The Legendary Birds - Pokemon Yellow Solo Challenge Race

[@brandonburns18]

Oak catching an Articuno with one pokeball in his inventory. What a legend

[@patonosequecosa]

Never understimate Oaks catching abilitys

[@ruthlesace]

He must be the original Dr oneball.

[@patonosequecosa]

@@ruthlesace yeah Dr one ball HG trained the one ball art under Professor Oak

[@C_Train74]

Must’ve been mashing down and B

[@elecman748]

He's called the Professor Pokemon for a reason

[@Zek3nator]

He’s using Moltres. The most powerful legendary, at level 51 it obtains the all-powerful leer.

[@Lucifers-Stepdad]

When I was a kid I really over valued leer. Cos like rhydon has it I thought it must be strong af and I was just using it wrong.

[@andyvanmuilekom7390]

Well at lvl 50 it is just not intimidating but after that it will look at you funny all hail the fire chicken

[@hhjan594]

They actually acknowledged this meme and made Moltres's Leer super-busted in Pokemon Masters.

[@paulsmith9786]

"Moltres. The most powerful legendary" On what planet?

[@NecromancyForKids]

I think they meant legendary bird. It has the highest base stat total among them in Yellow. @@paulsmith9786

[@midnightisin7874]

That moltres fake out was crazy. Had me checking serebii in the middle of the video

[@petrie911]

Moltres should logically learn Flamethrower at level 51, but gets Leer instead. It is suspected this was due to a typo when creating its moveset. Flamethrower is move 53 while Leer is move 43. Gen 1 never disappoints with the jank. Some may be wondering why we would expect Flamethrower and not Fire Blast. The reason is that Fire Blast is a gym TM, so nothing gets it through level up. If you look at other gen 1 movepools, you'll see fire types get Flamethrower at around the same levels other Pokemon get Hydro Pump, Blizzard, or Thunder.

[@MsAmber82]

I think Gyarados have the same problem, because How can we accept he learns Leer at level 32?

[@wolverineminer]

Yellow version Pikachu gets thunderbolt by level up iirc?

[@Mengz2169]

​@wolverineminer yes, at level 26 iirc

[@lazyhippie6139]

Maybe Leer was supposed to be a stronger move at some point. Rhydon (the first Pokémon programmed into the game) learns it at level 55. It also gets Tail Whip, which is identical, much earlier. I'm not sure what it was supposed to be, but yeah, these high levels for such a Route 1 move are weird... also, my theory falls apart quickly, because Pokémon like Spearow get the move really early.

[@gypsysprite4824]

@@MsAmber82 at that level and with no real pattern to base it off, that one could either be a typo or just Gen 1 movepools being...gen 1 movepools

[@Vitamin-L]

You really got me with that Moltres bit. I thought the moveset difference was a Yellow exclusive thing!

[@megadick6000]

So did I lol

[@matissimoj1190]

Same

[@NevG27]

Right? I was like, wait a minute I thought it started with fire spin!

[@darnedchris]

I've seen this video multiple times.... And still.... The Moltres bit got me -.- I keep doubting my memory

[@pyragaflare]

I love how Oak casually tosses a pokeball at the legendary birds catching them just to then give you them because your rival was greedy and wanted the Eevee XD.

[@PokeMaster22222]

You mentioned at 17:20 that Fire Spin doesn't burn - because of this, it's also the only Fire-type move that cannot defrost the opponent (as that property is directly tied to the 'burn chance' effect). Interesting trivia, I find that to be.

[@SinNun-tx5jp]

So, tri attack defrosts?

[@bettyunicorn6132]

@@SinNun-tx5jp Tri attack doesn’t have the secondary effect in gen 1

[@PokeMaster22222]

@@SinNun-tx5jp No - Tri Attack doesn't have a secondary effect in Gen 1.

[@t.Dramatix]

I was so confused when I saw Flamethrower in Moltres' moveset. I was like this thing only has ember or something... And its even worse than I thought. 😂

[@WorkInProgressX]

I was “oh so in yellow they gave him flamethrower? Nice” Then back to the sad reality

[@t.Dramatix]

@@WorkInProgressX Moltres was done so dirty 🤣

[@danpitzer765]

Surge getting wins...must be his christmas present.

