This means that Blue is down to his final Pokemon, his starter, but it’s not an Eevee anymore...
…finally, Blue has evolved it into Vaporeon.
#RB Giovanni Run
alpine wasp
alpine wasp
</3
Dugtrio surprisingly outspeeds the Pokemon that is six levels higher than it, burrowing into what must be no less than a heavily damaged ceiling at this point
Vaporeon then goes for Water Gun, but it just barely misses the triplet mole
Dig does HUGE damage, what looks like about half, but even with its low power Water Gun does even more
One more hit from the Bubble Jet Pokémon will surely KO, so we burrow underground while Vaporeon misses another Water Gun
However, what did half damage before turned out to be a range
alpine wasp
Vaporeon survives on a little HP, and lands with a powerful Aurora Beam to knock Dugtrio out after yet another amazing performance
You might think Rhydon might be a good switch in, being our only Pokemon that’s higher leveled, but it’s slow AND has incredibly low Special, on top of being double weak to water
I bring in Nidoking for much-needed power
lethal citrus
i didnt think rhydon would live this one
alpine wasp
THANKFULLY, Nidoking ALSO outspeeds the Bubble Not-Really-Jet, and takes it out with a single Thrash to win us the battle
alpine wasp
💖💖💖💖
That’s not all though, we still have a second match against our TRUE rival, Yellovanni
lethal citrus
Alright!
alpine wasp
Yellovanni starts off with Nidorino, so we have no choice but to use our Nidoking
lethal citrus
yep yep
alpine wasp
Even at 65 base power, Horn Attack is doing a great chunk of damage, almost bringing Nidorino to half despite it being two levels higher. Nidorino’s Fury Attack, on the other hand, barely does anything to the Drill Pokémon.
lethal citrus
very nice
alpine wasp
This enrages Nidoking, who goes on a full on rampage with Thrash, sending the other Nidorino flying into the wall. While it barely hangs on, it does so dazed and confused, only having the willpower to halve its crit rate before being knocked out.
This leads Yellovanni to send in his beloved Persian.
With the speed advantage and moves like Bite and Growl at its disposal, it’s the obvious choice to use...Pay Day, which barely does anything. Alright.
lethal citrus
he just wanted to beat you with cold hard cash
alpine wasp
Too bad, because one cold hard Thrash immediately brings Persian below half
lethal citrus
yet another reason why you shouldn't throw cash in someone's face
alpine wasp
Nod nod, and that’s why he uses...Pay Day again! Throwing pocket change didn’t work before, but sure, maybe it’ll do ‘im in this time.
lethal citrus
the billionaire playbook of ineffective altruism
alpine wasp
Sadly, for once in its life, throwing money at its problems does not make it go away. On its final turn of Thrash, Nidoking sends Persian blasting off, leaving Yellovanni with two.
Maybe Yellovanni should just learn to sing well. Everyone would forgive his crimes if he did that.
alpine wasp
His second to last Pokemon is Rhyhorn. Now that Thrash ended, Nidoking would be confused, so we make a switch into our Rhydon to show it true power.
We go for Horn Drill, and it misses four times in a row, yet by the time it hits on its last power point, Rhyhorn has barely done anything at all.
lethal citrus
Nice
alpine wasp
This means Yellovanni must send out his last Pokemon, his own Nidoqueen. You can really see how his team is truly starting to take form.
Unlike in Red and Blue, Nidoqueen has Double Kick at her disposal (lucky), so I go for Tail Whip to hopefully soften it up for OUR Nidoqueen before Rhydon can go down...but surprisingly, despite the type advantage, Double Kick does very little at all.
By contrast, the Horn Attack that Rhydon sends at its fellow Ground-type does over a third of her health
lethal citrus
Wow I didnt expect the rhydon to live a double kick
it mustve rolled min damage or something
alpine wasp
No, it just isn’t doing much!
As evidenced by another Double Kick, which still isn’t up to much as another Horn Attack pierces her heart
Finally, after a final Double Kick, Nidoqueen is taken out, and the battle is won
Maybe we aren’t missing out on anything without Double Kick, after all...then again, our equivalent is literally Poison Sting so yes we are
alpine wasp
💖💖💖
thats it for tonight i lost track of time yet again and it is sleepy oclock for me
alpine wasp
💕
alpine wasp
So! Now it’s time to fight Sabrina
“But Jenny!,” you may cry. “Sabrina is an even stronger opponent than Koga! Why would you challenge her first?!”
It’s simple: I want to show how really, really easy you can manipulate this fight so that you can literally always win
I mentioned earlier we can use Guard Spec but I’ll try not to use it in gym battles with one exception. This is the exception
Sabrina starts out with Abra as we send in our paralyzed Dugtrio
Despite the power that Sabrina’s Abra commands in the anime, in Yellow it’s not much of anything at all. It only has one move: Flash, which lowers accuracy.
So, we use a Guard Spec on Dugtrio. And now Abra literally can’t do anything
It doesnt even use Flash this turn, Sabrina just decides to use an X Defend, which we actually want
We use Dig, and it hits, leaving Abra with just a few hit points remaining
However, on our second Dig...we get paralyzed when we’re meant to get up.
Now, in any other gen, this would automatically bring us up.
Gen I, of course, is a different beast. If you get paralyzed on the second turn of Dig, you’re still considered underground until you get up again.
Which doesn’t do anything for Abra, who still can only use a non-effective Flash, but once a Scratch knocks it out, we can get to Kadabra
...though, just real quick, I manipulated my EXP so that Abra levels me up to 35, teaching Dugtrio Slash in place of Scratch and thus making it finally finished. Anyway
Sabrina sends in Kadabra next.
When I say that Dugtrio is still technically underground, I mean it is until it either gets back up with Dig again or if it uses Fly, I believe.
It’s still, however, free to use other moves until it does
Including Slash, a move that with Dugtrio’s great speed always crits, so none of Sabrina’s defense boosts matter
The only move that can hit Dugtrio now is Swift, which Sabrina’s team doesn’t know
The only thing you have to look out for from Kadabra and Alakazam is making sure they recover as little as possible, but again, this line has paper thin defense so even with Slash’s 10 PP you can easily get through
lethal citrus
That is such a neat way to manipulate the battle
I love it
The use of guard spec is cherry on top
lethal citrus
Gen I, of course, is a different beast. If you get paralyzed on the second turn ...
Gen 1 fun oversights
I didnt know you just stayed in the ground when you get paralyzed while attempting to use dig
Thats a fun exploit
lethal citrus
...though, just real quick, I manipulated my EXP so that Abra levels me up to 35...
Very nicely done
The timing couldn't have been more perfect
lethal citrus
When I say that Dugtrio is still technically underground, I mean it is until it ...
Oh wow it's stayed hidden and you can get so many free hits
You actually used paralysis to your advantage
That is genius
alpine wasp
Yeah!
