Ursaring vs Donphan - Pokemon Crystal Solo Run Race

Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle, except held items
3. No glitches, exploits, save states, or RNG manipulation
4. No evasion moves before level 100*
Rule details:
-- *In gen1, evasion boosting is allowed if the Pokemon does it through means other than learning the move by level up or TM. For example, using Mimic or Mirror Move to boost evasion is allowed. (This exception is to keep ranking consistent with my legacy videos.)
-- I am allowed to manipulate my starter
-- I play the game at 4x game speed
-- For fair comparisons all my Pokemon have perfect (or near perfect) DVs / IVs
-- I am allowed to catch HM users - I can use all field moves
-- All in-battle glitches are allowed in generation 1
-- In generation 1, I'm allowed to skip Marowak with the Poke Doll
-- Surge's trash-can-puzzle is automatically solved
-- The bike is allowed in gen1, banned in gen2, and allowed for bypassing terrain in gen3
-- Saving between league members is allowed
-- If the solo Pokemon faints and I choose to blackout it counts towards my reset counter
-- I can pause the game and timer to take breaks
-- The footage is sped up / slowed down to match the pace of my narration
-- The ability Pickup can only be used if the starter has it
Patreon: / scottsthoughts
KZbin memberships:
/ @scottsthoughtspokemon
Twitter: / psychicflying
Twitch: / scottsthoughtspokemon
Illustrations by / sarinavail
Thumbnail art by / brianlsart
STAB: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
DVs / IVs: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Damage Calculations: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Gen1 Stat Calculator: pycosites.com/pkmn/stat_gen1.php
Gen2 Stat Calculator: pycosites.com/pkmn/stat_gen2.php
Gen1 Crit Rates: www.smogon.com/rb/articles/cr...
Learnsets: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Base Stats: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...)

[@EmeralBookwise]

Yes, the Japanese name for Swift is Speed Star, but as seen in the anime and made more clear in gen-3, it's a ranged attack. The Pokémon isn't moving fast, it's shooting out magical stars that move fast. Ursaring is actually probably one of the better choices for a Pokémon that learns this move because it's already moon themed which likewise is something associated with the night sky.

[@VTWS]

Honestly from the name and from everything being able to do it, it does look like that it was intended to be just a fast simple attack, but they might have ended up making the star animation into the actual attack lol

[@MsDarkz123]

In spanish it was called *Rapidez* from Gen 1 to Gen 8 but in Gen 9 has been changed to *Meteoros* probably to reflect just like you said that the intention of the move is that of shooting stars.

[@Shenaldrac]

Also have you seen bears chase something? For something so big they are terrifyingly fast. I might raise my eyebrows at Extremespeed, but Swift, even if it weren't meant to be a ranged attack, would make sense imo.

[@17JEdmundoHH]

And Umbreon

[@bitterzombie]

Swift is the signature move of the gamefreak logo

[@shimmianNS]

On the fifth day of December, Scott's Thoughts gave to me: 'Phan v Ursaring! A tiny turtle's bubble The fire starter digging A garden lizard's leech seed And those three weirdo mons punching

[@kode-man23]

Keep it going!

[@FifthPromise]

Will look for your comment every video. @scotts thoughts please pin this

[@mangoschmooves]

this is a cool comment

[@lazypaladin]

_Get this Pinned!_ _Get this Pinned!_

[@DanielLeonis]

Pin! Pin! Pin! 📌 📌 📌

[@jakobrux5586]

The reason why you can only see Donphan's trunk on the back sprite is because its stuck halfway underground because it failed at using Dig.

[@DanBottiglieri]

Teddiursa did get the same treatment: I used one in my last Crystal run! It's in Dark Cave in Crystal, which is also before the first badge.

[@nathanbyers3049]

I was about to comment on that

[@et34t34fdf]

Not easy to get, but easily one of the best in-game mons in crystal.

