The Worst Gen 1 Pokémon

The first generation of Pokémon brought us a huge roster of diverse creatures that we all came to know and love! While plenty of these Pokémon were strong from the beginning, the initial release of games didn't treat every Pokémon favorably. In this video I'll be going over what I believe to be some of the worst Pokémon in these Gen 1 games!

[@israelnevarez3118]

Onix is so bad that electric type moves work on it.

[@meticakolli1237]

Onix is so bad that one blade of grass sends it to heaven

[@likeitornot-cg1fy]

@@meticakolli1237 one blade of grass sends rhydon and golem to heaven too you know.

[@khairulhazimsulaiman2740]

and yet there's alot of onix when u reach elite 4 🤣

[@shinji1264]

One drop of water dissolves it

[@gnosis1872]

Lol . That episode was just wrong lpl

[@Triforce9426]

Little me always chose Hitmonchan because "Oooh look at all that elemental coverage!" not knowing that those elements coming from it hit like wet noodles.

[@jrlaps521]

I was gonna use him as my fighting type in FRLG after using him in HGSS for the same reason, and then remembered the punches are special, and thankfully dodged a bullet and chose Hitmonlee instead

[@cparle87]

Same. I had no idea of the whole "all moves of X type are special/physical even when it doesn't make sense" thing. I mean, what kid would look at hyper beam and think it's a physical move? I always wondered why my gyarados seemed to hit harder with bite than surf despite stab.

[@EuroMIX2]

I think we all fell for that trap as kids.

[@trevorstevenson4038]

Yeah, pointless. Hitmonlee with its high jump kick is probably the best fighting type in gen 1.

[@RokuroCarisu]

I remember learning the basics of Pokémon from an _official_ guide book before I got Blue as my first game. It showed me that Hitmonlee learned better Fighting-type moves than Hitmonchan, but it neglected to mention anything about a difference between physical and special types. I had to assume that they all were based on the attack stat because in the book, it said that the special stat determines "how effectively a Pokémon can _learn_ and use special moves". Okay... And what are special moves? The anime used that term for _signature moves_ early on, while the guide only specified it once under a painfully inaccurate footnote about Oddish: "As it relies on special attacks like Poison Powder and Stun Spore, paralyzing it won't help much" - implying not only that the term 'special moves' is synonymous with _status moves,_ but also that paralysis wouldn't prevent a Pokémon from using those.

[@hekonaleeinos5510]

You're not the first one to be disappointed by Onix, and you won't be the last.

[@idontwantahandlethough]

stupid rock snake

[@ElHarmonyV]

I legit wanted to catch a Onix as a kid then got disappointed when an Oddish Ohkoed it like it was nothing.

[@nicolasgralewicz4727]

Imagine trying to show how useless Onix is by putting the bind exploit on full display. High speed is literally all it needs

[@hekonaleeinos5510]

@@nicolasgralewicz4727 The speed is only good, but not great and bind is only 75% accurate. The move having a limited amount of PP is also a problem, notably because of Onix very poor attack stat ; it would be very possible for the PP to be depleted before Onix could do meaningful damage. This unreliable strat is all that Onix has going for him : if it get outsped and/or if Bind misses too many times, it's done for ; and even if the strat works, it's hardly worth it.

[@nicolasgralewicz4727]

@@hekonaleeinos5510 Still more viable than Flareon

[@majorboogie5287]

It’s such a shame because Onix looks cool AF.

[@polocatfan]

it's usable in little cup if you're interested in that.

[@yay842]

​@@polocatfanYou could eat fried chicken in a bucket of shit if your interested enough

[@Rose-yx6jq]

​@@polocatfan probably really decent

[@RokuroCarisu]

@polocatfan Its only use is as a physical wall, but it crumbles as soon as it gets hit by an effective special move. If you want a wall, take Shuckle.

[@tamed4171]

His intro in the anime is so cool too

[@1212Deusexmachina]

Onix one purpose is to be a first gym challenge and its stats reflect it. Of course it makes no sense that an Oddish has more attack than Onix

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

Sure, but Misty is the challenge right after Brock and she has Starmie, one of the best Pokemon in the game.

[@dezpotizmOFheaven]

@@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917 Yep, they could simply balance it via their levels, which isn't even needed if you ask me.

[@GooseGumlizzard]

bad game design

[@shafoz]

It's perfect game design. Onix only purpose is to teach players a lesson when battling the first gym. It has massive physical defense in order to force the player to use a special move to win. Onix needs to have low Attack because you wouldn't learn the lesson if you get knocked out too quickly. The game gives you the opportunity to throw a number of ineffective attacks before you lose, to ensure you get the message. You can't lower Onix level to give it more attack or hp, because if it was lower level, the base physical defense will matter less.

[@shafoz]

1st gym teaches you about physical defense. Most pokemon available at this point have normal physical moves and the game wants you to struggle against physical walls like Geodude and Onix. Then they give you the chance to catch Geodude and Sandshrew so you can get destroyed by a special attacker like Staryu and Starmie so you can understand more about physical and special moves, super effective moves, etc.

[@FalloutMoth]

My first Pokémon game as a child was yellow version. I caught a Pidgey on route 1 and basically soloed the entire game with it. By the time we reached Victory Road he was a level 100 Pidgeot. I mostly used the moves Gust, Fly, Mirror Move and Sky Attack. It was definitely a struggle looking back but because of this, Pidgeot will always be my favorite Pokémon and have a special place in my heart. ❤

[@andson02]

Gen 2 Pidgeot is that for me! Gust as a flying type move and wing attack getting updated power. It can even learn mud-slap or steel wing to deal with rock types 👌

[@issholland]

I never used Pidgey in Pokemon yellow. I caught one just so I can fly and never trained it much. It ended up being my last pokemon during the Giovanni gym battle and ended up winning the last battle all by itself when it was below level 10 while my Gameboy was red lighting. Best Pokemon ever 💜

[@FalloutMoth]

@@issholland haha I love that!