It’s a very cheap strat, so I won’t use it unless I ABSOLUTELY have to
But I wanted to show it off here because it’s easy to set up and, honestly, I don’t think Sabrina would’ve been that difficult with Dugtrio anyway
A Gym Leader that IS going to be very much difficult, though, is Koga
Koga leads off with his first Venonat while I bring in Rhydon
Once again we start the battle already having a status condition, but rather than paralysis, Rhydon is poisoned
Sounds bad, but unlike in Red and Blue, Koga’s entire team has Toxic in their arsenal and his first and third Venonat have Sleep Powder as well
Toxic causes bad poison anyway, so it’s best to just go with this
With Toxic and Sleep Powder no longer viable and Tackle resisted by Rhydon’s rocky defense, Venonat has no choice but to go for Psychic
Even with Rhydon’s naturally awful Special stat, Venonat’s Psychic doesn’t really do a whole lot and actually its Special stat is worse than Rhydon’s
It’s Venomoth that’s the Special Attacker in the family
lethal citrus
👀
Venomoth having a special so bad it wont kill through rhydon's paper thin special is funny
alpine wasp
Next turn, rather than having Venonat use Psychic again, Koga just goes for X Attack...which only boosts the one attacking move he doesn’t use, so a second Horn Attack manages to take out Venonat
lethal citrus
Venonat shouldve held off on the drugs
alpine wasp
Now that Venonat’s gone, Koga sends out...Venonat!
lethal citrus
Does it do anything different or is he insane
alpine wasp
It does Something different, replacing Sleep Powder with Supersonic and Tackle with Psybeam!
Rhydon is met with a Psychic on entry, and though its Special is still not that high it has a two level advantage to the previous Venonat, as well as a six level advantage on Rhydon
Additionally, although Horn Attack still connects, it’s looking to be a 3HKO
On the second turn, Rhydon is hit with Psybeam instead, but luckily isn’t confused, so it can launch off another attack.
On its last turn, Venonat uses Psybeam once more—would have much preferred a Supersonic miss, but I guess it won’t use that on a Rock-type—before one last Horn Attack takes it out for the KO
lethal citrus
bam the venonats have died
alpine wasp
Still, with the combination of constant attacks and chip damage from poison, we’re in pretty rough shape by the time his third and final Venonat comes out
alpine wasp
Venonat uses Psychic, the only move it really can use, but we still survive to hit another Horn Attack
Another Psychic leaves it in the red, but yet another Horn Attack connects
But alas, it’s not enough to take out Venonat, and Rhydon is taken out instead. Truly a great mon.
alpine wasp
With Venonat weakened, we switch in to Nidoking, who takes it out with Thrash
That’s not the end of it though, as Koga FINALLY sends in his final Pokemon, Veno__moth__
And what. A monster. Venomoth is.
Instead of going for Psychic right away, Venomoth uses Leech Life against Nidoking for the first few turns. Thanks to Nidoking’s physical bulk, even with the level disadvantage it got in a few turns of attacking before being taken down with Venomoth finally used Psychic.
However, the Leech Lifes do mean Venomoth has better HP than I would have liked
Dugtrio, who is also poisoned and who I saved for this Pokemon specifically, comes in but not even it can outspeed Venomoth, who hits it with another Leech Life before it burrows underground
Unfortunately, Venomoth uses Reflect to boost its Defense by a good chunk, and not only that but Dugtrio misses Dig when it comes out, presumably due to the 1/256 glitch
lethal citrus
oh no
alpine wasp
None of Dugtrio’s stats have been modified, but I’d like to get some more damage in before Dugtrio can be hit any further, so I send in Nidoqueen in hopes she can attack and hopefully paralyze the beast
lethal citrus
100% accuracy is a lie
alpine wasp
Unfortunately, Venomoth uses Psychic as soon as she’s sent in, AND it crits to ensure she’s OHKO’d
That means I bring in my last resort, Rhyhorn
I WAS gonna use Tail Whips, but because I didn’t feel like grinding Rhyhorn that much it’s actually 3 levels short of the move that most Pokemon learn at level 9 at the latest
Surprisingly, this Pokemon IS given the benefit of Leech Lifes, and thanks to its perfect Attack IVs it does get in a good chunk of damage before Venomoth takes it out with Psychic
I know we’re breezing through dialogue faster than usual but this was a REALLY long fight
alpine wasp
Mhm !
And once again, the problem with Leech Lifes is that even when you do good damage to it it will almost always recover more HP than you’d like
This means we’re once again in a one-on-one with Dugtrio as our final Pokemon. With Reflect up, I assume that Slash is our only good move thanks to its great crit chance...but it ALSO misses.
With the move ALSO having 100% accuracy, I briefly freak out about the 1/256 glitch happening twice in one battle before realizing what was actually going on
See, I’ve briefly mentioned it before, but I’m playing this on the French version of Pokemon Yellow
When I saw Venomoth use a move called ‘Reflet’ with a similar animation to Reflect’s, I assumed that Reflect was the move it used!
lethal citrus
LOL
alpine wasp
But what’s called ‘Reflet’ in French isn’t ‘Reflect’ in English, it’s Double Team
Koga’s Venomoth doesn’t even have Reflect
This means that, after tanking another Leech Life, Dugtrio digs into the ground and takes out Venomoth with ONE last Dig, in part thanks to the probably necessary damage that Nidoking and Rhyhorn dealt, critting for good measure
And that awful, awful battle is FINALLY OVER.
alpine wasp
So was I!!!!!!!!!
Jesus Christ
Yellow is a LOT harder than Red and Blue, especially when you’re trying to keep under a self-imposed level cap
And when most of your Pokemon level up really slowly so you dont want to grind them anyway
And you wanna know like
The worst part
lethal citrus
what is the worst part
alpine wasp
Rhyhorn. And Rhydon. Are both Rock-types. And they can learn the move Rock Slide.
Koga’s whole team. Is Bug.
In fact. ALL of Giovanni’s Pokemon can learn Rock Slide, Rhyhorn and Rhydon are just the ones that get STAB from it
lethal citrus
They just dont happen to be in the moveset now right
alpine wasp
It will never be in the moveset! Because they only learn the move by TM 😔
Take another look at this team
With the exception of Rhydon’s Fissure, he has Just level up moves
Even with the caveat that I can still use Any of their level up moves and that I just have to be accurate as early as I can, the most leeway this gives me is that I could have Nidoqueen and Nidoking use Double Kick
No new moves were added to Rhyhorn’s, Dugtrio’s or Rhydon’s movesets in Yellow
So the most leeway I get with them is that before learning Slash I used Scratch, and I’m using Horn Attack instead of Fury Attack for Rhydon which it probably would’ve known had it not been for Fissure
Rhyhorn and Rhydon can only learn Normal moves by level up, and none stronger than its first move till level 64!
lethal citrus
Level up moves are so garbage for them
alpine wasp
This is one of the main purposes of the Giovanni run, just to show how unbelievably stupid both Gen I movesets but mostly how they handled Gym Leaders in RB was
And how little the teams make sense even from a casual playthrough perspective. Even with the extra PP, who keeps Horn Attack and Tackle on the same moveset? Why would you ever keep Poison Sting on Nidoqueen or Nidoking when they can virtually learn every TM under the sun? Who has a Rhydon with two moves that it can only barely use??