[@ReyaktheHunter]

It's a 4% only in the morning, if I remember correctly

[@RobTheResearcher]

one of my favorite crystal-additions: start sunday morning (4am), catch teddiursa asap, max out its friendship (via story progression + bike-ride with odd-egg) and teach it return per tm (goldenrod dept store) . enjoy 153 stab-damage before the third gym

[@ma.2099]

@@ReyaktheHunterand runs away often

[@rooislangwtf]

I'm guessing Gamefreak assumed elephants can't dig (like when Scott thought horses can't dig)

[@skeetermania3202]

Horses can dig?

[@tsawy6]

Those horns look pretty good for digging, and tbh the whole dig thing is pretty unrealistic anyways!

[@tsawy6]

​@skeetermania3202 no but rapidash can!

[@iantaakalla8180]

Considering the animations and that Earthquake deals double damage, Dig is about burrowing into the ground, then towards the opponent. It is not general digging. In that sense, elephants do not burrow, so Donphan cannot learn Dig. Unfortunately, that would also mean Ursaring should not get Dig.

[@poketrainerjames7246]

Game freak’s never seen an elephant before

[@LordViran]

It's weird to think about but Ursaring's special attack stat is only a little lower than Feraligatr's (75 vs. 79), so its ice punches hit almost as hard. Especially in this era of Pokemon, that's actually hilarious.

[@levelearthrealist7132]

Yeah, nowadays it actually hits harder because it uses his way higher attack stat.

[@EggscellentTree]

Feraligatr sheer force boost ice punch ​though, altough ursaring will hut hard if he gets guts activated but that requires you to be statused @@levelearthrealist7132

[@Nagassh]

Wait, is Scott really getting upset that the bear, an animal that digs holes to hibernate can dig, but a wheel-elephant can't?

[@bitterzombie]

Donphan is one of those pokemon that will always hold a special place for me. I remember being a little kid & seeing the first movie, I was so psyched to see A NEW POKEMON in the opening sequence, even if it gets defeated it looks so cool using rollout. I was so sad I couldnt catch it early in Gold version, so when I finally got to catch phanpy in crystal, it quickly became my strongest pokemon. I raised an ursaring too, but I remember teddiursa being way more of a hassle to catch than phanpy, and performing much worse until it finally evolved (much later). So it is interesting to see how the final evolutions starting the game compare to each other without going through the awkward childhood phase.

[@goldkobold6496]

I don’t think the patch for the other trainer’s ai should be implemented. At that point that’s actively changing the battles of the game even in a minor way and may invalidate previous runs you’ve done where Morty’s Gengar and more importantly Karen’s Umbreon using mean look got you to avoid a reset

[@tsawy6]

Is notable that you can induce such play from the AI by removing your hm users, thats just slower

[@iantaakalla8180]

Also, Scott is doing a solo run. Wouldn’t the usage of Mean Look not affect anything since he can only use a singular Pokémon or faint the HM users?

[@goldkobold6496]

@@iantaakalla8180 he’s more aiming to fix the AI doing so. Make it so Gengar doesn’t waste its turn using mean look

[@jeffdeneum]

I agree, I don't think you should change the trainer behaviour... for things like spinning trainers, I get it, it's can unfairly impact some runs, but selecting a useless move is just the AI and it feels like part of pokemon. The AI always does dumb stuff. I wouldn't want you to remove Giovanni randomly using guard specs in Gen 1, or stop trainers from using whirlwind... or any other little quirk honestly. I feel like it's just part of the game. Even more than that, I just don't really see the point, it makes a couple of battles slightly more difficult I guess, but what do the runs gain?

[@tsawy6]

It should be noted for this discussion that the change helps as much as it harms: it would also stop the opponent using roar.

[@greyscaleadaven]

I love the versus idea, but if you were to include Donphan in some way I'd say an Ursaluna vs Great Tusk playthrough would be really fun. They're both supposedly from the past (Paradox pokemon actually have a lot of evidence placed against the time travel shenanigans being the real reason for their existence in SV lore, very interesting topic for me to go on a pointless side tangent about) and both stronger versions of these version exclusives. I guess you could say that Ursaluna's regular form and Great Tusk are also both exclusive to past-themed games in PLA or Scarlet respectively. Great vid, I had a feeling this one would be closer than it seemed at the start.

[@Byers2476.]

I saved this video to watch over night. The wait was well worth it! Wow, the not so cuddly bear did extremely well. Thanks, Scott, for the hard work and effort to go above and beyond!