[@sadplanet6744]

I did the same with Farfetch’d on my first Pokémon yellow run. It was a leave 92 before I finally beat the pokemon league. The struggle lol

[@fordprefect813]

Same for me in Gold, that bird could solo the elite 4. 🥲

[@usuallyangry]

You'd really think that with how much Game Freak slobbers over the Eeveelutions nowadays, they would finally give Flareon an actual move pool.

[@davidstratton696]

I think it’s move pool is fine now but back then (before like gen 6) it definitely did suck. Now it gets things like flare blitz, flame charge, facade, and superpower. I don’t know if it gets anything else that’s worth it but it’s moveset definitely isn’t terrible.

[@meticakolli1237]

Like now the get stab and shadow ball and thats it

[@Number1SethRollinsFan]

No they don't give a fuck about them anymore, because they don't make new ones anymore! They keep disappointing us fans who want to see Dragon and Steel Type Evolutions for Eevee!

[@user-mi2mv8mm5j]

​@@Number1SethRollinsFanEevee literally has a whole game

[@Salnax]

That’s a recurring problem for Eeveelutions, especially the ones that aren’t able to abuse Baton Pass.

[@EmeralBookwise]

Flareon's status as hot "garbage" really only started with gen-2. Before that that it was far more offensively viable, when its singular Special stat was what is now only its Special Defense. Even the physical/special split in gen-4 did Flareon no favors due to lack of any strong physical fire moves. It wouldn't be until gen-6 that it finally got access to Flare Blitz, but outside of Special Defense, Flareon is just too fragile to offset the recoil

[@shepskydad]

True. Flareon is one of the many that suffered when Special was split (very similar to Hypno in that way). I think it’s just nice to gas it up in this video since it’s the only time it can get that treatment lol.

[@HomeCookinMTG]

Nah man Flareon still sucked in gen 1. It's in PU in smogon's tier rankings, and if we're talking about it for a regular playthrough, there's basically no practical reason to pick up Flareon. Unless you're massively over leveling it's not like you're going to have flamethrower for Erica, as there's no TM and Flareon doesn't learn it til level 54 or something, and even before that you're going to be without a fire move until the mid 40s or something like that and the only fire move you're going to get is fire spin, so you'll probably just be better off using a fearow with peck/fly, as her team has lower physical defense than special, after Erika, there really aren't any important battles left in the game where a fire type is favored at all.

[@shepskydad]

@@HomeCookinMTG You can actually get Ember on Flareon if you evolve it early enough. Nothing amazing, but at least it’s something. I agree it’s still not super worth using, but it still has more use than Ponyta lol

[@HomeCookinMTG]

@@shepskydad like I said before I don't even think it's really worth using a fire type at all in Kanto games. Especially gen 1. Gyarados, Kadabra, and Snorlax will carry you through the whole damn game lol, just use Bulbasaur to get through the first section.

[@EmeralBookwise]

@@HomeCookinMTG: Oh it, was always underpowered and over specialized to be sure, but so were most Gen-1 mons. Besides, if you're gonna bring up Smogon tiers, Arcanine is another Fire-type also in PU, so that's not exactly horrible company, and in game neither get Flame thrower until excessively high levels, but at least Flareon doesn't have to refrain from evolving. Not to mention every other fire-type in RBY is ranked NU or below, so it's less a case of Flareon specifically being bad, and more a case of Fire-types in general being less useful at the time, mostly because the types fire beat were often even worse (bug and grass) or paired with a type that beat fire (ice with water). My point wasn't that Flareon was ever top tier, or even second tier. My point that it wasn't always unusable trash.

[@bennconner1195]

Onix feels like it was added in the game to be the first boss. It can be a tough opponent at the very start of the game if you can’t hit it super effective or on the special side. I remember struggling against brock as a kid in Pokémon yellow, because I didn’t know it’s weakness.

[@marcosdheleno]

what i dont get is, what's the point of onix. it has a massive defence, but an atrocious hp. it has good enough speed, but terrible attack. its like they didnt know what to do and just randomly added numbers and assigned them to it. i feel like its defense should be weaker, with(at least) double health and attack.

[@bennconner1195]

@@marcosdheleno it was designed as the first boss of the game that teaches kids about some of the games battle mechanics. I think it should have gotten a base stat buff to its HP and Attack stat in gen two. Instead they gave it an evolution that was powerful in gen 2 to justify its rarity.

[@dindyme6970]

Great video! Just one thing: Gen1 Sandslash is actually very good. Yeah the speed is a bit low, but thats all you need to worry about. It has high defense, easily tanking the common normal moves. And offensively its great! 100 attack, evolves at 22, you catch it pre 2. gym. Moves area also great! You have autocrit slash at 17 and you get dig in the same town. Later you get rockslide for flying coverage aswell, which is all you really need. You could even swordsdance for extra power.

[@studiomg3212]

I used sandslash in crystal, loved to use slash on everything!

[@NanoPlink]

And Dig is base 100 power in the first gen. Same as Earthquake :)

[@TheElectricSheep]

I love Sandslash's looks because hedgehogs are one of my favorite animals, but Marowak is a much better pure ground type Pokemon

[@gabrielfonseca1642]

@@TheElectricSheep If you look up Marowak's gen 1 entry in smogon, the first sentence is "Marowak is completely outclassed by Sandslash"

[@lordinfernape4753]

This is a playthrough? Why are u even taking hits? Uk whats better than tanking moves? Outspeeding and OHKOing everything lol Bulk in Pokemon playthroughs is overrated

[@Mathewthechanman]

One of the things folks sleep on with rapidash is the insane speed & agility allows it to spam fire spin, similar to how dragonite can spam wrap

[@christianpickhardt4105]

Anything that can learn Fire Spin or Wrap is capable of using it effectively regardless of the Pokemon's speed. It's not like flinching where you have to strike first. That said, frankly, any Pokemon with these moves is technically good in Gen 1. They're busted.