Rhydon is actually an OU mon in Gen I competitive, but with these moves, it’s almost hard to believe!
lethal citrus
That's defo not the OU moveset
two OHKO which are very low in accuracy
tail whip
stomp
it's like a little kid playing pokemon
only picking moves that are either too strong with plenty caveats or just moves like leer and tail whip
alpine wasp
Yep!!
And remember: not only do the OHKO moves have low accuracy on their own, but their chances of hitting completely rely on you outspeeding the opponent, and Rhydon has lower base speed than, once again, the baby turtle pokemon
lethal citrus
And how little the teams make sense even from a casual playthrough perspective. ...
the nidoking and queen also feel like anime pokemon in that they dont have a large variety of moves
mostly just one type
alpine wasp
I think these movesets are even sillier when you consider the fact in Gen I the opponents never actually have to worry about PP
lethal citrus
No PP stalling in gen 1 for the opponents
clearly the designers have a galaxy brain that we don't know about
alpine wasp
And there literally is no reason to have Scratch and Body Slam on the same moveset when Body Slam is better in every way!
lethal citrus
That has "I dont wanna get rid of any moves I'll just keep them all" energy written all over it
lethal citrus
he never passed pokemon trainer school and got held back constantly
so he never grew out of the student phase
which can only mean one thing
team rocket was destined for failure
alpine wasp
Truly 😔💔
alpine wasp
cough cough cough
sure is dusty in here
listen. i have the attention AND memory span of a gnat
alpine wasp
i DID. however. do the last two gym battles and i remember them both as well as i did when i beat them
lethal citrus
Dont have to put on a show
alpine wasp
You’re sweet dear 💖 but i promise im fine ^_^
lethal citrus
Okay dear 🥺
alpine wasp
Last time we left off, we had beaten almost every gym leader with the final two remaining
BOTH of which are trainers that were very buffed in Yellow compared to Red and Blue
For example, instead of leading off with an easily exploitable Growlithe, Blaine starts the battle with a Ninetales
lethal citrus
A ninetales huh
alpine wasp
Yep!
This battle actually took a few tries and that’s because both of his first two Pokemon can easily trip you up
The obvious Pokemon to send out here is Dugtrio
lethal citrus
There is a caveat isnt there
alpine wasp
Yes! Ninetales knows Confuse Ray, which has a 100% accuracy rate normally and will always confuse when hitting
It also is NOT OHKO’d by a single Dig due to Dugtrio’s lower level, so it will get the chance for an attack
It could also hit with Quick Attack for extra damage after the fact
lethal citrus
Does the paralysis dig exploit work with confusion too? Or nah?
alpine wasp
As far as I know, it does not
alpine wasp
We get the best luck on this run, though. Dugtrio outspeeds with Dig, but on the second turn, Ninetales stupidly goes for Quick Attack.
A move that CANNOT affect an underground opponent
lethal citrus
LOL
alpine wasp
It survives on a sliver of health, but it doesn’t use Quick Attack again, so Dugtrio can take it out with Slash
Next is Blaine’s Rapidash
This Pokemon is ALSO threatening
lethal citrus
Oh boy
alpine wasp
Untouched in almost every way except for levels, it can lower our attack with Growl, hit us with a hard Take Down, AND can trap us indefinitely in a Fire Spin.
lethal citrus
That does sound annoying
alpine wasp
Despite the horse’s great speed, we can still outpace it, hitting it hard with a Dig
Thank the heavens above, Rapidash uses Growl, but misses, allowing one more Dig to take it out
This leaves his final Pokemon, Arcanine, which has been buffed to high heaven
Fire Blast and Take Down were already trouble enough in Red and Blue, but Roar and Ember are replaced with the infinitely better Reflect and Flamethrower
alpine wasp
Use Dig and pray
The details of this part of the fight specifically are kind of muzzled in my head, but Dugtrio does a good chunk of damage with a combination of Digs and some Slashes after Reflect is set up
Unfortunately, with its high power, Arcanine eventually KO’s the poor mole with a Fire Blast
lethal citrus
Now there is a 3 for one special shish kebab
alpine wasp
We have 4 other Pokemon left, but most of them are essentially useless thanks to their lack of Ground or even just Special moves
lethal citrus
So this is the part where you use pokemon as fodder until arcanine dies
alpine wasp
My best bet is Rhydon, who while not bulky in Special, resists all of Arcanine’s Attacks
Rhydon DOES have Horn Drill, but remember that it only works if the user is faster than the opponent, and there’s no way in hell a Rhydon can outspeed an Arcanine
We start with some Tail Whips, followed by some Stomps, which are thankfully aided by Arcanine using Take Down as well as an arbitrary extra Reflect
Keep in mind that in this gen, Reflect lasts for the rest of the battle and cannot be stacked, so it’s pointless to use more than one
Then, when its health is low enough, it gets one of Blaine’s signature Super Potions...
...and does perhaps the oddest thing I’ve seen yet
After the Super Potion, Arcanine only goes for Reflect
This is despite the fact it was doing decent damage before???
So, despite all odds, we end up beating it, JUST before Blaine could beat us with one last Reflect
alpine wasp
The only thing I could think of is either i got VERY lucky or that somehow
The Super Potion like. Changed Arcanine’s AI to that of a trainer that doesn’t use not very effective moves?
lethal citrus
Very lucky
alpine wasp
Very very very weird
alpine wasp
Finally, we have one more Gym, but it’s against our greatest enemy, Yellovanni
alpine wasp
I finally decided to grind everyone up to appropriate levels, and at level 45, Rhyhorn FINALLY learns the move Horn Drill, making its moveset completely accurate
Dugtrio makes it to level 42, Nidoqueen level 44, Nidoking level 45, and finally, Rhydon at level 50
But! Reaching our level cap doesn’t mean Yellovanni is going to be easy
Let’s be honest with ourselves, for a moment
Yellovanni has been easy so far, but this is what our team looks like
And THIS is HIS team
alpine wasp
The only Pokemon that doesn’t have its finalized movepool is our Rhydon, but the move that strays from it is Horn Attack, which is basically just Stomp without a flinch chance
Only one of our Pokemon can hit for super effective damage against any of his Pokemon, while 4/5 of his team members deal super effective damage against 4/5 of ours
We also only have physical moves, while every single one of his Pokemon after Persian is physically bulky
I’m going to be honest with you. This was NOT a first try victory, not even close.