[@Kolokasidis]

Surge is the reason we created the Peter Principle

[@DanBottiglieri]

Hahaha you totally got me with the Moltres fake out: I was like "Huh, I never realised Moltres was so good, why did I always think it was the worst Legendary in RBY?"

[@shimmianNS]

On the twenty-fourth day of December, Scott's Thoughts gave to me: The Birds as a perfect ending Mewtwo totally sending! The first Dragon line slowly growing A kaiju rhino stomping A metal crab whose stats stay even A pseudo legend walled by Steven The egg tree with a garbage move pool A 'Bro "destined for greatness" Giovanni's aces finally winning The tapirs using hypnosis The 'King of emerald loafing A lively mid stage slashing The Johto trio roaming Surge's 'Chu with a competent trainer Classy Cat v Pig Monkey! A moonstone evolution The "Rhydon of gen three" A Pure Power powerhouse Wattson's ace in Hoenn 'Phan v Ursaring! A tiny turtle's bubble The fire starter digging A garden lizard's leech seed And those three weirdo mons punching

[@andrewdole3417]

Thanks for this!

[@antoniacorrales9148]

My goat

[@zuloph]

But Scott, you forgot the other dual electric type in Gen 1. Venomoth is obviously and Electric / Rock type

[@yaboityler2617]

Electric/Electric (more Gen 1 jank)

[@inventiveusername5191]

@@yaboityler2617 Now I'm kind of interested in how that would work. Obviously there are no real mons with two of the same type, but some glitch mons do. Missingno is normal/normal in yellow, for example. I wonder, does that take 4x from fighting? I guess it would. Also, would the game try to add STAB twice if it used a normal move? If I had any idea what I was doing, I would now go and look at some code.

[@khaotix64]

When both Jrose and Scott drop 2+ hour videos on Christmas Eve ❤❤❤

[@moltres5740]

The jrose videos aren't nearly as well done though imo. At least Scott and GymLeaderMatt have some nice innovative overlays and a ton of data to walk through.

[@khaotix64]

@@moltres5740 k

[@daveelliot7552]

It’s a Christmas miracle!😂

[@jonesy9744]

@23:40 The moment where Scott ran out of healing items and was worried about a reset but could've just used Rest at any point lmao. Finishing trainer brought the fear.

[@irish_owl21]

Waited all day for this one. Not because idk who’s going to win, just because I’m addicted to Scott’s videos and it’s the last yellow video until February. I’ll be lighting up his back catalog until then. Glad you were able to fix the audio issues and hope you enjoy your month of January Scott. You are the hardest working PokeTuber out there and you deserve TM44

[@Kgossage777]

Love to see a Moltres run when it starts with flamethrower. Even though its not how the bird came out of the box, at least it would equalize discrepancies with movesets. Starting ice beam vs starting drill peck and early game thunderbolt vs 80% of the game with firespin

[@ShiningJudgment666]

Would definitely be a lot better considering it would still do good damage to Rock types due to their generally low Special. And not missing so often helps.

[@fangiscool1]

Could be fun in a solo playthrough, but changing the game to equalize Pokemon defeats the purpose of a vs battle

[@wideright7567]

this was so much fun. looking forward to another year of yellow videos and the start of gen 4.

[@MattDRT0358]

Hahaha you got me sooooo good with your moltres intro!!! I was like, "hang on, I don't remember it being THIS GOOD!!!" well played 🤣🤣

[@thorobliterator1934]

For the first Moltres playthrough when he was detailing all the work for Hyper Beam I was hearing Gym Leader Matt saying "double-edge." So satisfying to see Scott figure it out on the ultimate Moltres run

[@paulnewton2284]

With regards to Fire Spin vs. Clamp vs. Wrap, Fire Spin really does get the worst of both worlds, because Clamp compensates somewhat for its lower accuracy by being more than twice as strong as Wrap and Fire Spin at 35 base power per hit, meaning you need to land less hits overall. So pretty much the only time you would need as many hits with Clamp to KO as with the other two would be against Lorelei's Water/Ice types.