[@thesacredlobo]

Nah. The scariest thing about Ponyta is you can teach it Horn Drill via a TM and combine that with X Accuracy to turn it into an instant OHKO machine. Which can be really useful against the Elite Four if you've collected a few ethers.

[@SomethingLegit1]

@@christianpickhardt4105 You can only "death wrap" ypur opponent if you're faster. Say you use wrap, you have 2-5 turns where the "attack continues", then it stops and your opponent gets a hit on you (cause their faster). If you're faster, you can just spam wrapping moves (assuming they don't miss) and your opponent is literally death wrapped.

[@DrSlasher]

​@@SomethingLegit1 Χ Accuracy joins the game

[@alessandromazzini7026]

You forget about crit ratio being ties with Speed and if you are faster ​and hit firespin the enemy can't moove@@christianpickhardt4105

[@bobjob2514]

I'm glad Dewgong became an unassailable wall in HGSS. Since Red's pokes all get 100% accurate blizzard, it's an honest-to-goodness boon in that and any other fight where thick fat can help.

[@DanteDrones]

Dewgong is underrated

[@AlexsaurusRex]

9:53 Magmar sitting in the corner like 🥺

[@matchamitminze]

Magmar isn’t a wild encounter in both Red and Blue, only Blue (international) or Green

[@fredericsteckling5516]

@@matchamitminze but Flareon is?

[@matchamitminze]

@@fredericsteckling5516 You can obtain Flareon by Eevee, which is a gift Pokemon obtained in both games? He explicitly said he was omitting version-exclusive Pokemon from his rankings

[@TheManManoel]

​@@fredericsteckling5516 Yes, Flareon IS available in both Red and Blue due to it being an evolution to Eevee, a gift pokemon in both versions.

[@fredericsteckling5516]

@@TheManManoel i know but I was refering to Magmar being no wild encounter, since you cant "catch" Flareon nor Eevee

[@konayasai]

> What are you doing with all that speed? Crits.

[@sageoverheaven]

Remember us when you become huge. There's a lot of potential in this channel. Don't stop!

[@shepskydad]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I'll do my best to make you proud :)

[@nsp6590]

I must say I also agree with this comment.

[@sebnopro4551]

Yes dont forget us

[@ulises6595]

@@shepskydad i agree dont forget about us the little guys :D

[@darthrevan9499]

Yea waffles

[@SomethingLegit1]

I've been saying it for years. Ponyta/Rapidash should've been fire/normal type. They're similar to girafarig (psychic/nornal) and all the normal birds in being animals with an elemental touch to them. Being part normal also allows them to stand out and makes them viable with powerful normal type moves such as stomp and strength (and return in later gens).

[@ostradiemgi5469]

And they’d get normals diverse movepool. Surfing fire pony! Like surfing stone rhino.

[@melvint-p9500]

Bird is my favorite element

[@Oneiroclast]

Not sure how much that would help, the offensive normal type slot is pretty much locked down by Tauros in gen 1.

[@Samfran102]

It’s great to see you continue to grow with these videos. The parts where you edited in the world map to show where you could get certain Pokémon was well done! You wrekt Onix, showing the bit from the show was great.

[@noztk]

It's quite a shame so many pokemons are locked away until later in the game. Kid me always wished to have more variety during the early game to change teams each playthrough

[@as3609]

Kid me was ecstatic playing with a team of Firething, Rat, Pigeon, Crawly bug and NOTHING ELSE FOREVER. Although tbh, I still did that who knows how many times. Kid me was a moron.

[@SilentHotdog28]

@@as3609 I think everyone did that. I always had some combination of Nidoking and NidoQueen, one of the starters, usually Charizard, Dragonite (sometimes 2..."look at me, I'm Lance") Kadabra/Alakazam (Kadabra is way kooler, fight me) Raichu (fuck Pikachu) Rhydon/Golem/Machamp.

[@Xpwnxage]

The rom hack Crystal Clear allows for this team freedom we've yearned for since childhood. Can't recommend it enough.

[@noztk]

@@Xpwnxage is the name based on gen 2 or on the drug ?

[@bosspoke]

Yeah it kind of is a shame. Like... what are you gonna use those pokemon for at the end of the game? Are they only meant for the elite four or something? In games in general you should always receive stuff early enough so that there's actually any point in using it. Just giving you a bunch of random stuff at the end game, that you totally would have use for earlier but not anymore seems so dumb. It ruins their value. Same goes for pokemon. Actually, even capturing Mewtwo seems pointless aside from completing pokedex since there's literally nothing to use him on at that point.

[@wilsonw02]

Please do a similar video for the other Generations. This was a fun watch !

[@shepskydad]

Thank you! I’ll definitely deliver on the other gens 😁

[@grunkleg.3110]

The Gen 2 vid is just 80% of the Pokedex

[@shepskydad]

@@grunkleg.3110 haha that’s too accurate

[@bananapee86]

@@shepskydad FARTS TO THE MAX

[@goGothitaLOL]

@@grunkleg.3110 with most of the good ones being either post-game in Kanto (Sneasel, Houndoom, Skamory, Tyranitar) or trade-evos (Scizor, Steelix, Slowking, Porygon2, Kingdra)

[@soggyslays1170]

A small channel with an actually decent voice? I smell potential

[@chrisdomingo8787]

This is great stuff. I hope you turn this into a series - I'm looking forward to seeing the other Generations.

[@chilln0648]

I’m surprised you say that Sandslash is terrible when Marowak is right there. It’s stats are strictly worse than Sandslash, and Sandslash has better moves at an earlier level

[@shepskydad]

I put Sandslash on there on a whim but have since been shown the light. Marowak is FAR worse.

