to go to level 51 requires 53,293 experience points exactly for Poliwhirl, being in a medium-slow exp-curve. Assuming we still go with the lv 12 spearows, those give out exactly 99 experience each. We need to faint a total of 539 of those spearows to get Poliwhirl to level 51. Assuming we have enough hp to knock out 3 Pokemon each time we get down to struggle, the above mentioned setup needs to be done over 180 times. 539 Spearows. And this is assuming that Pikasprey does NOT think of this too and give us a level 51 Poliwhirl instead, obviously not learning Hydro Pump. In the end, I reckon it would be faster to just shinyhunt a new Poliwhirl.

[@Meme-pg5tw]

@@Cyrikyty small price to pay for saved shiny poliwhirl

[@xaiver7769]

This too unreliable to be considered a "Solution" you're asking the AI to do 1 specific thing an ungodly amount of times in a row. Hail also damages for 1/16 of poliwhirls HP so the damage will only ramp up for poliwhirl if you somehow manage to be that lucky to level him up. The amount of time this would take is so long you might as well try and shiny capture all the pokemon in fire red and leaf green. In fact I'm sure that would take less time.

[@thecommentato4]

What about just using hail, and the opponent doesn’t damage you, run away and repeat

[@thecommentato4]

@@xaiver7769 actually you can’t get some shinies in fire red

[@MahDryBread]

Man, Shiny Poliwhirl looks pretty good!

[@Breach-Clear]

wait why hasnt anyone recorganized you

[@MyratheDunmer]

Why hasn’t anyone recognised *you*?

[@MahDryBread]

@@MyratheDunmer In his defense, I think a lot more people would recognize Vladimir Lenin than Mah-Dry-Bread EDIT: This joke doesn't make sense anymore, but the first dude to reply in the thread used to be called "Vladimir Lenin"

[@Breach-Clear]

@@MahDryBread E

[@KishoreKumar-yl3fo]

Yeah but I don’t like shiny poliwrath they should have kept the same color as shiny poliwhirl

[@GlitchManOmega]

"I trapped you in a prison that you could only escape by giving up your heart's desire... it must have felt like tearing off your own arm!"

[@BladeOfLight16]

Mongul, _Justice League: Unlimited_ "For the Man Who Has Everything" (Episode 2) Although the exact quote is, "I fashioned a prison that you couldn't leave without sacrificing your heart's desire. It must have been like tearing off your own arm."

[@ultiomos]

I found a softlock in Fire Red / Leaf Green. To preform: 1. Proceed normally through the game up to Cerulean City. 2. Do not go to the S.S. Anne. Instead, trade for a Pokemon with Cut. Continue progress until you reach Celadon. 3. Get some money. You'll need about 1,500,000 (shopping will take at least two trips because of this.) 4. Purchase 999 of TM31 Brick Break at the Celadon Dept. Store. 5. Get a Pokemon in your team that CANNOT learn Brick Break and have it hold TM31. Give TM31 to any other Pokemon in your party. NB. Make sure to keep your TM Case topped off at 999 after this. 6. Go to the S.S. Anne, to the second room from the left in the first area. 7. Sneak past the lass towards the item. 8. Run up and fight the lass. She should approach from a tile away. 9. Beat up the little girl's pet (you monster). 10. ??? 11. Profit! The game is now softlocked. Because your TM Case is full of TM31's, you cannot pick up the one on the ground. Because your Pokemon cannot learn TM31, you can't simply use one up. Because your Pokemon is holding one, swapping it with another will have no net effect. Finally, because FR/LG is weird, you can't toss TMs. The lass will never move, and because you cannot collect the item on the floor, you're stuck in the two tiles forever.

[@bridgeseller7004]

Uh. You can save and reset, can't you? It resets trainers location too.

[@kliveevil]

@@bridgeseller7004 i dont think so im not sure tho

[@brandontan2335]

@@bridgeseller7004 I'm pretty sure you can't thanks to a Softlock in gen 1

[@loulou3676]

@@kliveevil Saving does reset trainers' locations. That's why it's so easy to soft lock oneself in the area north of Cerulean next to a cuttable tree. Inexplicably, they even left that particular soft lock not only in the FRLG remakes, _but even in Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee._

[@mrmarioscatman]

@@loulou3676 Do you have a picture of that Let's Go softlock, or know of a video of it? I am in awe that this is still a thing 6 gens later.