[@HighPriestFuneral]

Its just hilarious that in the beta the trapping moves were somehow even more inaccurate!

[@naurmael]

So exciting! Articuno was always my favorite growing up I can't wait to see how she does

[@TheLeviathan1293]

16:13 You also gotta consider that using fire spin with a fire pokemon is not the same as using wrap with a poison or dragon pokemon. You got stab so you'll need less hits to take down your opponent. You got less accuracy but you also have to roll the dice less times.

[@anthonykutz9944]

Also it's a special move instead of physical may make a difference in some cases

[@csmartin85]

Thank you for the content you've put out all year long. I've watched these videos during tough times, before falling asleep, in the shower, even while driving. The level of dedication in these videos is unmatched and it's greatly appreciated.

[@roymerkel8008]

Nice troll on Moltres -- I was sitting there puzzled because I remembered it having Fire Spin instead of Flame Thrower (which pretty much can't minimum battles Brock -- my brother has tried), then you sprung the troll, and I approve.

[@roymerkel8008]

Also, it SHOULD have had Flame thrower instead of Fire Spin, BTW. It not just COULD have minimum battled Brock that way, but WOULD have been so much better. Let's see if you find a way to improve it's late game, but most of the people I've seen running this guy end up doing pretty meh to eh due to it's lousy starting moveset.

[@p.zansei3280]

Scott, I an thoroughly enjoying this race, as do I love the optimizations. Just a small correction: Spamming Drill Peck is Bird-Brained, not Brain dead. There's a difference😂

[@nickidehlika2628]

That was... excellent bait with Moltres. I looked at the moveset, went to Bulbapaedia to doublecheck what *I* remembered, and started to call shenanigans juuuuust as you addressed the bait of Flamethrower/Fire Spin.

[@zedruumd2119]

Zapdos is my favorite gen 1 Pokemon. It carried me hard through the Indigo Plateau when I first played red version when it just came out and I was only 9 years old. It’s one of my earliest clear memories. So excited to see it dominate again!

[@danielwatson7386]

Bless you Scott for this content. I've been stuck at the airport for three hours now and this is going to tide me over. Happy holidays!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Hopefully you get unstuck soon! Happy Holidays Daniel!

[@TheGreatSpanishBaldwin]

I’ve been looking forward to this video. I have a sense Zapdos might set the bar for electric types.

[@thebigbean8783]

Gooood lord. Over 2 hours long. We have come to the climax of my favorite generation, my favorite pokemon game, and my favorite series of yours. This is going to be amazing! They all have pretty good noice starting movesets. Even fire spin is gonna mess some people up. I can't even call a winner rn, i feel like it's gonna be an epic battle for first! It's a good day Alright, moltres is gonna get demolished

[@johnandersion]

Oh wow... I was today years old when I realized/learned the birds' names were related to Spanish numbers. Thank you Scott, for once again expanding my mind about the world of Pokemon.

[@stardf29]

Really awesome to see Zapdos break the curse of Electric-types in Yellow here. That said, a few key things helped it a lot: First of all, starting with Drill Peck is huge. When so many Pokemon only have a weak non-stab Normal move to damage Brock's mons, having a move with effectively 60 BP even after resistances is not too bad, and lets Zapdos get by Brock pretty quickly. Combine that with its usefulness in quickly knocking out random mons throughout the game (especially Grass-types) and it really is one key to Zapdos's success. The real key, though, is being immune to Earthquake. That makes the two fights that most Electric-types get stuck on, the Giovanni gym battle and the Champion's Sandslash, much easier to deal with. Giovanni in particular is so much easier when you don't have to worry at all about taking Earthquakes from the Nidos (and you can even badge boost from them), and making the Rhydon use its weaker STAB in Rock Slide also helps. And the Champion's Sandslash is nowhere near as much of a menace when it can't spam its best move. All in all, Zapdos has it so much easier than other Electric-types and the results definitely show that.