It almost was, but his Rhydon had KO’d Dugtrio with Earthquake, and ours failed to land Horn Drill three turns in a row
Even with its own flaws, Yellovanni’s team is infinitely better than ours
lethal citrus
Yep the yellow team was definitely a huge improvement
alpine wasp
Our one hope is our lowest leveled Pokemon
lethal citrus
And that means more difficult too
alpine wasp
yyyyep
We do have access to ONE thing both Red and Bluevanni AND Yellovanni don’t
See, our Dugtrio isn’t slower than his per ce, but is rather at a speed tie. A disadvantageous one, at that—he outspeeds Dugtrio first turn, can dig underground when we do, then we outspeed and he could easily defeat us with Dig
This is because along the journey, we’ve actually been collecting stat experience, which is basically equivalent to EV’s in Gen III onwards
And we can enhance them thanks to a little something called vitamins
I max out everyone’s Attack with Proteins, I give Dugtrio a few Carbos (if he outspeeds Dugtrio, then he outspeeds the rest of the team), and I raise the team’s defenses with Iron
You might say that’s cheating, but I also haven’t been like copying their IV’s exactly either so it’s not really any worse than that
The levels and movesets are all that matter
Even STILL, it’s no easy battle
lethal citrus
I knew you would pull something like this
alpine wasp
<3
With that said, let’s recap the final battle
It starts off with a mirror match, featuring his Dugtrio against ours
The problem with this Dugtrio is that, when we had a speed tie, we had to hope he wouldn’t attack for TWO turns so we could knock him out
And that if he DID use Fissure on the turn he outsped, he would miss
It’s definitely possible for all the stars to align and I did get it to happen many times, but it’s very inconsistent
With us outspeeding it from the get-go, the fight becomes much more manageable
Dig does MAJOR damage, and luckily his Dugtrio merely goes for a Sand-Attack that misses
One more Slash seals its fate, securing our Dugtrio as the superior one
lethal citrus
So thats a dugtrio down!
alpine wasp
Giovanni then sends in Persian, a Yellow-exclusive
Wanting to shake off the sand, we bring in Rhyhorn. As Giovanni’s Rhyhorn in Red and Blue is no longer present, this is basically the closest thing to a mirror match with him
Persian uses Double Team on switch-in, which means no damage but it has its evasion raised
Persian goes for Slash, which does a decent chunk of damage thanks in part to Rhyhorn’s awful Defense IVs, but we retaliate with Stomp
It then uses Slash again—remember that Slash always crits due to how critical hits work!—and with another Stomp not doing TOO much, we have to resort to using Tail Whips
Luckily, Persian uses Screech on the next turn while we go for Tail Whip. You might think this is a BAD thing if it uses Slash again, but crits dont actually care about stats changes at ALL in Gen I
This means the next two Stomps can take it out
But the easy part is over now. We now have to deal with Nidoqueen, Nidoking AND Rhydon, all of which are hard-hitting physically bulky Pokemon that our equivalents simply don’t match up to
Nidoqueen begins the guantlet
alpine wasp
We keep in Rhyhorn because, let’s be honest, he’s not gonna be doing much else
lethal citrus
Using as fodder would help yes
alpine wasp
Best case scenario is that Yellovanni uses Guard Spec so we can get off a Stomp
If our Defense hadn’t been lowered, we’d also be able to survive a Double Kick, surprisingly enough
Unfortunately, Nidoqueen instead goes for Earthquake, so...yeah
Bye Rhyhorn
alpine wasp
We then bring in OUR Nidoqueen, who outspeeds and not only hits Body Slam, but gets the paralysis
And this time, Giovanni DOES go for Guard Spec!
A second Body Slam then crits while Nidoqueen stays paralyzed
One last Body Slam, however, is the last move our Nidoqueen would use before she herself is taken out with Earthquake
Our Nidoking then comes in. It’s a Pokemon traditionally hesitant against fighting Nidoqueen, but I don’t want to risk Dugtrio losing to HIS Nidoking
Right away, we have to go for Thrash. Nidoqueen stays paralyzed on the first hit, and surprisingly, is KO’d by the second despite her bulk, so now it’s a two on three
So, Nidoking comes out. LAST mirror match, I promise.
gritty tree
What, no Rhydon vs Rhydon?
alpine wasp
spoilers but. ||rhydon is essentially a last resort if pitted out against, like, anything but especially Yellovanni’s Rhydon, and I don’t have to resort to that here||
alpine wasp
Yellovanni thankfully uses a Guard Spec after Nidoking is hit by a Thrash, but after a fourth and final thrash from OUR Nidoking, it is taken out by Yellovanni’s superior Earthquake
So once again, we must call on Dugtrio
lethal citrus
Oh boy oh boy
And earthquake getting hit while underground doesnt exist yet I think
alpine wasp
It does not!
If our Nidoking can outspeed his Nidoking, Dugtrio certainly can. The Mole Pokemon digs underground, and thankfully can take out Nidoking with the softening up that ours did with a combination of Dig and Slash
lethal citrus
Its digging time
alpine wasp
Nidoking is bulky, but still weak to a 120 power Dig, and not as bulky as Nidoqueen
This means that Yellovanni must resort to his final Pokemon, Rhydon
lethal citrus
Oh no its the rhydon
alpine wasp
This is a Pokemon that has a lower base speed than Squirtle, so outspeeding it with Dugtrio is no issue
We just need Rhydon to cooperate
Luckily, unlike literally EVERY other Pokemon on our Ground-type team, Dugtrio is not weak to ground, so he will not always go for Earthquake
And when Dugtrio does pop up, he uses...
Horn Drill.
Yellovanni is better. But that doesn’t mean he is smart.
alpine wasp
One final, crit Dig takes it out, winning us the battle and proving once and for all that Red and Blue Giovanni is CLEARLY. the superior Giovanni
gritty tree
Well done
lethal citrus
This has pikachu beating raichu vibes in the Lt Surge battle
GG
And after that is time for the grueling elite 4
alpine wasp
Also after the battle, we get the TM for Fissure at last, make Rhydon forget Horn Attack in favor of Fissure and FINALLY completing our last team member
lethal citrus
Alright!
alpine wasp
lethal citrus
Those last 2 gyms sounded like a pain
alpine wasp
what a beautiful. beautiful team
lethal citrus
But you finally made it through
alpine wasp
The run’s not over yet, though. Yellovanni was just a warm-up.
We now have to face our 6th rival fight, the Elite Four, AND the Champion with a team with the dumbest and least varied movepool of all time
alpine wasp
Let me narrate the rival battle live actually I don’t think it’ll be THAT difficult and it’s been so long lol
As always, he leads with Sandslash, while we start off with Rhyhorn
Sandslash, despite its name, still only has Normal and Poison attacks, which you can clearly see when it decides to begin the battle with Poison Sting against our Stomp
lethal citrus
Trying to go for the poison
alpine wasp
It fails to poison, though, so Blue decides to do the better move of using Slash next turn instead
I went for Tail Whip, just because of Sandslash’s decent bulk
Slash doesn’t do all that much, honestly, so we can pretty safely get off a second Tail Whip
Another Slash is once again met with Stomp, and after a FOURTH Slash, it is taken out
Blue in this game doesn’t have a Rhydon, but he DOES use a Pokemon you might be familiar with: Exeggcute
alpine wasp
Despite being a literal pile of seeds, Exeggcute is STILL faster than Rhyhorn, but it only goes for a Leech Seed that misses
I decide to use Fury Attack just for that extra potential damage, and I get what I want: not only does it hit, but hits three times in a row. Perfect!
Exeggcute then goes for Leech Seed again, and this time it hits. Another Stomp isn’t enough to take it out, so Exeggcute recovers some HP, but not enough to survive one more Stomp.