[@Hamanuna]

That's even worse than releasing that Shiny Hariyama from Mewtwo's softlock in Mossdeep City

[@AirFriedShrimp]

My Google search history: how to slap pikasprey through a screen

[@Mercy_of_the_Devil]

On his screen: _Google wants to know your location_

[@ElCalvazo]

"Hello everybody, it's the lockpicking lawyer and today I'm stuck on cerulean city with a shiny polywhirl."

[@safeforwork8546]

he would probably still find a way to pick it

[@Wandergirl108]

For most of this video, I thought the shiny Polywhirl thing was just you getting back at the shiny Polywhirl you found in your first Six Smeargle playthrough. XD I'm so delighted that the first(?) shiny you ever found on camera was precisely the thing you needed to set up this video, that's an amazing coincidence! Love your softlocks, bro! :D

[@kenpenders363]

Good comment thankyou

[@pearlofivris]

7:41 "You're still *struggling* along back here?"

[@majintv24]

Aha i figured out a completely not worth and near impossible but technicslly possible way to save the whirl. At level 12 with at least 24 ivs in health rattata will be at 32 hp dying in exactly 16 turns in hail keeping poliwhirl alive. If rattata always uses tail whip or tackle you can kill it and live always then kill enough this way to get to level 51 for hydro pump. Now im not sure on the exact number to kill this way but in theory is escapable eith the shiny

[@aurastrike]

But again, that would take so long you're better off just sacrificing the shiny...

[@redpup6931]

Here's the thing: the Polywhirl could probably win battles easily at level 12. The entire moveset is based around the fact that the move deleter is around (which is late in the game). Polywhirl can't even learn all those moves at level 12. This is why the Polywhirl is level 43 (to learn the terrible moves), has only 3 moves, and is traded from another game (to get the moveset ready)

[@majintv24]

@@redpup6931 level 12 is the rattata not poliwhirl

[@Her_Imperious_Condescension]

@@aurastrike But it's possible.

[@rynobehnke8289]

So what you are saying is the Polywhirl needs to be at a level were it can't learn any new attacks anymore to make this escape also impossible got you.

[@jblen]

"why not keep resetting until the jynx is shiny?" At that point, it's still easier to just restart, because then you would be able to grind for a shiny poliwhirl much faster than if the trade did have a chance of offering a shiny.

[@deadaccount8054]

???

[@jblen]

@@deadaccount8054 in the video he makes a point that you could reset until the jynx was also shiny so it's less of a loss trading your poliwhirl (but then says that the jynx is actually shiny locked) but if you were willing to reset a trade literally thousands of times, you surely would also be willing to just start the game again and grind for any other shiny, such as another shiny poliwhirl which would take less time.

[@somerandomashellperson7130]

@Daniel Lancaster "...(but then says that the jynx is actually shiny locked)..." Fully reading a comment does help some times.

[@Gareth-410]

@@somerandomashellperson7130 Nature: Sassy.

[@HE13272326]

We have to "purify" the NPC with the Ashley Bat after the trade to get a free shiny Polywhirl *sinister laughing*

[@ssjharambe2336]

Pikasprey: I'm going to show you one of the most evil save files that I have ever created. Puts a smile a my face

[@makingitwork2]

The title's syntax has a bit of a menacing aura, like it's named like what you'd name a coding file that you're several versions into and you're fed up with.

[@ArmorFrogEntertainment]

It's also the fact that YOU can escape, but not with the Shiny Poliwhirl

[@SnoFitzroy]

That sinking feeling when he said there's an NPC with a Jynx. I knew exactly what was coming nd I've never wanted to be so wrong but personally the escape wouldn't be an issue, as the escape is more valuable than a possibly not even legitimate shiny

[@danielma7281]

seems to be from his smeargle run

[@GrotesqueIy]

Especially if you didn't even catch it yourself. In my opinion I'd much rather give up a shiny that was given to me than one I caught myself since the one given to me required no time or effort to get. I mean yeah it still would suck releasing a shiny but at least it wasn't one of your own

[@blueyandicy]

It's legit, from his smeargle run.