[@anthonyhumphrey3333]

You inspired me to go back and play Pokemon blue on rom for the first rime in several years and i am loving it! It is so nostalgic and I can see why you can go back to yellow again and again, however, the way you speed run is incredible. I'm trying to go fast and it's really hard!

[@DanBottiglieri]

I reckon due to being Normal type, Ursaring is going to come out a lot ahead.

[@FarmerTome1]

Teddiursa is available early in Crystal as well. In Dark Cave. I believe it's available only in the morning at a low encounter rate though.

[@austindmunday]

I enjoy listening to the though process rather than a step by step breakdown of the battle, good job on y our videos

[@TheGamingCamel22]

I'm so happy you mentioned Ursaluna! Backport of Ursaluna vs Great Tusk would be awesome 😍

[@michaelballack3051]

Didn't expect this but as a fan of both Donphan and Ursaring this is a W run

[@DanBottiglieri]

I'm sensing some frustration that Donphan can't learn Dig...but I think it might just be a feeling.

[@jamesbarron7568]

Nah. Scott can't be frustrated 😂

[@aie024]

I've been waiting for the legendary beasts versus video since you announced it in the Umbreon Vs Espeon video I believe, hype to know its so close!

[@kannavz3494]

My boy got dig gapped. anyway surprising result for both of them, it was expected that in Johto a normal type with a beastly attack stat would do absolutely amazing, I mean we all know that the final set is going to be curse/rest/return/sleeptalk-protect while holding lefties/quickclaw that's the gen 2 special menu, so no surprises there. love the whinging bro, never stop, you are the best!

[@raptors11111]

Another certified banger! Ursaring is an absolute force to be reckoned with in gen 2!

[@lazypaladin]

Two of my favourite underrated mons. _This vid is gonna be difficult to pick a favourite!_

[@pilkkimies]

This was an exciting race, can't wait for thr legendary beasts!

[@ReederMG]

Love that Ursaring was outstanding! I did a playthrough of Crystal as a kid with him and I remember him being a beast

[@christopherustupski2316]

Way to go Scott! This is a lot of work!

[@Xeraser2]

Absolutely incredible results for Ursaring, immediately getting a Teddiursa as your second Pokémon in XD is a blessing.

[@PenguinMafia336]

I love your videos Scott!

[@KayLoo202]

I adore the Teddiursa line and I'm so thrilled that Ursaring got an AMAZING time. And YES I need the Ursaluna play!

[@jimmiewoodsjw]

Another banger! Cheers Scott!

[@TJF588]

"Can we have more than a trunk?" Thank you for the snicker I got outta the follow-up.

[@davidestabrooks211]

Man move pool diversity really is the name of the game in Gen 2 it seems. That and a good growth rate.

[@youtube-kit9450]

Movepool diversity is the name of the game in pretty much any pokémon game. But yes, in gen 2, STAB on return (arguably the strongest move in the game for a long, long stretch of time) and having arms for the punches or not makes a stupidly huge difference.

[@darlhiatt8136]

Ursaluna is super cool, a backport race of its forms would be awesome!

[@wideright7567]

the ursaluna video would be absolutely amazing as a versus video showing off backports. even if they’re just streams, it’d be amazing

[@iss2075]

Both of them recently got such amazing upgrades with Great Tusk, Iron Treads and the Ursalunas. I think Game Freak still see them as counterparts tbh. Also they were both on Pryce's team in Pokemon Stadium 2.

[@1stCallipostle]

If there's one thing Gamefreak can't resist, it's making ground types that overcentralize metas

[@ace94d]