So, Exeggcute decides to go for...another Leech Seed? Doesn’t this thing know Sleep Powder, or SolarBeam, or...??
lethal citrus
I guess not!
alpine wasp
No yeah it DOES have Stun Spore and SolarBeam
Gen I AI moment
Whatever. One more Stomp KO’s, so Red brings in Magneton
Unfortunately, Magneton uses Supersonic and hits, something that never happens when I use Supersonic
Rhyhorn then hits itself in confusion, its health being drained a little more with Leech Seed while this happens
lethal citrus
Oh no
alpine wasp
Magneton then tries Thundershock...??? But isn’t punished for it, as Rhyhorn just hits itself again, meaning a Sonicboom can now take us out
Not that it matters, though! Another Thundershock goes unpunished as Rhyhorn hits itself! Again!
One more Thundershock and Rhyhorn FINALLY hits a Stomp, but Leech Seed finally takes it out
lethal citrus
Its the double KO!
alpine wasp
We send in Dugtrio, and thanks to the damage from Stomp not being mitigated all that much from Leech Seed (Rhyhorn was on one HP. By the way.), Dig can safely take it out
Everyone say hi to Ninetales
It fails to use Quick Attack, we outspeed and dig underground, THEN it decides to use Quick Attack WHILE we’re underground—getting flashbacks from Blaine here—but unlike Blaine’s Ninetales it IS taken out with a single Dig, so...bye Ninetales
lethal citrus
Ninetales tried to Quick Attack the air
alpine wasp
Blue is the smartest trainer to ever exist
lethal citrus
So true
alpine wasp
Kadabra, one of his scariest Pokemon, comes in
And Iiiiiiiii am embarrassed to talk about this one
lethal citrus
Nidoking and queen died instantly didnt they
alpine wasp
I don’t want to risk Kadabra outspeeding and giving Dugtrio ANY sort of damage before Vaporeon so uh
Nidoking was sent out first
Hit hard with Psychic
Did not outspeed in time for Psybeam
Nidoqueen was sent in second (in retrospect I should have sent in Nidoqueen first bc they have the same base Special in Gen I as opposed to Nidoqueen having better Special Defense in Gen II onward) but she’s wiped out by a crit Psychic
Then I bring in Rhydon and it uses Psybeam for major damage and I use Fissure because I forgot he doesn’t know Horn Attack anymore
Truly a Giovanni moment there
And he survives a Psychic as a Stomp takes out Kadabra
lethal citrus
Weeee wooo
Kadabra sure was threatening when you dont kill it
Glass cannon moment
alpine wasp
Finally, Vaporeon is sent in
And with Rhydon at 22 HP, Blue makes the obvious play of using...
Mist. Yeah, sure, I’ll gladly deal some extra damage with Stomp.
NOW it uses Hydro Pump, though, so once again Dugtrio is our only hope
Dugtrio uses Dig, while Vaporeon uses...Mist...
Then Dugtrio hits with Dig for good damage, but unfortunately, Vaporeon is NOT knocked out, so it can use...Haze...
And...a second Dig takes it out! Masterful play. Blue didn’t use Hydro Pump a single time Dugtrio was out even when it WAS underground.
lethal citrus
Wow!
Blue is so very smart
Went for mist so many times
Its clearly the right thing to do
GG
It would then be time for the elite 4, which wouldnt be a while because of some grinding I assume
alpine wasp
Yep! “Grinding”!
Fun fact: did you know Graveler’s name in French is Gravalanch? Why couldn’t that be Golem’s name in English
lethal citrus
Gravalanch is such a nice name
alpine wasp
a very very very very very generous pokemon granted us so so so SO many rare candies <3
lethal citrus
Wait what
Did you glitch that
And doesnt rare candies also not level up stat experience like rare candies dont level up EVs
alpine wasp
very nice and kind pokemon for the working girl that doesnt want to train two pokemon in the slow exp group ^_^
lethal citrus
Wait idr there being so many accessible rare candies
alpine wasp
You just have to find the very sweet Pokemon and you’re good to go!
The Elite Four is
Not
going to be easy for this team
lethal citrus
yeah it very much wont
alpine wasp
Well Agatha probably will be but the rest won’t
lethal citrus
even the first one up is lorelei which is a death sentence for ground teams
alpine wasp
Indeed
Look at these teams
Lorelei has a full team of Ice and/or Water types
Bruno’s team has two Rock-type Pokemon with Ground moves
Lance’s team has been buffed to high hell with Gyarados still having Hydro Pump, one Dragonair having BubbleBeam AND Ice Beam, AND DragonITE having Blizzard, which has 90% accuracy in this game—not to mention, 3/5 of his team is IMMUNE to Dig, INCLUDING the Dragonite‼️‼️
Lastly is Blue, whose Sandslash will finally know Earthquake, Kadabra will finally be an Alakazam, and Vaporeon will have both Hydro Pump and Aurora Beam
And this is where the Giovanni run will REALLY take a bottleneck.
lethal citrus
Hey you brought the vaporeon upon yourself!
alpine wasp
Look at these moves again. Sure, it’s been a novelty up till this point, but these moves are not only just BAD, but there is literally only THREE types covered—Normal, Poison, and Ground, and Poison is only TECHNICALLY covered because lord knows Poison Sting is not useful against any Elite Four member
lethal citrus
poison sting is only useful for trying to get poison but its still very unreliable
alpine wasp
ESPECIALLY in Gen I. Gen II gave it a 30% chance of poisoning, in Gen I it’s just 20%
lethal citrus
20% is so low!
alpine wasp
Even in Jrose11’s Bruno run, which this run was partially inspired by, Bruno’s team was not this bad. There was at least One Special Attacker, no single Pokemon was supereffective against all the Pokemon on the team, and every Pokemon had at least one STAB move except Hitmonchan
This team is so bad that I had the idea after sweeping it with a Tentacool
lethal citrus
LOL
alpine wasp
So! Can it be done? Only one way to find out!
lethal citrus
That's hilariously bad
if Giovanni's team can be swept by a tentacool, Lorelei would just eat them alive
alpine wasp
Indeedy!
There’s also the fact all opponents have infinite PP, so even if I got Lance to use Blizzard on every team member except Rhydon, it will still have infinitely more than enough PP to knock it out
Lance is actually the scariest member of the Elite Four to me, I think
alpine wasp
And BubbleBeam Dragonair!
This is why I picked Yellow, it is SO much more difficult than Red and Blue
lethal citrus
But ma'am, the suffering :(
alpine wasp
<3
alpine wasp
I decided to level them all up to Yellovanni’s levels. Originally I was gonna do a separate level cap where their levels ARE the maximum, but as I described the Elite Four difficulty I realized that um. That’s fucking insane dont do that
As always, the first Pokemon Giovanni sends out is Rhyhorn
Rhyhorn isn’t IN Yellow but as mentioned previously, its closest equivalent is Persian, so it’s at a nice comfortable level 53
It has the moves Stomp, Horn Drill, Tail Whip and Fury Attack
Second is Dugtrio who STILL manages to be Giovanni’s lowest leveled Pokemon at level 50, with the moves Dig, Growl, Sand-Attack and Slash
Third is Nidoqueen, one of the first Pokemon we ever caught. It has Body Slam, Tail Whip, Poison Sting and Scratch. Its best move is the paralysis-inducing Body Slam, but it’s not really up to much.