[@javianmonserrate8930]

Poor Cubone

[@nickpatrick7021]

Wish I had known how powerful STAB was back when I was 8. Also there is a very good reason to use some of these "bad" Pokémon: to mix it up when you've played these games for over 20 years

[@marcosdheleno]

you probably knew, you just didnt realized how to utilize it. i mean, pretty much everyone understood that alakazam with psychic was OP.

[@Maddies2701]

It's ok Sandslash, you'll always be a good pokémon to me. 🥲

[@MaxBurnHeart]

No, it's not a good pokemon. It's the best.

[@DryBones271]

Sandslash is good now, since it can learn all sorts of Ground-type moves.

[@duperfat5646]

The very first time i beat a pokemon game was beating pokemon blue, gary’s lvl 60+ charizard with my lvl 40+ sandslash. I was on an emulator, my last pokemon, Sandslash against his last pokemon, Charizard. 10 yr old me had to figure out a hack: keep reloading back to the save, until charizard misses his attack… make a new save, rinse and repeat. Thank you Sandslash

[@LordeCafe1409]

*cries in fire red*

[@bananapee86]

@@DryBones271 pee

[@aminn003]

I can already tell your channel is gonna grow massively over the next 12 months. You deserve it this video was great quality.

[@AlexxPokemonnTrainer]

Love this kind of material! You got a new subscriber! & Dewgong is one of my all time favorites, I ALWAYS use one. Good or not, I love it's design.

[@NightSkyNyx]

Nice video, I especially like the editing lol. Anyways, I always find it funny in a sad way that onix's stats were so abysmally low (except for its defense and mediocre speed stat), especially its attack stat. Like even if all other stats were garbage, you'd expect this towring rock snake slamming into you to at least do some pretty big damage, but nope. Onix's attack stat is apparently 5 points lower than oddish (physical attack stat being a base 45) lmao also super nice dog lol

[@shepskydad]

Onix is especially weird since as kids we thought it was so impressive as Brock’s ace. But no, it’s trash lol. And thanks :)

[@thesacredlobo]

@@shepskydad - To be fair, Rock types have it better in Generation 2.

[@buzinessdog]

do this for every gen! I love how informative and fun these are

[@fadeleaf845]

You think Gen 1 Hitmonchan is bad? Try Gen 2 Hitmontop: -You can get it in a midgame area, but it's gated behind Waterfall, so you don't have it until the Elite Four. -You need to keep a slot open to get it as a Level 5 Tyrogue. So you have to grind up at a point where your team is about Level 35-40. -Due to how its Level-Up moveset is set up, you do not get the opportunity to learn Rolling Kick as it a Level 1 move. And Tyrogue itself only learns Tackle. The only Fighting-Type STAB Hitmontop can learn is Triple Kick at Level 49, and Rock Smash by TM. Breeding for High Jump Kick seems a bit insane as you already get Hitmonlee on the way. -Also, how you evolve it. You need to *very precisely* manage Tyrogue's stat experience to make sure its ATK and DEF are equal upon evolving (not as hard as for the other two Hitmons) or else you don't get it. -There's a grand total of three Pokémon in the Elite 4 that are weak to Fighting, and sixteen Pokémon that resist it. Ten Pokémon of them can also hit you for super-effective damage. -Return, Curse and Hidden Power are solid moves but just about every Pokémon in GSC gets those, Hitmontop has no unique niche for it. 95 Attack is good but not nearly as impressive as other physical attackers like Gyarados, Ursaring or Machamp. I challenge you to find a Pokémon that's worse in-game than GSC Hitmontop.

[@shepskydad]

Ooof you’re probably right about it being the worst of gen 2. Challenge accepted on finding something worse though 👌🏼

[@nocturne311]

I found one: GSC Tyrogue. Lol.

[@rjante2236]

Easy. Ledian.

[@joshuawidener8407]

Yanma, sunflora, literal unown

[@GreyDuovis]

This was great! It's really fun to think about the first game's design and its faults and the pokemon stats and move selections are some of its biggest flaws. A very cozy video - looking forward to more

[@joshuawidener8407]

How are those flaws?

[@princesszootie6798]

I loved this video!! Thank you for making it! Feel like your points were really well made and I loved your delivery.

[@ahy3840]

Thanks for the video, it was great! for me I wasn’t around when gen 1 came out, so I went back to play them on the virtual console, so learning tips like this was actually really helpful, there’s not many good videos on old mechanics and how the games worked in gen 1, so learning stuff like all moves of a type are set physical or special was really helpful to find out, but it just makes me wonder how much more do I not know that could make me better at the game 😭

[@KraggFair]

I'm glad this video showed up in my recommended, and I'm really looking forward to future videos! One suggestion: when doing stat comparisons between two 'mons, consider using the bar graphs on Bulbapedia or Smogon (personally I think the latter is more aesthetically pleasing) as opposed to just the straightforward Serebii numbers - being able to visualize the stats makes comparisons easier to immediately understand.

[@WatchVidsMakeLists]

Personally I didn't mind the Serebii screenshots, especially because the Smogon graphs are used by almost everyone these days (and don't look super attractive to begin with)

[@justintime2461]