Fun run! I will say I, personally, feel a bit uneasy about both the spinning trainer and the trainer AI patching. I get the idea that the spinning trainers aren't 100% avoidable, but I'd argue that ending up fighting X number of spinning trainers on average is truly a part of the Gen 2 experience and that while it's true the exact number is random I think it's part of the game so just plain removing it takes it a bit further from being a true game run. And to use your comparison from the video, pokemon like Mewtwo or indeed Ursaring can smash through these trainers with incredibly swift ease and thus they get much lower times than other Pokemon, while something like...I dunno, Skarmory or Snorlax is more of a struggle and thus gets slower time, so I feel like it comes already accounted for in the times to an extent. The trainer AI stuff feels like a bit of a slippery slope, although I do get it is just making them recognize you only have one Pokemon, but at the same time the HM Slaves ARE Pokemon in your party so the AI noticing them doesn't seem unreasonable. And using Roar/Whirlwind can help the AI as much as Mean Look can harm them! I also just worry that modifying the trainer's AI for this will lead to future modifications when it is already some worrying territory. Plus the AI doing dumb things is part of, well, the AI really. Also I don't think Earthquake TM stuff is "bad" game design when you also consider the in game and non-solo context, where I would argue it is a trade off. I bet a lot of people will face the Elite Four before Level 49 in Gen 2, given Will starts at Level 42 and Lance ends at a max of Level 49, in which case the Earthquake TM becomes a case of decision making. Do you use it on a Pokemon who can learn it early to get through the Elite Four easier, or do you save it for another Pokemon in the run? I think that's often a core tension when it comes to these kind of TM uses, which isn't (inherently) bad game design. Those are my two cents anyway. Was very glad to see Donphan do so well, as I like the guy and it has good stats, and I was an Ursaring fan (I used a Master Ball on it as a kid my first run of Gold not knowing you only got one Master Ball) so seeing it blaze through the game was impressive. Did get very lucky with Red I felt but sometimes you get that.

[@SirSeabass]

I got this job right now as a 2nd Unit cam op on a home reno show, lot of driving, a lot of working independently. I'm really enjoying this daily upload December. Feel like I got someone to hang out with while I work.

[@tigerking3297]

Definitely an Ursaluna back port. For Bloodmoon, it's interesting because it's a special attacker so it would be interesting to see how it differs from a Pokemon with the same typing and stat structure.

[@TheMoogleKing93]

Except in Gen 2 it won't be a special attacker because all of it's STAB moves are physical

[@marzbar5877]

@@TheMoogleKing93but the elemental punches, tho 🤔

[@PerilousParadigm]

What a dynamic duo, you both catch them in the same routes. I wonder if ursarings low basd speed is "fast enough" with rnough DV investment. It doesnt have the same defensive utility like Donphan. BUT! STAB return is formidable. And ground typing means it might struggle against venasaur/blastoise/gyarados. Excited to see this one!

[@markosgelos3321]

In crystal you can catch even both before the first gym but with very low encounter rate like 5 %

[@dragonlord4194]

Okay to give you an explanation on why Ursaring can learn dig: Bears often dig their own caves for the winter Meanwhile Elephants like Donphan aren't really great at digging

[@N12015]

Then explain a hog/pig not learning dig, which they can do with their nose, specially with tusk around them. Or a scorpid even if flier, they're good at digging. I buy Donphan not digging, but not Swinub nor Piloswine.

[@yorecf9641]

African elephants dig chunks of salt out of the ground to survive. They'll also dig up dry riverbeds to unearth any water that may still be underneath.

[@rooislangwtf]

I don't know about other elephants, but African elephants are pretty good at digging (they often have to dig for water in the dry season)

[@dragonlord4194]

@@N12015 That one was a plain overside of the devs

[@dragonlord4194]

@@rooislangwtf The move dig is the user digging underground and disappearing. Elephants don't do that. I think that is the logic behind that move

[@ChaosWindScar99]

Well i knew normal types were good but i wasn't expecting that... Well ursaring is really good, maybe next time i play pokemon XD i should use the teddiursa more... Also i think this is the first video that I've seen where you encounter one of the legendary beasts, neat.

[@DWargs]

Yeah, it would be fun to see a Ursaluna + bloodmoon Ursaluna backport eventually. Ursaluna would probably use a similar strategy to Ursaring, but I think Bloodmoon would get a lot more usage out of the elemental punches, which would be cool. But the backports I'm VERY intrigued by is Electivire and Magmortar, Electivire especially.