[@reed3863]

Exactly, how is this an issue? The way out is literally there.

[@gamermanzeake]

The truth is that if he wanted, he could trade with that NPC prior to the set-up and you'd be stuck. The point of him not doing that, is for the sheer idea of giving up a shiny, in the case of people who love shinies. The lock could still be made for you, and could still be inescapable. So the argument back and forth about whether you'd give up the shiny, doesn't really matter.

[@victortrinh2208]

7:40 Rival: "You're still struggling along back here?" Struggling with struggle

[@ChrisNelson93]

I love how this is also the same shiny from your Crystal Smeargle playthrough

[@hazama4478]

"Imagine giving this cartridge to someone telling them they can have the free shiny Poliwhirl." Any chance you're a DM in D&D? Cause I am, and this made me cackle so hard...

[@chimerayoyo]

Here's that Poliwhirl you mentioned! Yay! Congrats on getting the video out~

[@Forever_Zero]

I've never cared for shiny pokemon, but the sheer evil on this trap is marvelous.

[@ZorotheGallade]

At first I thought the NPC would reject the shiny Poliwhirl. This is arguably more painful.

[@thisrandomdude_]

Can I just say that the amount of effort you put into making one of these is astounding? Not only that, but these are games that you have covered time and time again, and you are STILL finding new parts of it to exploit in really creative ways. Every one of these videos is also extremely thorough with all alternate paths, and you make sure to eliminate all of them. I always wonder how you make them, it's like playing chess with yourself. Bravo, man, well played.

[@the5destroyer]

The sad thing is, You're only 8 Levels away from an Attacking Move. Poliwhirl learns Hydro Pump at 53 in Gen 3.

[@gamingbydoge273]

Make it where you need 1 exp instead and make it impossible. =)

[@EvilApple567]

I'm still curious after all these years why they kept that one way ledge to Cerulean in the remakes, I don't understand the function it's supposed to serve.

[@Solibrae]

Maybe to force the player to learn how ledges work, if they don't already know.

[@NARFNra]

I always thought it was supposed to make it feel like you've made a real step forward by cutting off your ability to go back. Forcing you to look ahead and stuff, as well as making it a bigger deal when you finally get the ability to go back through Diglett's cave and then Fly.

[@juanrodriguez9971]

@@NARFNra It may be like that, but the first time I was there I feel as if I was in a trap, I wasn't able to return, or to go further, my team was undereleveled and the wild Pokemon didn't give me that much XP, it was tedious.

[@Solibrae]

@@NARFNra That's a good way of looking at it, yes.

[@thecommentato4]

@Daniel Lancaster if you were dumb enough, you could softlock yourself with a level 2 pidgey

[@MrJack8700]

I love this, especially since back then the shiny odds were way worse.

[@kenpenders363]

Good comment thankyou

[@blob5907]

in gen 1 its 1 in 16 for a shiny so no

[@aurastrike]

@@mrsfoster1701 Yehp, their right. Since trading to gen 2 will tell you whether the stats your pokemon have made it considered shiny

[@ayu1470]

@@aurastrike Yeah, but the odds are still 1/8192 in gen 1

[@MrQuickrebuttle]

Guys, guys, listen. THERE ARE NO SHINIES IN GEN 1.

[@PalladinPoker]

You could keep the poliwhirl under this circumstance: Find a wild pokemon with HP that is a multiple of 16. Spam Hail. Hope it doesn't use an attack until it dies. Repeat until poliwhirl learns Hydro Pump.

[@topsyturvy1097]

He explained why this doesn't work

[@tompatterson1548]

@@topsyturvy1097 but that only applies to if you use struggle.

[@Shinaay_]

Yeah I thought about that, if the pokemon doesn't hit you and you're at level 44, you'll be left with just 1 hp and the opponent will faint. However I guess the pokemon he can encounter doesn't have HP that is a multiple of 16 otherwise he would've seen it

[@BladeOfLight16]

You need to check the math to see if Poliwhirl itself ever reaches a level where the HP is a multiple of 16 before learning it.