Hi there. I just found this channel, and I hope it eventually becomes more popular. I really enjoyed this video. There were two Pokemon in particular that I was quite surprised didn't make the cut for being considered the worst, the first being Marowak. As much as you showed Sandslash being a terrible, outclassed Pokemon, Marowak is a worse Sandslash. To start, let's compare their stats. Sandslash: HP: 75 ATK: 100 DEF: 110 SPC: 55 SPD: 65 BST: 405 Marowak: HP: 60 ATK: 80 DEF: 110 SPC: 50 SPD: 45 BST: 345 Not only can you get Sandshrew earlier than Cubone (Sandshrew can be gotten either just after Brock, or just after Mt. Moon depending on the version, though it's only in Yellow, and Blue Vs Marowak being available only as early as Lavender Tower and only if you have the Silph Scope, and as late as the Safart Zone iirc), but its stats are either equal or superior to, Marowak's. Marowak's only real advantage is getting Fire Blast, and Blizzard via TM, but non-stab off of Base 50 Special isn't exactly the best. The second I was surprised wasn't here is Seaking. For starters, Seaking has the lowest RBY base stat total of any Gen 1 fully evolved Water Type Pokemon (That being 385, which compared to other Water Types is pitiful, but compared to most Pokemon in the generation, isn't actually too shabby). As well, its movepool is sort of bland, only really getting Normal, Water, and Ice type moves. As well, its Special is lower than its Attack, meaning that it gets jipped in terms of being able to use strong moves. On top of that, it is, at least in my opinion, outclassed by Kingler. Kingler is faster, stronger on the physical side, and makes up for its lower Special by having Crabhammer, which thanks to Gen 1, and Kinger's good enough speed, will result in it always critting. On top of that, you have to wait until Fuchsia City to get the Good Rod to even get Goldeen, and even then, it takes until either Level 37 (Goldeen), or Level 39 (Seaking), to get its first Water Type move via level up (That being Waterfall), which itself is a worse version of Surf (And keep in mind. Goldeen can only be caught with the Good Rod at Level 10, so unless you have Ice Beam, Bubblebeam, or heck. Even Water Gun as a TM, good luck trying to raise the Goldeen). Hilariously, I'm using it for my current Pokemon Yellow playthrough. That's about all. If you read through it all the way, thank you very much. Have a good day! :D

[@brickerboom]

Stumbled across the channel while doing some work. Definitely excited to see more ❤

[@rune4543]

Awesome video! super glad it got recommended. The editing and pacing were great.

[@drunkpikachu420]

Flareon had the second highest attack in gen 1 under dragonite I've surprised quite a few people on pokemon showdown with his finishing hyper beams, you really just gotta save him until you get rid of their ground/rock types because he's completely unless against them

[@Jeff_Biden]

uhmmmmmmmmmmm actually it's tied for the second highest....

[@drunkpikachu420]

@@Jeff_Biden that's still second lol

[@Jeff_Biden]

@@drunkpikachu420 63 53 Juan Tabo Apartment 6

[@drunkpikachu420]

@@Jeff_Biden we gunna have a poke battle?

[@joshuawidener8407]

The problem with that is he doesn't out speed much. That's an issue

[@Super_Top_Secret_Area]

Didn't know Flareon used to have 110 Special... Actually, that's not bad at all for Gen 1 standards.

[@AndreSLopez-fh6hg]

Yeah, too bad that being a fire type in Gen1 means being untiered immediately

[@ryandennison8754]

That’s the second-highest Special stat of all Fire-types, and the highest of all non-legendary Fire-types. If only Fire was a good type for Gen 1’s main story…

[@KaruraSensei]

@@AndreSLopez-fh6hg not necessarily true. Moltres is actually good in OU bc of fire spin

[@AndreSLopez-fh6hg]

@@KaruraSensei yes, but recently discovered. It wasnt back in that days.

[@joshuawidener8407]

​@@AndreSLopez-fh6hglol you are wrong. But to be fair, so is he. Moltres was never used for obvious reasons and is definitely not an OU Pokemon in gen 1.

[@RustyShakleford01]

Video got recommended by the algorithm. was surprised that it was such a small channel. The video quality is what you'd expect to see from established KZbinrs. Good work!

[@skarmory93]

Love the video, hope to see more detailed analysis videos for all gens! (You've earned a subscriber too 👍)

[@SouperGoose62]

Great video. Editing is top notch. Also, the pace is perfect.

[@shepskydad]

Thank you so much!

[@forbiddensigma5312]

I'm surprised Aerodactyl didn't get a mention. While it has great stats and 130 base speed, which means it has about 1/4 chances of landing a crit... it gets terrible coverage options. It gets no rock type moves in Gen 1, despite rock slide being a tm, it's only stab option is wing attack; like you mentioned, only has 35 power. Well... and I guess sky attack, but it's not living anything to actually be able to use it. You can only get it after reviving it in Cinnabar Island and even after going through all that it's only level 5

[@yorecf9641]

Fly is another STAB attack and you get it at level 30 in Gen 1. It’s still not great, but I’d honestly still take it over Onix since you can jump around the region a bit and use its high attack and speed stats for Sabrina at least.

[@jonathanlee9051]

Shocked to see you at 600 subs, I watched the whole video and was going to see which PokeTuber this was. Awesome work! Glad the algorithm sent me your way. Subscribed and can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store next.

[@lenlimbo]

Yeah, funny thing about fearow, pidgeot and the medium-fast and medium-slow exp groups... medium-slow is actually faster until around level 70 or so. Or, to be more precise, except for the first five levels, it is faster. With that I mean, that it gets to level 6 before medium-fast, and it's not until level 68 that medium-fast finally catches to medium-slow.

[@mini-_]

This is some quality content! I also love how you didn't just take the word of the popular opinion out there, but actually checked and compared different Pokemon to show why they were useful (or not).

[@aaronkinsfather8279]

If you need positive reception, I loved this video! I’m a huge Pokémon nerd, and I love Pokémon analyses/comparisons. And your analyses were very well thought and supported. :) 10/10

[@p00p00king]

Can’t believe you only have three videos, this one is so refined! Glad this blew up, keep up the work my bro.

[@ImposterOaksRevenge]

Great video! I just love learning how quirky the early Gens of Pokemon were. I grew up playing these versions and never new any of this lol.

[@oelboy]

This might be interesting to revisit considering tradebacks from gen 2. Funnily, the Spearow line gets Quick Attack and Tri Attack while the Pidgey line gets Tackle.😅 Ponyta does get Flamethrower, Low Kick and Double Kick though!