[@drragonboyd]

The base stats matching the English names is quite interesting considering there is zero correlation between the Japanese names and numbers. Articuno is Freezer (フリーザー), Zapdos is Thunder (サンダー), and Moltres is Fire (ファイヤー). So I wonder what the actual reasoning behind the different base stats total is?

[@LTDextel]

Omg. When i first played Pokémon Blue, I accidentaly taught my Articuno toxic over ice beam. So the fact you had to use toxic with it is hilarious to me. 😊

[@gonzoxp]

Cheers to a great 2023. I'm glad I found your channel, Scott. Congratulations on all your achievements over the year, and I hope 2024 goes just as well.

[@thesilvereeveetrainer1275]

Hi Scott, I never comment but I watch you religiously on Saturdays. I just wanted to thank you for your content and happy holidays!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

You’re welcome! Happy holidays!

[@midge2946]

Really had me going with the Moltres intro. I was like, "Wait, I thought it had Fire Spin? Maybe I'm remembering wrong..." Feels bad for the spicy chicken. But, respect for the sheer volume of work that must have gone into this one. That's a lot of runs with the birds, and they turned out pretty impressive.

[@SSK2600]

Maybe it's just me, but I usually pause the video to calculate the base stat total of every Pokémon you do a run with. It's just nice to know, I think 🙂 I'd love it if you showed it in the beginning. Anyways, love your stuff, Scott! Have a nice christmas ☺

[@kevinsips3658]

These have got to be some of the most optimized runs on your channel. Great work, Austin and Scott.

[@furnacio]

I don't have nearly enough time to watch this rn, but I downloaded it, liked it, and I'm commenting for the algorithm because Scott is a majestic bastard

[@henrikg785]

I think it would be cool if Austin makes his own tier-list and you compare your results to his. Merry Christmas to you and thanks for an amazing year of content:)

[@sandeepssv8930]

A great VS to end the year on, didn't expect Zapdos would be that good tbh like the second best in the tier list woah! Now that Yellow, Crystal, Emerald and FRLG are done for the year, am wondering if we're gonna get Platinum for the rest of the year as a surprise! Anyway that's just my hope because that's my fav Pokemon game, I'd watch whatever game you play!

[@glennvandierendonck3771]

Scotty, The narration in this one is on another level. GG :D

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I've been really working on my narration, vocal quality, etc. Glad it is paying off!

[@SmashMath151]

You really had me in the first part of the Moltres run! I even paused to look it up because I was quite sure it started with Fire Spin. No excuse not to give it Flamethrower at 51 though. Overall, these birds did really well despite their unusually shallow movepools, even by Gen 1 standards. While slower, Moltres still pleasantly surprised me. Legendary stats certainly help!

[@Yousef77077]

Your voice is relaxing man ^^

[@DwunD016]

You got me with the flamethrower on moltres for a sec there. Definitely started to look up moltres in yellow tonsee if something changed😂

[@Peffse]

I was SO confused when your Moltres had flamethrower instead of fire spin. I almost commented immediately asking if that was a R/B vs Yellow difference.

[@bettyunicorn6132]

Me too!

[@SinnerChrono]

I find none of your mistakes frustrating. Only humorous and very relateable. 😂 keep up the awesome work in 2024. And happy holidays and new year.

[@joshuaschmaltz4184]

First time commenter, long time intermittent watcher. I had wondered to myself for a while when you were going to make this video. With your accrued experience in this game this will be quite definitive in my opinion. Thanks for the Christmas gift! I hope everyone enjoys

[@xfluffytraxy4996]

I didn't know the game switches on animations for the champion battle. Such niche knowledge, I love it.

[@Red-jq6bw]

Thank you Scott, now i can't unsee the pixel from Articuno's back sprite

[@MightyRyan1337]

You got me with Moltres lol I thought i was tripping I could've sworn it started with fire spin

[@splitthesoulgaming7431]

'Used fly to counter his dig' is a wild statement when using flying types, and like i understand you did it cos he was underground and attacking first turn would miss, but it still threw me lol Fantastic video, youve killed it this month

[@tann3r23_]

Now I really want to see that Moltres run with Flamethrower instead of Fire Spin. Great video!