[@geometryemperor]

@@BladeOfLight16 if it has an HP IV of 6, it will reach 128 HP, making it faint from Hail. It reaches that point at Level 50.

[@Overshine]

I never thought I’d miss your monotone Pokémon videos so much. Glad to see you’re back!

[@kenpenders363]

Good comment thankyou

[@asra-5180]

He is always back. Check his other channel out. Which is his main channel. Yellow is a side channel. (Why do people think he only has ONE channel?!)

[@gamermanzeake]

@@asra-5180 because the man is awesome, and doesn't do any kind of adds or promotions, even for himself. In a world surrounded by greedy bastards, who just want their revenue from their hobbies... We have Pikasprey! A man of culture, a man who denies the bandwagon and spits in it. A man who forgoes the shame of being a sellout. That was why I subscribed, and it was a good choice in my opinion.

[@thichinhphan4010]

@@gamermanzeake That still doesn't answer the question though :/ I found his Blue channel simply by typing his name in the search bar.

[@SirNile]

Poliwhirl: I'll just level up to get better moves. Pikasprey: So, you have chosen death.

[@rewp234]

Couldn't you eventually find a wild Pokémon in that route with an HP value that is exactly a multiple of 16 thus having it be knocked out by hail and thus slowly progress onto level 45?

[@milkshakespeare2587]

That’s actually a really interesting idea. You’d also need to take no damage in that battle from the wild Pokémon, so it’d be really unlikely to work, but I can’t see any reason it’d be impossible

[@Dragonoid269]

You'd have to go over all pokemon that can appear there and any level+IV combination to rule it out. I'm too lazy to do that. I do assume that if PikaSprey actually found such a pokemon he would mention it as very cruel and unlikely way of escaping.Thus at the very least the odds of finding one are really low :)

[@Dragonoid269]

Majin tv answered the following in another comment: " Aha i figured out a completely not worth and near impossible but technicslly possible way to save the whirl. At level 12 with at least 24 ivs in health rattata will be at 32 hp dying in exactly 16 turns in hail keeping poliwhirl alive. If rattata always uses tail whip or tackle you can kill it and live always then kill enough this way to get to level 51 for hydro pump. Now im not sure on the exact number to kill this way but in theory is escapable eith the shiny". Seems it is indeed possible.

[@silverbolt9439]

At that point you're better off hunting for a shiny Poliwhirl.

[@TheRiddler6129]

About that. Poliwhirl gets Hydro Pump at Level 51 which is unfeasible to reach.

[@kurze1555]

I found one of your earlier videos (shedninja) in my feed a couple hours ago and I was just thinking I wanted to see another soft-lock escape video. Thanks.

[@krampuskardashian5890]

The whole Poliwag line is among my favorites and Poliwhirl was my first wild shiny so this kills me a little bit more on the inside.

[@glowstonelovepad9294]

among

[@fourthcrystal5157]

After watching this a few times I’ve come up with an idea on how to break the lock; it would be absolute agony to do this even once, much less enough times to escape, but my proposed escape method is this: in one battle, the player could spam Hail five times, assuming that the wild Pokémon doesn’t attack Poliwhirl at any point during the five turns during which Hail is active. By doing this, Hail would succeed on the first turn and fail in the next four turns, however the Hail would subside at the end of the fifth and final turn, meaning Poliwhirl wouldn’t take any chip damage on the fifth turn. Thus, Poliwhirl would only have taken 4/16 of its health in damage while exhausting 5 PP from Hail. If the player repeated this three times, subsequently used Hail once more to deplete the 16th and final PP, and then proceeded to waste all of the PP for Belly Drum and Substitute by forcing them to fail, Poliwhirl would be left with 3/16 of its health (18.75%), having only taken 13/16 of its health in chip damage from Hail. From there, you could struggle a few wild Pokémon to death, gaining EXP until Poliwhirl reaches Level 51 and learns Hydro Pump, which is its last level up move. Like I said before, doing so would be incredibly tedious, and like setting up the Graveler trap from a few months ago, you could probably beat the game several times over in the time it’d take to make this escape, but the point is that it’s a very viable escape method as far as I know. However, all that needs to be done is to set up the lock with Poliwhirl at level 51 or higher, so it can’t learn any more level up moves. TL;DR, if you used Hail five times in a row in one battle, you could exploit the Hail subsiding on the fifth turn to give Poliwhirl a fraction of its health left upon depleting its PP, allowing it to grind to level 51, learn Hydro Pump, and break the lock.