[@markmalocha3303]

Feel like the lack of a physical/special split is really going to hurt blood moon ursaluna, but would be interesting to see by how much compared to base ursaluna. Also would be curious on a great tusk vs. iron treads video, given we're already considering backports on the ursaring side of things

[@kannavz3494]

Imho, donphan > ursaring, but ursalunas > both ugly mofos edit: desing wise

[@barongeoffrey75]

I wonder why they waited 4G for the Physical/Special Shift.

[@chrisdaignault9845]

@@barongeoffrey75I’d guess it was a sort of progression from the contact/no contact split in gen 3. Also the dual screen on the, well, the d/s, may have allowed for more information to be conveyed at a time. It would have been potentially frustrating to have to learn by trial and error if a move was physical or special, if the UI couldn’t tell you. I guess ‘makes contact’ is still that way to this day, although it matters less often.

[@Soldaraku]

I'd be down for Ursaluna vs Ursaluna (Blood Moon) in Crystal Vs Video. But I'm also curious if there's a possibility for a potential Great Tusk vs Iron Treads in Crystal Vs Video.

[@KingOfMongrels1]

A Ursaluna backport versus video sounds hype to me.

[@rooislangwtf]

Scott I think the Icy Wind also has a 1/256 chance not to lower speed in Gen 2. The NPC's chance to fail moves is mentioned on the Accuracy page since it doesn't make sense to mention it on the move's page itself since it doesn't effect players. So on the Accuracy page of Bulbapedia it mentions (edited for brevity): some moves used by AI opponents have a chance to fail. Specifically, this affects status moves, as well as any attempts to lower any of the player's Pokémon's stats other than accuracy (even when through the additional effect of a damaging move, in which case the reduction merely applies to that additional effect's chance, not that of the move itself).

[@skeetermania3202]

Similarly, the info of Ancient Power not granting an omniboost if you get a KO is not listed on Bulbapedia either. Given that Scott used to be a Bulbapedia editor, I wonder why he hasn’t commissioned to edit that if he can verify this info so conveniently.

[@ryangarcia8247]

About Teddiursa not being available early on in Pokémon Crystal: It actually is! You can get it as soon as Dark Cave, at level 2, at morning time.

[@thebigbean8783]

2 very cool pokemon. They both make me very nostalgic for gen 2. I think ursaring is gonna take this home, though. I'm looking forward to this one

[@zacharyessey5904]

Let's GOOOO URSARIIIING! I love its design! Btw, if we are talking about backports, you should backport Gen 9 Dragonite. It would demolish Gens 1 and 2 as it overcomes Dragonite's hiccups.

[@contestwill1556]

as an avid gold player back in the day i always admired how ursaring was an absolute unit

[@PrincessGoth574]

Ursaluna vs blood moon ursaluna would be so cool. Also great tusk Vs iron treads!

[@TheWolfyHero]

Great video as always, Scott! Quick question: are you considering doing any videos on Crystal Legacy? I'd love to see you cover it somehow

[@mahnameisj]

Can't wait for the eventual Iron Treads/Great Tusk vs Ursaluna/Blood Moon

[@Zachpi]

Awesome to see an unusual hidden power, especially to give one of my favorite Gen 2 Pokémon such powerful coverage, but I'm a little confused on one thing. Around 53:30 you mention donphan having a 9% to ohko umbreon, but if a crit always ohkos, and it'd be a max roll to potentially ohko without, wouldn't it have to be around 12% to ohko? Apologies if I'm just missing something, really cool to see regardless!

[@cuneyta.3371]

I hope you will run Ursaluna this year❤ I would love to see this run

[@LTDextel]

Welcome to this Pokémon rivalry! It's The Don versus Ursa Major in the ring! Good luck, fighters!

[@brycearnzen700]

At the time of its release, Ursaring was the strongest Normal type pokemon, with its 130 base attack. It doesn’t shock me at all that it’s tearing through this game with a series of one hits.

[@benjaminsmull2034]

Regular vs. bloodmoon ursaluna would be really interesting as backports! Funnily enough i think a backported bloodmoon would have a similar dynamic to it’s current version in scarlet/violet, where it’s a special attacking pokemon with a primarily physical attacking learnset, but still with enough special moves to lean on and dominate (Blood Moon and Earth Power/Hyper Voice for Gen 9, and the elemental punches for backport) Meanwhile regular ursaluna has such great complimentary stats and STAB options that it could just bowl over everything with little thought.