[@shinquickman]

On the Spearow-Pidgey comparison: Medium-Fast EXP is generally worse than Medium-Slow EXP for playthroughs. Medium-Slow levels up much faster at lower levels. It's only at higher levels (around the 40s) when Medium-Fast starts outpacing Medium-Slow, and for playthroughs you're not around that level range that long. On Dewgong: There's an in-game trade Seel in Cinnabar Island that give it bonus EXP. That and the starting level discrepancy between it and Lapras makes Dewgong far more superior.

[@lenlimbo]

No, no, it's worse. It only outpace medium-slow at level 68. Well, technically, it also outpaces it from level 1 to 5, but between 6 to 68, medium-slow is faster.

[@anasbinmaalik3739]

Nerds

[@HellaciousWhiskey]

Great video man, hope to see more quality content soon!

[@hayden6383]

Please make this a series, I'll watch every one. Liked and subbed

[@killwillv2610]

Awesome video man I love Pidgeot..and always disliked Fearow...this hurts 😂

[@mitch.e2960]

Congratulations you got recommended to me on my front page keep up the good work.

[@slimjong-un5743]

Good video content and quality for a new creator! Subbed.

[@glitchgaming5194]

Just found you today. Love this video, keep it up

[@EENAsemH]

Dewgong is always my water type when i play gen 1, i know that lapras and vaporeon are better options but i freaking love that seal

[@shepskydad]

I admire you so much for that

[@bomfimrodrigo]

I agree it has a cool design, but what ruins it for me is the terrible Gen 1 back sprite. Doesn’t matter if it’s outclassed, Gen 1 is so easy nonetheless

[@matthewkuscienko4616]

I'm pretty sure that even Lapras isn't considered to be all that great in-game when you take I to account efficiency since you obtain it at level 15 if I recall correctly, making it quite underleveled when you first get your hands on it. If you were to ask me, something like Vaporeon or Blastoise would be the better water type option overall

[@shepskydad]

@@matthewkuscienko4616 While true, giving it Ice Beam and Surf immediately means it can hold its own, especially due to the high HP.

[@matthewkuscienko4616]

@@shepskydad Arguably, yes, but that's kind of missing the whole point of my comment. Sure, it does have access to good moves, but being underleveled when you first get it means you're devoting extra time and effort to train it to get up to par with the rest of your team, which you probably don't really want to do at that point. And besides that, it's not like the rest of the water types you get in gen1 (nevermind the rest of the entire series as a whole for the most part) don't also have access to those moves, too, so when looking at it from an efficiency standpoint (as I pointed out in my last comment) it's not as though it's bringing anything to the table that most other water Pokemon can't, especially considering it's going to struggle because of the aforementioned low level for that point in the game. I won't deny it's better than Dewgong, but that's honestly setting the bar pretty low

[@fulgenzio89]

Great video. A lot of the things in Gen1 movepools just make no sense. For example why can’t the fossils learn Rock slide?

[@andson02]

And why can't lickitung learn lick ? 💁🏻‍♂️

[@phlourr]

The algorithm blessed me with this video and I just wanna say I’m a believer brother, video essays like this are the future, if you make a schedule/give a date on when the next video will be out, easy 10k before the year is over, keep up the great work

[@scottdoherty7531]

Good shit man, I'm impressed. High quality video, good script, and with less than 600 suns your editing is fantastic. Most people with your sub count are not doing the things you are. That's why your gonna get ahead. I've been watching KZbin a very long time, and you stand out. just keep chugging, you will make it.

[@shepskydad]

Thank you so much man. I really appreciate it.

[@OathOfRevenge]

Rapidash's speed works super well with gen 1: crits depending on base speed (over 20% chance!), fire spin relying on you outspeeding your opponent (also using the high crit chance with its multihits) and horn drill only working if you outspeed. The issue on those strategies is low accuracy, making the gen 1 horse a gambling machine, but one with a well defined niche!

[@joshuawidener8407]

You don't need to gamble. As long as rapidash can survive a single hit and is faster, it literally can kill anything that fits the criteria without fail.

[@azuredrake5961]

I'm going to be honest, I'm kind of surprised Wigglytuff wasn't mentioned once. Since you have to raise it from a Jigglypuff, you only have sing until lv. 9 and even then all you get is pound. You can grab the Mega Punch TM in Mt. Moon to kind of patch that up in the short term, but it's coming off a base 70 attack stat. But surely with a base HP of 140, you'll take hits well right? No. Not at all. Your defense is like base 45, which is comparable to Pidgey's base 40. But, Wigglytuff is a normal type and gets access to a ton of special moves. Yeah, and its Special is 50. Both Charmander and Squirtle start with a Special of 50 - and they get STAB special moves and evolve around the time you would catch a Jigglypuff. But maybe you're still doubtful. Surely, since it has such a high HP stat it balances out. From my own experience, it does not. You can take maybe 2 to 3 hits before Wigglytuff goes down, after you use a moon stone on it in Mt. Moon. But the worse part? Clefairy is only a little bit further in, like maybe 10 - 15 mins further in. They're in Mt.Moon and are a much better option. Clefable feels like a legitimate power boost - and has the Special is actually back up its giant movepool. But Wigglytuff? Wigglytuff is just a band-aid to an already terrible pokemon.

[@deoxysandmew2162]

In gen 1 at the very least, i wish she had slightly better defenses. Normal types pioneered the gen 1 era due to lack of decent weakness, but needed a backbone to back it up. Wigglytuff sadly wasnt it lol

[@frappompi]

Maybe a part 2 could cover more useless pokes? *side eye emoji*

[@yaboidragonitehere1137]

@@deoxysandmew2162 and gen 2 Wigglytuff went from worst to even worse

[@emoliounderscore]

Great video you've earned my sub keep up the great work

[@sagacious03]

Decent analysis video! Thanks for uploading!