[@paint-and-uwus]

But theoretically, if you managed to find a guaranteed way to gain EXP, would it be possible to level up that level 51 Poliwhirl to a high enough level to have enough HP to struggle the rival?

[@FrostGlader]

paint-and-uwus dude. Pokémon Centres. Also, it’s a level 51 Poliwhirl, it’s going to kill Blue immediately.

[@paint-and-uwus]

@@FrostGlader ? I was referring to the scenario where learning hydro pump was not available

[@Dark_Side_Productions]

Weather effects are permanent in gen 3 though right?

[@fourthcrystal5157]

@@Dark_Side_Productions only if activated through Drought/Drizzle/Sand Stream. They still last the normal five turns if activated by a move

[@matthewmatthew8941]

I was humming Luigi’s Mansion earlier today and wondered why, but then I turned on KZbin to finish the graveler video and then I realized why.

[@Cardgames4children]

Man, you are truly something else, Pikasprey. Hope you keep finding the inspiration and ingenuity to make these amazing soft lock vids! It was truly genius and evil when at first you think the player can tediously grind and escape with struggle, because the quirk leaves 1 hp remaining, ONLY to later by leveling up nearly 40 levels have the same game mechanics negate that quirk and completely crush your hopes and dreams! It's like SAW, but with POKEMON!

[@deletedTestimony]

7:40 "You're still struggling along back here?" Gary adding extra salt to the snow here.

[@NamekFreakazoid]

*"struggling"* bad choice of words, Blue.

[@andrewhanam8888]

I love this stuff. I don't care if it takes you 6 months per video, I'll eat this up every time. Thanks for putting in the effort

[@asra-5180]

He... has another channel where he almost uploads daily? You could go there?

[@failure4452]

I’ve never cared about shinys, but my friend would MURDER me if I gave that save file to him

[@yung_sirloin]

gotta say man, you got one of the most creative, consistent, and well done series on the platform. and the name is just perfect as well. keep it up!

[@glowstonelovepad9294]

Level 12 rattatas can have 32 HP and you can find them on Route 4, so they can be killed by 16 turns of hail, so if they use Tail Hwip enough times, they can die to hail and you'll gain EXP from them. At level 51 you'll learn hydro pump.

[@johngormley1394]

The reason it rounds down to 6 instead of rounding up to 7 is due to how computers count. It's takes less processing to just throw away the decimals and keep the 6 that's already there than it is to calculate the next number.

[@softyyt8011]

This sounds like the sierra madre, a treasure that can never be yours

[@falafelfreak]

When I was 7, I was soft-locked for 4 years on the heartgold SS-Anne. Then I googled it and it turned out I just had to sleep in the damn bed.

[@RedYoshi2]

I was softlocked on XD Gale of Darkness when I was little for way too long.. I’d get to a certain point and didn’t know how to progress and would grind my Pokémon up to really high levels and then restart the game. Later I found out I just had to talk to this guy to progress the story!

[@MedicalBillz]

I softlocked myself in Sapphire before because I didn't realize you had to go back to Petalburg to beat Norman to get Surf😂

[@AceTheZero_0000]

How is Pikasprey not considered to be a Pokémon antagonist yet? A man who's capable of putting himself into much pain. Even including everyone else. With his softlocks.

[@ArvexYT]

You should start doing a series where you introduce a softlock you've created (or had presented to you) where you describe the setup then challenge the viewers to try to solve it themselves with a provided save file.

[@SabreLeonheart]

"Get ready everyone, I'm going to show you one of the most evil save files I've ever created...." Your best friend has left the room.