[@mr_lankyon2065]

Merry Christmas! Great video. Salty due to personal bias but can't be too disappointed by how they all do. (Id just call it a tie between the top two with the bits of bad luck for the cool one but maybe I'd just have to get good and do it myself) Cloyster really being articunos nemesis the whole time 😂

[@blakeschwab7518]

articuno starts with ice beam, my vote for the winner is him! hyped to see this one, keep up the good work and merry Christmas.

[@shades344]

This is a banger of a vid. Awesome stuff from first play throughs and impressive optimizations. Loved it, although it took me like 4 sessions to get through the whole thing lol

[@discgolfwes]

2+ hours of Scott's Thoughts goodness I can't wait!

[@johntarver5684]

He couldn't let Jrose11 have a 2 hour video all by himself. 😂 I love both their content tbh!

[@anthonyhumphrey3333]

Merry Christmas! Thanks for this gift! Love seeing the legendary birds in the OG games.

[@shimauta1941]

Excellent video Scott. Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and all the best to you and your loved ones in 2024.

[@Kris2005isMine]

The whole time you were talking about Moltres having Flamethrower, I was questioning my memory. I was sure I remembered using Fire Spin and Toxic with Moltres.

[@Shenron67]

For a moment you got me and I thought my memories with Fire Spin were wrong. Bad Scott.

[@HighPriestFuneral]

You had me going there at the start with Moltres. I was thinking... "Wait a minute...! No, that's not right! Am I in a Mandela Effect? I could have sworn...! Have I lost my mind?!" I was just about to check the moveset before you showed us the real moveset that I remembered, haha!

[@Kanbei11]

There is a measure that accounts for bad luck and player error and you already count it: IGT. If you have bad luck and reset then you don't lose the igt. It's not perfect of course because it rewards inconsistent strategies. I would say that if speed over consistency is the way later playthroughs are going then IGT is a better measure IMO That being said I think you're worrying over nothing with your tiers, it'll never be perfect and you already do an excellent job - IMO you're the best solo runner

[@sandsunderthetable.6625]

Ok can I just take the time to talk about the cuts for trainer battles? It’s just so satisfying seeing the player take a pause, the timer go up, and then just continue walking

[@GustavoFernandesKing]

Man... you got me searching online about Moltres moveset because I remember vividly it having Fire Spin hahaha

[@MatthewJemilo]

I'd love to see a Moltres redo with flamethrower to start. I think it might be able to contend with the other two!

[@leonardshuclke343]

Merry Christmas for you , Scott and your family. Thanks for the vídeo. Tomorrow i gonna to watch for sure.

[@kursadkozelo889]

Aint gon lie, you got us in the first half with that flamethrower shizzle

[@Nagassh]

Surprised to hear you hate of the Moltres back sprite. I've no real memories of it since I just banked every legendary back in the day, I was more attached to the ones I'd raised, but that backsprite looks great to me - better than all of the other birds and better than a lot of other Gen 1 backsprites, I think it even has more style than the "proper" moltres art. Moltres has always looked like a rubber chicken with fire on it to me, the back sprite looks a bit cooler.

[@fabizabo]

Yeah. That backsprite is great. But Scott often has a different opinion on the backsprites. If I remember correctly, he liked Flareons's backsprite, which I think is absolutely hideous. I also love Moltres sprite in Pokemon Red & Blue - no chicken look in that one.

[@OgRandombush]

Bro how have I gone my whole life not knowing that fact about the uno, dos, tres thing mind blown 🤯

[@Zoomer3989]

great vid and amazing way to cap the year. and I'm so angry I nearly fell for that Moltres bit

[@ChaosWindScar99]

i'm going to go ahead and predict articuno does the best. Also I can't believe I forgot the naming theme of these pokemon until just now... Also lets not forget how Oak is a legend he throws 3 Pokeballs and catches the legendary birds so easily. When I was a kid I would just miss them... I was wrong by about 27 seconds ah well still seems like a slog either way. Kudos' to you scott.