Then comes what was basically our starter, Nidoking, who has Horn Attack, Poison Sting, Tackle and Thrash. Although it has no side effects like Body Slam, Thrash is our second strongest move overall at 90 base power.
And last is his ace Rhydon, who sorta makes up for its pitiful moveset with its good bulk. It has Stomp, Fissure, Horn Drill and Tail Whip, but considering its low speed, it essentially only has Stomp and Tail Whip.
lethal citrus
Looking at this recap and wow, beating the elite 4 and blue would be a miracle
are you gonna get more rare candies so they would be level 100 or something
alpine wasp
I’m hoping this will be good enough but I have to hope
Need to get some PP Ups first though for Important Reasons
lethal citrus
yeppers
alpine wasp
paralysis glitch
lethal citrus
oh so diglett just staying down there for the remainder of the fight
alpine wasp
Yeye
alpine wasp
i was gonna wait till i narrated the lorelei battle but the reason im not too worried about Lorelei is that I plan to use the glitch to beat her team
Which is also why I needed PP Ups—there simply arent enough base Slashes for her whole team since many are defensively bulky
lethal citrus
Ohhhhh thats why
and since PP of the opponents are essentially infinite, it doesnt count as cheating
alpine wasp
But the problem is i ALSO need Dugtrio for Bruno and Agatha and hoping the paralysis works well is just. Well it’s stupid to hope for
BUT
i just remembered
I did a trial battle of the Elite Four, realized that Haunter has Lick and I could hope for a paralysis from that
But trying to bait one was just awful
It has Confuse Ray, Hypnosis and Dream Eater in conjunction with Lick, which doesnt even have a 100% chance of paralysis
And Gengar has Psychic
So I thought all hope was lost BUT
THEN I REALIZED
ARBOK HAS GLARE
WHICH ALWAYS PARALYZES
lethal citrus
Oh boy oh boy
alpine wasp
So if I can get the stars to align I can switch in Dugtrio and get a Glare with hopefully as little damage dealt as possible
Of course, this is more luck-based when considering I will not always stay paralyzed when digging underground and in fact it could easily bite me in the ass but it’s too good of an idea to let go i think
lethal citrus
it's definitely worth a shot
alpine wasp
It might mean having to save before Lance though if it proves too inconsistent
Thank you dear ^_^
lethal citrus
with a team this abysmal, this is the way to go
alpine wasp
I struggle to think of a different way to beat Lance at this level and honestly just in General
Look at this
lethal citrus
yeah the only way is using the paralysis glitch and unleashing a slash barrage
gritty tree
Just last night, I thought that Agatha was the real concern
Then again... Dugtrio can Dig all the Ghosts and Slash all the rest
But you better have Dugtrio alive at that fight because... I think the rest of the team is hard walled against her
alpine wasp
Alright. Are you guys ready
lethal citrus
more than ready
alpine wasp
Lorelei is a particularly thorny trainer for this team. I have to admit, I tried this challenge several times before and she is a Huge roadblock
With this team and these moves, there’s really only one strategy we can use
I paralyzed Dugtrio before this battle. Route 14 is the best place to get paralyzed, as almost every Pokemon on that route will know Stun Spore
And so, the battle begins with Dewgong facing off against an already incapacitated Dugtrio
Luckily, we’re not at a huge disadvantage. Dewgong’s two supereffective moves are the 65 base power BubbleBeam and Aurora Beam, both of which Dugtrio can survive
Dewgong has also used Take Down on the first turn before, but this is rare and I only remember it happening once throughout my many attempts
It also has never used Rest first turn
But unless there’s a crit with either BubbleBeam or Aurora Beam, which isn’t terribly lucky, Dugtrio will survive whatever attack Dewgong uses. The problem now is hoping for good paralysis luck and, if we have bad paralysis luck, that we get good luck with it using either Rest or Take Down and missing
alpine wasp
Unluckily, we get paralyzed first turn, but thankfully Dewgong uses Rest and fails the next turn so we get off a safe Dig
And! A paralysis second turn. Good
Unfortunately, this battle is not Completely free if you don’t prepare well. Slash has 20 base PP, but many of Lorelei’s Pokemon are defensively bulky (Jynx is the exception that proves the rule), Dewgong has Rest, and Lorelei has 2 Super Potions per each Pokemon
lethal citrus
so PP ups
lethal citrus
whats the max PP cap for slash again
alpine wasp
32 i believe
lethal citrus
so it'll be staying down there for eternity
alpine wasp
Ya
Fwiw i seem to usually be done when the PP is at 18 or 19
But it’s good insurance
lethal citrus
yeah insurance is good in this case
alpine wasp
Beyond that, you are not obligated to come up at any time, so feel free to beat this awful evil water team
lethal citrus
some of these are pretty bulky so having extra PP would still be nice
alpine wasp
Yeah
After cheating your way out of Lorelei’s grasp, it’s time to face Bruno
Bruno, the Fighting-type Elite Four, starts off with his first Onix while we bring in Dugtrio, who has been given a Full Restore before this fight
His Onix in this game are more scary than they are in Red and Blue, especially his first one, as it has Dig instead of Earthquake
Since Dugtrio outspeeds and only has Dig as a supereffective move, with bad luck it can use Dig at the same time you do, causing you to miss but it to hit
alpine wasp
Luckily, we get no such problem here. While Dugtrio is unlucky enough to be hit by a Rock Throw on entry, it takes a mere two hits from Dig to KO the Rock Snake Pokemon
lethal citrus
down!
alpine wasp
Next is Hitmonchan and this is where I found out something really really funny about Bruno
lethal citrus
what is the thing
alpine wasp
So like. It’s a meme that Bruno is pathetic right. I know it. You know it.
lethal citrus
yes
alpine wasp
Against Hitmonchan, I always switch in to Rhydon or Rhyhorn because I don’t want Dugtrio to take any more damage before the second Onix
And what i ASSUMED. Was that Hitmonchan had Fire Punch, ThunderPunch, Mega Punch and Counter
lethal citrus
it had ice punch didnt it
alpine wasp
It has ice punch!
But it rarely
Rarely
RARELY used it
In fact, it used Ice Punch so little that I didn’t even think it had it til the third battle
And it’s not like Hitmonchan is so weak it’s an OHKO! It’s not!
It’s the bulkier of the Hitmons!
But it kept using ThunderPunch, Fire Punch and Double Team more than ANY other move
This is because. Despite not having any status moves that are any type other than normal. Bruno does not have Good AI. He has wild Trainer AI.
lethal citrus
That makes sense
It did seem like that when you described it
otherwise it would just ice punch the whole team
alpine wasp
Yep!