[@asra-5180]

Jokes on you, i have nothing similiar to friends.

[@flamingreddeoxys]

Off topic, but I like your Genis profile pic!

[@SabreLeonheart]

@@flamingreddeoxys Thanks! Indignation! X3

[@TheWDerp]

How painful you want to make this Soft lock picking? Asprey: Y E S

[@kenpenders363]

Bad comment no thanks

[@churro1201]

Me: resets HA jokes on you asprey I found a way out of your softlock

[@pyromaniac000000]

So it is TECHNICALLY possible to escape with the shiny poliwhirl, but it would be INCREDIBLY painful. You see, it still CAN by a technicality, gain xp. If a wild pokemon has the EXACT right amount of hp, it can be KO’d by hail directly. If it’s hp is a direct multiple of 16, it will not round down the damage and will be perfectly knocked out by hail, with poliwhirl being left with that 1 hp, allowing it to still gain hp. And i just went to smogons damage calculator and checked some values, and turns out a level 12 ekans with between 14 and 21 hp ivs, a level 12 rattata with between 24 and 31 ivs, and a level 12 mankey or level 12 spearow with between 4 and 11 ivs, all have exactly 32 hp. So any level 12 pokemon on route 4 can have about a 22% chance to be knocked out by hail, if you somehow do not get attacked once by them. This would be INSANELY painful to grind, but once you level up again you would have enough hp to go back to struggle training, and could eventually reach level 51 and learn hydro pump, so long as poliwhirl itself never reaches a perfect multiple of 16 in hp, but i would need to know its exact ivs and evs to know that. So yeah, TECHNICALLY there is a way to escape, but it would take an unbelievably long time and youd probably rather die than see it out lol

[@tiagocf1208]

As someone that has beaten both fire red, hearthgold and emerald without seeing a single shiny, this was the most diabolic soft lock I saw

[@Ferno209]

I absolutely love these videos! Great job! Appreciate the hard work and effort you put into these videos! Keep doing what you love!

[@zinc333]

is it weird that I kinda miss your old intro music? Also, I really wanna see some cute sad fanart of this Poliwhirl

[@fartlol9857]

there might already be some, as he caught a shiny poliwhirl in the smeargle playthrough

[@astrophelX]

At least the poor Poliwhirl wouldn't be trapped in the looping hell of killing itself over and over..

[@tonyredgrave5860]

Aspery “you have to give up one of Pokémon’s rarest treasures” me ‘laughs in competitive battling’

[@true.2652]

I remember the point that when Mah-Dry-Bread used to name his rival as Asprey

[@thebestworst8002]

wasn't that gamechamp

[@jcnot9712]

Pretty sure that was JRose11.

[@fartlol9857]

nah i think that was markiplier

[@ghetoknight7801]

I swear it was poketips

[@S.s-29706]

I think it was MandJTV

[@Snooplax]

Great video! It's amazing how you come up with this stuff.

[@runratchetrun]

These videos give me such an anxiety. Love 'em, thanks!

[@NepSpoon]

Plot twist: this is just an elaborate setup to make the old man unable to leave the town

[@Brawler_1337]

To anyone who wants to pull this off on one of their friends: Make sure your friend doesn’t have access to a cheating device.

[@cereal7591]

Or a knife

[@thichinhphan4010]

@@cereal7591 How about a pencil ?

[@emperortgp2424]

No one plays the old pokemon games on the actual hardware these days.

[@BloodfelX]

@@emperortgp2424 Not due to hardware failure mind you. I booted my GBA up a few days ago after not turning it on or charging it for 10 years and it was still on green battery life. Yet I don't turn my PSP on for 5 days and the battery is fully drained. Batteries, how do they work?

[@Brawler_1337]

BloodfelX Same. My GBA SPs are still working perfectly. Fuck, my Game Boy Color still works, though it has some issues with the D-Pad.

[@daylen7010]

I love the Castlevania: OoE music you're using in the background.

[@sebastianburger2578]

There's also an Apollo Justice track in there!