[@JimXUltima]

I missed the premier 😢 but I'm still happy to be here

[@vizzy61]

donphan's backsprite is hilarious lol

[@ChoosenOneStudios]

Small little error: when bayleaf uses razor leaf against Donphan, it makes it sound like horn attack is a high crit move :)

[@MrMovees87]

Curious… Pryce tends to be a very easy battle in most every run you’ve done, so do you have any (Scott’s) thoughts for how you’d improve his team?

[@williambaker5730]

Hey Scott - loving the regular videos! Do you happen to keep track of when the mon beats Lance? As kanto is technically post-game, would be cool to know the leaders in the johto race - ursaring could be a contender!

[@andreiturralde3486]

Now that you mention ursaluna and bloodmoon, i kinda want to see a great tusk vs iron treads back port

[@slightlytoxic12]

Suggestion: would love to see if you get the capability to backport new Pokémon to crystal, you should do an Ursaluna run. Would love to see how it compares to ursaring!

[@slightlytoxic12]

Edit: didn’t watch the end of the video and saw that you mentioned it yourself 😂

[@Shenaldrac]

32:30 Regarding this, I think you are forgetting about the context that a player is likely to obtain Donphan. While they could get a Phampy early on and evolve it, I think it also likely that they would encounter it at the end of the game, where they are a much higher level and likely to be close to if not already knowing Earthquake. So it being learned so late seems less egregious to me. I do think it should have learned Magnitude earlier on though, if it's not going to have dig because elephant feet can't dig then it needs another mid-tier STAB move.

[@bavarian9956]

Hey Scott, did you consider maybe showing a time-by-trainer-graph for both playthroughs of each pokemon individually? idk about the others, but to me at least, it would be quite interesting to see how the timeloss due to more training/different routing in the early game of the 2nd playthrough changes overall time. maybe that's not really significant fir every Pokemon, but for some it could be interesting, when routing and strategy changes a lot between playthroughs

[@rc4780]

Teddiursa did get the same treatment - you can find it in Crystal in the dark cave above Mr Pokemon's house.

[@Caleb_XIII]

My hot take on 'why Ursaring can learn swift': The moon theme.

[@rixuko2218]

allright the sequel both ursalunas vs iron threads and great tusk. thatll be a hype backport indeed.

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

An Ursaluna back port would be awesome!

[@FlamingAomeba]

I can't believe Scott had his PP drained with Spite, truly the moment of all time

[@almocorongo5459]

The year is 2035, the KZbin channel Scott's Thoughts just reached 2 million subs: "Remember that Donphan vs Ursaring Race? Now let's do another chapter of our backports versus videos: Great Tusk vs Ursaluna in Pokémon Crystal!"

[@Swrdfshtrmbns]

I love Donphan! Have you tried playing Crystal Legacy? So much fun!

[@nascromt]

I never used Donphan until Scarlet, at which point I loved it and the way it moved. I have never used Ursaring so I'm interested to see what it is like!

[@G0ATFAC3]

I'd love to see Ursaluna Vs. Blood Moon Ursaluna. Maybe Great Tusk Vs. Iron Treads too?

[@brettl4941]

I never realized how much of a don fan I am. Please do more runs with Donphan because I think you can shave off 2 minutes or so.

[@turbotreehouse9780]

0:46 you said crystal instead of silver. Luv your stuff Scott, still gotta call it out 😂

[@brycearnzen700]

If you’re going to backport Ursaluna and Bloodmoon, you should also backport Great Tusk and Iron Treads, and make a vs video for each pair!

[@VindirWefent]

Bears are really good at digging irl. They can dig for food and some bears dig out dens to live in.

[@josephwilson3531]

Nice idea for a video it's very interesting I think Ursaring should might win this one trying not to be bais here technically Donphan has been one of my favorite grounds type of all time since I first played Gold an Silver

[@bananaspice1967]

The bear vs the elephant, who will go faster? Will it be the nocturnal nightmare? Or the rolling rampager?