[@mr.number9279]

Moltres did really good. I know you wish it had Flamethrower, but I think it did good all things considered. I was NOT expecting Zapdos to outdo Articuno. But I'm not at all surprised. When I did my solo starter speedruns of Pokemon Red/Blue, Blastoise had a huge early-game lead, but it falls apart by Rival 6, because Blastoise is almost unable to harm Water-types. Then it's a screeching halt at Lorelai, and Lance. Awesome runs.

[@marysofocleous8338]

I’ve always wanted to see this matchup. Merry Christmas

[@MrMacdaddymcfly]

A whole month without Yellow!? What are we going to do???

[@Willingmess]

I’ll be pulling for Articuno in this! Let’s go most damaging special attack in the game!

[@ShiningJudgment666]

Most consistently damaging considering Gen 1 Blizzard is more accurate than Fire Blast and Thunder.

[@andyplaysgundam]

Excellent flamethrower fake out. I was pretty sure Moltres had fire spin and not flamethrower but then I was like this must be the Mandela effect or something before you revealed it lol

[@DrivenArc]

Finally, after all this time, Double Edge appreciation from Scott! Even if it's only good on pokemon with high health, defenses and attack.

[@Nick_Slavik]

I've never noticed the Articuno pixel.....it always felt natural and gave the wing "depth".....now all I can see is that it's wrong and it's eating at my brain lmao thanks Scott 😒 lol Merry Christmas and happy new year! Look forward to February!

[@Austin007]

I'm so happy to see how this one turned out!!! You put an incredible amount of effort into these birds and I think all three, even Moltres ended up as some of the most memorable runs both to play and watch. I had so much fun playing these in the discord and I encourage anyone watching to download the overlay and give these a shot! : )

[@parkermacinnis3977]

It would be interesting to see re-matches in gens 2 and 3.

[@funkydinosaur]

A two hour plus legenadary bird run; its a christmas miracle!!!

[@nelsondaily]

Imo, Moltres has one if the best back sprites in the game;p

[@MollymaukD]

Moltres' sprite looks like Kazooie from Banjo-Kazooie

[@grundgutigertv6170]

You are almost in Gen 6 with your patreons! Congrats! 😊

[@The_Dad_Garage]

I can’t unsee the articuno pixel now… I blame you 🤣

[@kevinsips3658]

I was so thrown when you introduced Moltres, then when you got to Brock it all made sense lmao

[@michaelklos8089]

OMG IT'S 2 HOURS LONG! Thank you Scott. I hope you have a fantastic 🎄 🎅 😊

[@FNJones88]

GD Scott, waiting this late is a bold move

[@dadish90]

Ahahahah when I saw moltres with flamethrower I thought "wtf, is he cheating?!" You really got me 😂

[@is1spang478]

I knew you were lying about motress because jorose did a video on that pokemon years ago. Great job. Great video.

[@kamikiku]

Thank you Scott - hope you and your wife have a lovely Christmas

[@danielbjerga4954]

Dang it Scott!!! I cannot unsee that pixel now!!!

[@shimauta1941]

13:26 - LOL good one. Poor Moltres.

[@hYRo144]

The idea of the birds using earthquake is so funny to me I imagine them soaring high up just to crash flat onto the ground to shake the earth :D

[@ronaldmaxwell6668]

Its crazy that ive been watching your shit since you had like 3 videos out bro congrats on yr success these past years and happy holidays

[@Penguindude1]

1. *Scott says Venomoth is a Ground type, but Screen says it's an Ice type* 2. I just noticed Misty's Starmie outspeeds Erika's faster members (Starmie's 56 vs Tangela and Weepinbell's 45). 3. So will the updated Yellow Tier List include stuff like a "Champion" tier above S, or a "Lance" tier between S and A? 4. Part of me wishes I had your level of endurance for playing Pokemon as often as you do.

[@pommyadam]

Zapdos - would stealing Fissure from Giovanni and rolling the 30% be better for his Rhydon? potentially better than the "complete immunity" glitch also good to see that it's comfortably the best electric type, although holy cow ELEVEN runs?!

[@danielkaragic7057]

Dont you ever again describe the looks of a unique and legendary flying-god with words like „chicken wings“…!