[@raikaria3090]

Seaking. Seaking is the first of the "useless generic fish"

[@lvl5Vaporeon]

I can see one potentially annoying thing you can do as Rapidash. You can probably use agility and spam fire spin to aggravate your opponent to no end. Sure Moltres can do this better, but I can't see Flareon doing much of anything.

[@shepskydad]

Just like the Onix bind strategy but more effective lol

[@lvl5Vaporeon]

@@shepskydad Sadly onix can't learn agility

[@bryanwoodard1240]

Fun video,glad to get on an up and coming channel! 👍

[@sledgevocalz314]

Just started playing Pokémon red again since like 2000 so this is very helpful. It may be a year old video but you are helping people greatly

[@26KIDa]

Tangela: you get it too late, has a poor moveset, and it pales in comparison to other Grass-types. Also, the Fossil Pokemon: Kabutops doesn't learn a Rock move, and you're gonna need some TMs in order for it to be viable. But you get it too late, and at level 1! Same with Omastar. Both are terrrrrrible in Gen 1. Good video! Subscribed!

[@primaster9360]

Wrong that, they are at level 30 in gen 1 (but they're still trash, agreed there)

[@shepskydad]

Oof, Tangela is definitely rough. It has the uniqueness of being the only pure Grass type, but that doesn’t make up for all the negatives lol. The fossils are also pretty rough. They do have unique typings, but it isn’t worth it by that point. Cool concepts but meh. Aerodactyl is the only good fossil. Thanks for the support :D

[@26KIDa]

@@primaster9360 Oh yeah?? I didn't remember that! Still: trash.

[@FiboSai]

@@primaster9360 Omanyte isn't trash at all. Unlike Kabuto, it has good special, the second highest of all water types behind Tentacruel in fact, so it is just as good for spamming surf as any other good water type. With 125 def and 115 special, it is also extremely bulky, and its rock typing gives it some good resistances. The only downside is its late evolution, but you can sort of mitigate that by soloing Blane's gym with it, which it can easily do even at base level 30. It is so good that there are even some speedrun categories that use it.

[@nocturne311]

@@26KIDa Tangela is actually pretty solid. It isn't weak to psychic types due to being pure grass and it has pretty high defense and special. It's main weakness is that it doesn't learn razor leaf but it gets vine whip in Yellow and you can teach it mega drain. It also learns sleep powder. You get it way too late in the game, but it's also cool that the only place to catch it is that little patch of grass south of Pallet Town.

[@nlsnator3802]

I've used Dewgong because of the one you can trade for that gets boosted exp. Just overpower them with big level.

[@Player2_gaming]

I do the same with Farfeched

[@superfrubblez6123]

Fun video. If you’re into competitive at all I’d love to see more videos in this style. Even if not I just enjoyed it

[@salthesalmonshark6849]

Hope your channel skyrockets. You have a lot of potential!

[@MrsIggyKirkland]

Funny thing about Dewgong is I don't remember much about my very first 6-year-old playthrough of Red, but I DO remember loving my Dewgong. It was my MVP against Lance. I probably missed Lapras, but Dewgong has always been one of my favorte Gen 1 Pokemon and I always go out of my way to use it beause of my memories of it, sort of like Pidgey.

[@jcohasset23]

Yeah if you don't get Lapras it's probably the best ice option in Gen 1. Lapras is a great pokemon but it's also predictably on most player's team because of that. It's just a shame Seel is not available until so late in the game.

[@craigyeah1052]

Nice video. I would argue the main downside of Flareon is the opportunity cost of the best electric type or a solid mono-water, but yeah even with that factored in there's no reason to pick Rapidash. I used Pidgeot and Hitmonchan in my first run because I preferred their designs and I didn't know much about stats, but Rapidash and Dewgong I'd argue are the worst off by far because even knowing nothing about stats they're so late in the game and sorry if you like rapidash but their designs are quite bland. (Not sorry if you like the seel line, literally why does it exist)

[@shepskydad]

Yeah Flareon still isn’t worth using haha. It’s disappointing because it has great attacking stats, but you’re spot on with the opportunity cost. And Seel and Dewgong are a huge let down. They’ve never been useful and I doubt they will ever be.

[@nicholashazel7049]

You have a Johnstone vibe. I mean that in a fantastic way. Keep doing what you're doing!

[@TheRicardobtc]

11:55 - "Rapidash has the Speed advantage. What are you gonna do with it? 1) Critical hits pretty much every 2 turns. 2) Trap pretty much everything with Fire Spin (with high-crit ratio). Also, in Gen 1, if the first damage from Fire Spin is a crit, they're all crits. It also stacks with Toxic, if you wanna speed up the process, but Hyper Beam is the better finisher. 3) From Gen 1 to Gen 2, X-Accuracy makes every move 100% Accurate, meaning Fire Spin is pretty much a OHKO if you go first, since you'll never miss and the opponent is trapped forever. 4) Point 3 applies to Horn Drill as well.

[@DryBones271]

I would argue the worst fire-type is gen 1 is Magmar. Since it's only in Blue, and it has a 5% chance of showing up. So it would be the hardest to use, since you'd never find one.

[@shepskydad]

I agree tbh. Rapidash has the benefit of high speed for crits. I would have put Magmar on the list but I wanted to focus on Pokemon available in both games (which I probably should have said in the video lol)

[@davidstratton696]

Hard to find doesn’t mean worst tho?

[@bosspoke]

@@davidstratton696 Well you also get him ultra-late just like Ponyta/Rapidash. Only in Mt. Ember I believe. At that point there's not that much left to use them for.