Even then Ice Punch isn’t...THAT strong? It’s a Special move prior to Diamond and Pearl. And Hitmonchan’s special stat is 35.
lethal citrus
It's only good for coverage but thats it
alpine wasp
You know what Rhydon’s Special stat is? 45. It could pull off the elemental punches better than Hitmonchan.
lethal citrus
rhydon can pull off elemental punches better than a jackie chan wannabe
let that sink in
alpine wasp
</3
For this battle, I sent in Rhyhorn and, sure enough, it Never uses Ice Punch, instead opting for the weak Fire Punch or the downright immunitated ThunderPunch
lethal citrus
the fact that it went for thunder punch at all is funny
alpine wasp
Although it was annoying with its Double Teams, I did eventually get enough Stomps in to KO the unpossessed boxer.
Which brings us to Hitmonlee!
lethal citrus
oh boy
alpine wasp
You’d think Hitmonlee would be MORE of a threat, as it knows STAB Fighting moves. Unfortunately, it likes to use Double Kick, which even on a Hitmonlee is really, really weak for this late in the game.
Even if it uses Hi Jump Kick, even Rhyhorn is pretty defensively bulky while Hitmonlee is less bulky than Hitmonchan. This means that a crit Stomp takes a good chunk of HP after a Double Kick, and after a greedy Double Team, another Stomp lands to KO Hitmonlee.
lethal citrus
I exactly thought hitmonlee would be a threat
high jump kick is a scary move when it lands
but the rhyhorn bulk is being pretty nice rn
GG
alpine wasp
Then comes out the second Onix! There are two other fighting types Bruno could’ve used but one of them is Poliwrath so maybe i should shut my face hole
lethal citrus
is this onix any more or less threatening than the other one lol
alpine wasp
Technically less. It knows Earthquake instead of Dig, so it’s easier for Dugtrio to work around
alpine wasp
Yeye
Onix gets a Defense boost first but that is undone when Rhyhorn uses Tail Whip
Then it decides to use Earthquake, but its Attack is literally equal to that of an Oddish’s, so another Tail Whip is in order
Then it tries to buff itself up with a second X Defend, yes I forgot the name until now, but once again it is undone with Tail Whip
Then Rock Throw. Tail Whip.
Rock Throw misses. Tail Whip.
Rock Throw again? Tail Whip.
FINALLY, Onix uses Earthquake for a second time, taking out Rhyhorn.
lethal citrus
didnt know Bruno had an X Defend
alpine wasp
He has two per Pokemon I believe
lethal citrus
oh you used rhyhorn just to lower the onix defense and were willing to sack it off in the process
alpine wasp
Yeye
Well more for taking the Hitmonchan attacks but the defense drops were a bonus
This means when Dugtrio is sent in, it can take out Onix with a single Dig.
lethal citrus
a quick dig
alpine wasp
Finally, we run into Bruno’s ace, Machamp
We start with Dig, but unfortunately Bruno uses an X Defend on both turns of Dig, though due to how Gen I works the second one at least was retroactive
I tested Slash to see if it would do more damage and indeed it does thanks to it always critting, though it seems it’ll take four hits to bring down Machamp
But...that’s perfectly fine!
alpine wasp
machamp uses leer
for all three turns
he is alive
he misses the first two
hits the third
And then dies
Bruno is not a good trainer.
alpine wasp
Leer!!!!!!!!
Fun fact if u fight his hitmonlee or machamp with gastly they literally cant do anything
In Yellow
lethal citrus
They only know normal and fighting moves right
alpine wasp
Yeye
It’s the same for Hitmonlee in Red and Blue but in there Machamp can TECHNICALLY. attack a Gastly
But it could only beat it with Fissure
And Machamp is not very fast
alpine wasp
Lorelei and Bruno are the easy parts. Agatha and Lance are absolutely brutal.
lethal citrus
Oh boy
alpine wasp
Agatha is actually mostly made brutal retroactively BECAUSE OF Lance
alpine wasp
We’ll get into this more later, but essentially, we want Dugtrio to be paralyzed for Lance. But having him be paralyzed for both Bruno AND Agatha is just...unfeasible
alpine wasp
Paralysis luck can easily not go in your favor (it actually BRUTALLY didn’t go in my favor in one of my lorelei attempts, as dugtrio ended up being paralyzed for what felt like every two turns. The reason I got away with this was that there’s no limit on being underground.)
And of course, paralysis means even a speed demon like Dugtrio will be slower than almost any non-paralyzed opponent, even ones as slow as Lorelei’s Slowbro. For a glass cannon like Dugtrio, being susceptible to hits can be absolutely brutal
Thankfully, there are three Pokemon on Agatha’s team which can paralyze, those being her first Gengar and her Haunter—both of which know Lick—as well as her Arbok, which knows Glare
Theoretically, Arbok is the easiest to set up on as it’s her second to last and its only status moves are Glare and Screech, though there’s a few wrenches in the works against this. Agatha, unlike other Elite Four members, can switch between her team members whenever she pleases, even her ace. This means that not only can Arbok be sent out earlier, but sometimes switching into Dugtrio means Arbok still leaves the field anyway.
Her first Gengar actually starts the fight proper.
As mentioned before, it has Lick and can theoretically paralyze you—in a vacuum, you could even say it’s the better of the two between it and Haunter to set up on, since it lacks Hypnosis or a move higher than 40 BP.
In practice, though, it absolutely isn’t. Gengar may lack Hypnosis, but it has Substitute and more importantly Mega Drain, a Grass-type move that is ergo super effective against Dugtrio. With such high special, it is best to go with Dig on this one, which will oneshot all of Agatha’s Pokemon except Golbat for obvious reasons
The most annoying move it can use is Substitute, but it seems to prefer going for Mega Drain on the first turn, which I am thankful for.
Against Golbat I once again switch into everyone’s favorite sacrificial lamb, Rhyhorn
Rhyhorn is a good matchup against Golbat, whose attacking moves now consist of Leech Life, Supersonic, Wing Attack and Toxic
I had actually forgotten Golbat knew Toxic and mostly just remembered that it didn’t have Haze anymore and that all of its moves were either resisted by Rhyhorn and/or are weak moves anyway
Considering you can’t have two status inflictions at once, switching into another Pokemon goes from convenient to absolutely crucial
This makes Rhyhorn and Rhydon the perfect switch ins to Golbat, as they are physically bulky, can hit pretty hard with Stomp, and aren’t really needed after Golbat is dealt with, ergo making their eventual sacrifices completely safe
Even with Toxic, Rhyhorn never really suffers much and even dodges a Supersonic. It takes quite a bit of hits, but it will eventually prevail over the currently-fully-evolved bat.
Haunter is next on the chopping block.