[@thecriticalghost4626]

Ursaring is related to the moon and the constellations so I guess thats why it gets Swift too As for dig, well, bears dig

[@NativeGolfer10]

Ah yes, my favorite normal type vs my favorite ground type. This is going to be a Merry Christmas to me! I’d say Ursaring has the slight edge if I went in blind to it.

[@NativeGolfer10]

I didn’t make it past the minute and a half mark before I need to correct Scott. I love ya bud, but I only had Crystal and Dark Cave allows you to get a level 2 Teddiursa so you can face Faulkner with a Phanpy, Teddiursa, and your starter. I always had 3 of my final team by my first gym.

[@jaromallen8357]

Question for the room (and Scott): How would these challenge runs change if moves such as Psychic had their secondary effect trigger before the damage calc? As in, Psychic does additional damage because it caused a special defense drop.

[@Kahadi]

That would be weird and make most moves with secondary effects much more powerful. Any moves with a stat boost for you or a stat reduction for your opponent, on top of dealing damage, would just end up even more powerful, while moves that reduce your stats (typically as a downside to having higher base damage) would effectively become far less useful. Other sorts of secondary effects like granting your opponent status conditions would be unaffected, but the rare few that give you a status condition, like Thrash making you confused, would lose any point in using them, being way too risky to even use as a battle finisher. It really just doesn't make sense for that to happen, though, unless the moves and mechanics had been designed around that being the case.

[@MeriadocMyr]

have you everconsidered using a predamaged flail strats or sleep talk stuff? especially sleeptalk considering how broken it is

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

Ooooooo scott got sooooo close with that umbreon vs ursaring Edit: on both accounts too... hmm. Id see about getting some vitaminininininininins for ursarings attack stat so you can nail the ranges on Karen's umbreon

[@Orrphoiz]

8:35 Scott, you completely forgor mentioning Razor Leaf, so your voiceover makes it seem like Horn Attack is doing very little damage due to it having a high Critical Hit ratio lmao :DDDDD also, bug love cc:

[@ImJasonD]

As an Irishman it’s funny to hear you use the word whinge. We use it quite often here in Ireland 😅

[@WeJammin]

Last time I played Soul Silver I caught a shiny Ursaring I was SO HAPPY

[@zenitfan4life]

Would love to see both of these get a shot at a Gen 1 via port at some point.

[@jesterbravo3317]

If you want to improve your grammar I have two tips for you (And I wouldn't mention them if you hadn't talked about it). 1. I believe "anyways" isn't correct, and it should always be "Anyway," but it's possible that I'm wrong. 2. When you discuss something you can count, you say "fewer" instead of "less." So instead of less solar beams, you take fewer solar beams. Anyway, I love the content and appreciate how much of your stuff I can listen to during my 10-hour shifts at work this month! I'll try to get through as many videos as I can as fast as I can to help out your channel!

[@Steve_A93]

I really would love a backport but make it Ursaluna vs Great Tusk :D

[@patrickberry6210]

Great Tusk / Iron Treads vs Ursluna / Ursaluna BM back port race someday !

[@Nekromant05]

I was so jealous of my brother, because Phanpy was in his game and not in mine and I love that cute babyfant sooooo much! 😍😍😍 Will you do a Missing No. run?

[@hikarimemeirooficial]

We should have a what if moves series like what if Dophan had Dig.

[@SmashMath151]

Ursaring really surprised me since I thought it's lowish Speed would hold it back a little bit, but thank the Johto level curve for that! It's final time makes me think Mewtwo might be able to scrape out a sub-hour finish with some luck. Donphan did really well too!

[@ma.2099]

Haven’t finished so this might be premature comment about how in second run, use hidden power to give Pokémon STAB moves early. I believe in this case, you can get HP ground before third gym and a ton of training at the same time along the way.

[@Ubernewb111]

ooo I didn't know winge before today. I like

[@vincentwerts4724]

Not sure if a correction is necessary, but you can catch Teddiursa in dark cave just outside of violet city.. It has to be in the morning. It's got a low catch rate and likes to run.

[@IEmulateGames]

Scott somehow always manages to mention Gligar not getting Mud-Slap.