[@the_username_is_taken]

​@@bosspokeMt Ember doesn't exist in gen 1. You get them in Pokemon Mansion. Although, you can get Ponyta at Route 17 in Pokemon Yellow

[@bosspoke]

@@the_username_is_taken Ahh right

[@REDSPEK-]

I remember using Sandslash, Flareon and Hitmonchan in leaf green as a kid. Pain

[@ChrisMcGiggity]

This was a pretty interesting video. +1 sub earned :) Also, you said ponyta was the only fire type that cant learn flamethrower in gen1, but I believe moltres cant either (assuming you left it out cause it's a legendary)

[@joshuawidener8407]

To be fair, fire blast was ok to use because it's accuracy wasn't terrible

[@PoshMudcrab]

Remember me when you reach a million subs! Great video man :)

[@gotholotl2221]

I think the only applicable time I've used Dewgong was through Gale of Darkness XD, since you don't get Lapras until near the end of the game, and you get seel pretty early on. Even then it did a pretty alright job.

[@deoxysandmew2162]

Holy shit. I remember using dewgong in that game too!!! In colleseum i used mantine on the second playthrough. Boy, that pokemon be weird...

[@manfromnantucket9544]

Rapidash is my fav pokemon since the very beginning. What's not to love about a literal flaming unicorn? Excellent design (by gen1 standards) and really subpar everything else

[@link11fly]

This was a really fun video. I hope we get a gen 2 and onward video.

[@DrawgonBloom]

💮🐉💮I should of started with this video haha. But still great stuff! A lot of fun to watch! 💮🐉💮

[@GoonieLord]

There were a few Pokémon that didn't get good until gen 4

[@shepskydad]

Honestly, the physical special split in Gen 4 really changed a lot in terms of what was viable. I always think about how Sharpedo can’t use it’s attack on it’s stab until a Gen after it came out lol

[@SchumiJr.]

10:51 Moltres also can't learn flamethrower in gen 1

[@shepskydad]

I’ll never understand why they heavily hindered Moltres like that. It’s already the worst of the birds so leaving out Flamethrower is just criminal.

[@SchumiJr.]

@@shepskydad at least it can learn it by the gen 2 tutor moves. But yeah, moltres gen 1 movepool it's just atrocious. Why they didn't even give it to him earthquake, like charizard?

[@shepskydad]

I guess they leaned in hard with the “it’s a legendary so it’ll be fine” mindset lol

[@SchumiJr.]

@@shepskydad well, no, being a legendary doesn't mean you are automatically op. The regis are an example.

[@shepskydad]

Exactly. I guess they just assumed stats would carry it in Gen 1? It’s funny that the latest obtainable bird is subsequently the worst. At least in Gen 1.

[@eliyaskiya]

5:41 Hey, I used Dewgong in Leaf Green. I don't remember my team that much but I do remember Dewgong was the main Water type I used. Only Pokemon I used significantly in Leaf Green were Venusaur, Beedrill, Dodrio, Snorlax, Persian, Nidoqueen, and Dewgong ( and Mewtwo ig idk )

[@cmpunk8546]

First time watching one of your video. I like you bro straight to content no bullshit no clickbait. Stay true. Real eyes realize real lies. PS: i Subscribed

[@AndreSLopez-fh6hg]

Funny fact: Onix is my favourite Pokémon 🤣. I also like Dewgong and Rapidash as well xD. I was wondering... Could we please have a second part including Paras, Farfetch'd, Marowak, Beedrill and Lickitung for example?

[@Amelia4111]

THE D IN FARFETCH'D IS SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE END! AND THERE IS NO Y IN LICKITUNG!

[@AndreSLopez-fh6hg]

@@Amelia4111 my bad

[@costby1105]

Honestly if you're just playing through the game Dewgong is better as you can get it at a much higher level in Red and Blue. Plus you have the chance to get Vaporeon or Gyarados before Lapras and Jynx or Arcticuno around the same time or slightly after Lapras. Lapras starts at Level 15 thus requires too much grinding to be better ingame than any of the aforementioned Pokemon. Not to mention that the TMs that Lapras wants are two of the most contested ones in RBY.

[@InciniumVGC]

You use Rapidash for Agility/Fire Spin shenanigans. Rapidash at least has that going for it, whereas the other Pokemon you mentioned have nothing going for them. Oh and I'm surprised you didn't mention Golbat, it's also quite terrible at doing anything other than annoying the player in caves as a random encounter.

[@rjante2236]

Yeah, Golbat got shafted. Best Flying move it gets is Wing Attack... Can't even learn Fly.

[@JulianneStingray]

Very fun video I'd like to see more like this!

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

Krabby/Kingler. Similar availability to Dewgong iirc, horrible Special so its water attacks suck, and unless you grind the game corner for Hyper Beam, I think Strength is your best move.

[@nocturne311]

Probably body slam but we're nitpicking at that point.

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

@@nocturne311 I mean, maybe. But are you really saving your body slam TM for Kingler anyways?

[@nocturne311]

@@aprinnyonbreak1290 Hell no. Lol.

[@nocturne311]

@@aprinnyonbreak1290 I just have a soft spot for Crabhammer tbh.

[@rjante2236]

Kingler isn't as bad as Seadra or Seaking at least. Kingler has awful Special but with how Crabhammer works it'll still hit hard. Strength is meh but that Attack stat mitigates it somewhat. Wish it was a little faster though.

[@monopolyrubix1875]

How did you not discuss Lickitung

[@MilkLadsForever]

This video is very well done. I would love to see this for other generations.

[@TheDevoutJoystick]

Great video! You forgot about Magmar in the fire line though 🔥🔥 Where would you say he would fall in the viability?

[@shepskydad]

Tbh pretty close to Rapidash. I excluded the version exclusives from the list but it isn’t really worth going out of your way for. Fairly mediocre, but not bad.

[@FoxItAll]

No love for Magmar.

[@neutole]

Yo this a banger video

[@shepskydad]

Thanks so much :D

[@PiePie453]

Good video, keep em coming

[@dannigro8794]

I mean most people teach their Pidgeot fly immediately when they get it so that helps immensely it’s like surf for water types