At this point, Rhyhorn is practically useless due to its complete lack of attacking moves that Aren’t normal-type, so we can safely sacrifice it
Toxic actually makes this easier, since Haunter’s kind of dumb and only has Lick and Confuse Ray as practical attacking moves.
lethal citrus
Almost tearing through the agatha team right there
alpine wasp
For a laugh. Just to see what happens. When I switch into Dugtrio I decide to Not attack, you know, just in case he uses Lick and paralyzes me. I go for Sand-Attack for the equally likely play of using Hypnosis, stunting its already 60% accuracy
And. Um
It uses Lick, instantly paralyzing me
Last time I battled Agatha, it took so impossibly long for Haunter’s licks to actually paralyze me I was in low yellow health and got KO’d by Gengar
So. I’m a lil wired at this point
lethal citrus
LOL
alpine wasp
I dig underground, and for some reason Agatha switches in Arbok so.
dugtrio digs back up and. bye arbok
alpine wasp
Maybe Arbok is her Rhyhorn ... just less useful
alpine wasp
<3
Then Haunter is switched back in, uses Confuse Ray, but never has there been a more determined Dugtrio
Not only does it dig underground, it gets paralyzed underground fruitlessly
A bit time-wasting, but it digs underunderground, and snaps out of confusion on the next turn, OHKO’ing Haunter
lethal citrus
Pop goes the weasel
alpine wasp
This leads Agatha to finally send in her ace, Gengar
We’re REALLY at her mercy now. We have to either hope for confuse ray but it doesn’t hit itself in confusion, or dream eater...and we get Dream Eater, allowing the perfectly awake Dugtrio to successfully hit Gengar for the KO
That made it SEEM pretty easy but the hard part really is just getting paralyzed and everything that can happen on the way there
lethal citrus
The stars really aligned for you here
alpine wasp
Because of this mixed in with the luck you need for Lance’s fight, I sadly bit the bullet and just saved in front of Lance after a few attempts
lethal citrus
Honestly I thought you saved in front of everyone
Im even more impressed you made it to Agatha without saving in front of the previous 2
alpine wasp
Oh, nope, I only saved in front of Lance! ^_^
lethal citrus
!!!
alpine wasp
💖💖💖
lethal citrus
:3
lethal citrus
Oh yeah definitely
Even I had a hard time with a normal team
Imagine with a team as bad as bluevanni
alpine wasp
Nod nod
I tested a lot with him and here’s one of the most basic things:
Against Gyarados, do NOT lead in with Dugtrio
Unlike Dewgong, even with Gyarados’s lower Special versus its Attack it will still wipe Dugtrio off the map with a single Hydro Pump, not helped that its Special in Gen I is 100 (which becomes its Special Defense in Gen II onward)
Essentially ending the battle before it even starts
lethal citrus
Isnt gyarados flying too which makes dig not an option
alpine wasp
It’s an option but only for setting up
I suggest starting with Nidoqueen and hoping for a crit, paralysis or both with Body Slam
We haven’t led with Nidoqueen for a while! It’s nice
I think the most consistent method against Gyarados is to hope Nidoqueen can defeat it, but honestly, after so many attempts I decided to switch in Dugtrio after Gyarados was paralyzed
This is NOT what you wanna do, idealistically, but it is what I eventually did
lethal citrus
Did it work
alpine wasp
Luckily, Gyarados was stunned in paralysis when I switched in, and NOW Dugtrio could outspeed, dig underground and get paralyzed on the next turn
And then it could wipe off both the Thunderbolt AND Ice Beam Dragonair
oh uh
Dragonair
Yeah they dont do anything in this battle. Sorry.
alpine wasp
So you might be wondering
If that’s really All the luck you need
Why is Lance still threatening?
And
Well
lethal citrus
Dragonites
lethal citrus
Charizard?
lethal citrus
Aerodactyl
alpine wasp
Aerodactyl
alpine wasp
Yes, all of that
alpine wasp
Yea
I dont think I’ve used Poison Sting since Misty except for a finisher tho. Poison Sting bad
lethal citrus
It stonewalls the entire team
alpine wasp
But surely, what would make Aerodactyl dangerous? Is it PP stalling?
Is it its powerful attacks?
No.
Aerodactyl in Pokemon Red and Blue knows three normal moves. It knows Supersonic, Bite, Take Down and Hyper Beam.
Aerodactyl in Yellow, meanwhile, is arguably less threatening. It has Wing Attack (which is a 35 base power move in Gen I, mind you), Fly which is a two turn attack that’s easy to set Dig on, Hyper Beam,
The only wrench in the works is a move that
Would NOT matter if this situation happened in ANY other generation
As its fourth move
Aerodactyl
knows
Swift
alpine wasp
😔💔
In the international versions of Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow, this move will always hit the opponent no matter what with the SOLE exception of if they’re Ghost-type
This isn’t true of Gen II onwards, where it is programmed to miss if the opponent is underground or in the air, but it is true here.
Ironically, this battle would be much easier in the Japanese Yellow, as there it is a mere 100% accurate move and thus cannot hit an underground opponent
alpine wasp
It doesn’t, but it will still take damage from Swift as if it did
Since this is Gen I, it also relies on Aerodactyl’s Attack rather than its Special
And subsequently also hits Dugtrio’s Defense rather than its better Special
lethal citrus
Does aerodactyl have good attack. I remember that it does
alpine wasp
Yep!!!!!
Keep in mind this isn’t a battle frontier, the AI is NOT smart enough to use it as its only attack, but with it having no other move it prefers using it will Eventually go for it
This makes it hard to set up on anything other than Aerodactyl itself, as the Thunderbolt Dragonair seems to actively avoid using Electric attacks against me for whatever reason and thus I always end up with even a little bit of damage from Slam or, worse, Hyper Beam
Against Aerodactyl, make the switch into Rhyhorn and have it take the attacks for Dugtrio
Although Rhyhorn resists everything Aerodactyl has, Aerodactyl in turn resists everything YOU have, so you’ll want to use Tail Whips against it before attacking with Stomps
Unfortunately, crits ignore ALL stat buffs or nerfs, so this will not be useful for Dugtrio. Because of this, use Stomp as many times as you need to.
Lance uses Hyper Potions and because of this you do NOT want to just mindlessly use Slash against Aerodactyl till it goes down
Once Aerodactyl’s health is down a reasonable amount, either wait till it knocks out Rhyhorn or switch after it uses Hyper Beam, the latter of which is what happened to me this round.
When either of these things happen, bring in Dugtrio and have it dig underground
You might not get it to work the first time round, but Aerodactyl is more likely to use not-hurtful moves or even just not attack at all than going for a powerful Hyper Beam
Try using Growl a couple of times. You can’t lower Swift’s accuracy but you can at least make it weaker.
After that happens, use Slash and pray your paralysis and Swift luck aren’t so bad that Aerodactyl knocks you out in spite of your efforts.
Unfortunately, Aerodactyl did hit me with Wing Attack on entry into the battle and Swift DOES manage to slip in a good amount of times, even getting a crit that lands me into the red
Only one Slash is needed to take it out, but only one Swift is needed to take me out, so I press the A button and go for Slash...
...and Aerodactyl uses Wing Attack, which can’t hit me underground, meaning it gets knocked out.
This leaves Lance with only his ace, Dragonite
...but Dragonite does NOT know Swift, so after 7 Sand-Attacks (just in case) and many Slashes, we FINALLY beat Lance
alpine wasp
^_^