[@theannilators7479]

I literally binge watched this series two days ago and there’s a new one

[@Jazzforyoursoull]

I can't unsee the ledges being just big, long snorlax turds on flat ground that you can only jump over from one side. It's a curse greater than any softlock.

[@AlbertFingernoodle959]

Just a suggestion for some fan games to play, super Mario 63 is a really cool fan game similar to super Mario power star frenzy, and it’s completed, Pokémon glazed is also a pretty good Pokémon rom hack, also I just finished rewatching your smeargle play through

[@asra-5180]

Keyboard controls in sm63 suck though, tbh.

[@wubilicious4158]

As I rewatch this currently, I only just now realize that the Jynx you receive from the trade has the Oblivious ability, which is described as "Prevents attraction." How poetic, your reward also reminds you to get on with yourself despite the sinister and tragic nature of the narrative behind this soft lock.

[@Clipperr]

soft lock picking hype! missed these

[@Spiife]

dang, while the solution to this one was a lot simpler than some of the others, I really love these soft-lock picking videos and this one was great too!

[@Irish_Enderman]

The idea of "you have to give up the shiny to escape" is cool, but it's just a Poliwhirl, I would give it up in a heartbeat, Poliwhirl sucks

[@gamermanzeake]

I especially found this hilarious when he said some folks were upset he released a shiny... So now we all have to do it too! Hahahaha! People still don't understand that he didn't have to save after he demonstrated that release. He may have, he may have not.

[@ZorotheGallade]

HIM and Mojo Jojo: "That is the evilest thing I've ever seen!"

[@simplygooses9474]

Here is something that might work, in gen 5 get a Tynamo from a trade or from catching it, and train it to level 100, this has to be in black and white 2 because of a move tutor that teaches magnet rise to it, its move set has to be Thunderwave, Magnet rise, Spark, and Charge beam, none work on ground types, so trap yourself in an area where you can only fight ground types, like going to Shauntal in the elite four, she has a ground type that you can not kill, only in black and white 2.

[@JinlongTheGoldenDragon]

all you gotta do is lose the battle though. Lock escaped easily.

[@simunator]

this is the most sadistic way to teach math

[@Klefable]

I love your soft lock picking videos and I especially love this one

[@brandontan2335]

Nice video! Softlock Suggetion: Softlock yourself in the Sevii Islands with Aerodactyl Only 3 conditions: Don't pick any of the rods Delete Aerodactyl's attack moves Dont level up Aerodactyl before hand

[@umbrellaeyethingguy4665]

Also dont pick up hm fly

[@brandontan2335]

@@umbrellaeyethingguy4665 Fly wouldn't effect the Softlock since once your on the Sevii islands you can't fly back to Kanto

[@brandontan2335]

@Skelly 1134 You have access to the 1st 3 Islands right away so it doesn't matter

[@bridgeseller7004]

@@brandontan2335 It's HM, you can teach it at any time. What about Struggle?

[@brandontan2335]

@@bridgeseller7004 Can't do that without dying

[@m.k.817]

While its not possible to Trade with another cartridge, it Should be possible to use a Gamecube with Pokemon Box Ruby/Sapphire.

[@ChannelOfElveman]

Not really. To use Pokemon Box R/S with FRLG, you need trades with RS to be unlocked, and this is only available in the post-game

[@m.k.817]

Elveman oh ok. Didn’t remember this

[@ChillDragon]

That is so... Evil! I love it! Quick Edit: I showed this to a friend of mine, and he had a look of anger and sadness on his face! Mission Successful!

[@alexfrenette2782]

Please make more of these. I LOVE watching these soft lock videos

[@InfernoFir]

You can still escape this by reaching level 51 with Poliwhirl, where it will learn hydro pump. Seeing as you can ko Pokemon very slowly with hail. Although this method is extremely slow, you can keep the shiny and progress through the game.

[@StarlitWitchy]

But how can you get past level 44?

[@InfernoFir]

@@StarlitWitchy The wild Pokemon die before you, so you have to heal every time you finish a battle.

[@Zomgnomnom1]

​@@InfernoFirPoliwhirl gets hit first, so he should die at the same time, no?