Throw Sinnoh in there too for icing on the cake. A create a character with an open intro would be nice as well. As an adult, I would like a more matured play through other than a 10 year old youngster.
That story with the babysitting kids was really nice. I’m a bit younger and my first games were Diamond and Pearl, and White 2 is still one of my favorite games to this day. Pokémon just never went away.
Personally I've been playing since Pokemon Red, my brother had Blue. We're in our mid 30s now so we were approximately 10 when Gen 1 came out and took the world by storm. Happy times
36 here and I remember game link came out and blew our minds. We even had gyms and made badges. I had a Rock Type team of Onix, Golem, Omastar, Rhydon, Kabutops, and Aerodactyl. I even made a few bucks doing it sometimes. Most were obsessed with Charizard and the Fire typing so I won more than I lost. Got thrashed by the water and grass types though. Good times. Lol!
I truly enjoy these mini series featuring aerodactyl. Your memories and feelings about legendary pokemon, overrelying on your starter, and disappointment due to the lack of additional regions are quite reminiscent to me as well. Thank you for a mini trip down the memory lane!
Speaking of Gen 3 nostalgia, it's interesting that you and I both had a "falling out of love with Pokémon" phase during Gen 3 even though our circumstances are completely different. I was out of elementary school when Pokémon came to Europe in '99. First I heard of it was when I'd bought a British gaming magazine that had a special additional booklet previewing Pokémon but giving little context to the type of game it was, and the pokédex entries were so intriguing. The internet was already A Thing, and I was practicing my rudimentary HTML skill by making a Pokémon themed website to let myself keep track of what official art and data I could find of the 151 before I even played the game. I got it for christmas, and some starter decks for the trading card game too. I was on the forefront of introducing this to my friend group, who mostly being two years younger than me were still in elementary. Generation 2 was where all of them got in, getting their first Game Boys and trading cards. They fandom is something I look back on very fondly, and I remember sitting around with friends musing about what we wanted out of Gen 3; What new types to introduce to follow Steel and Dark, what new setting to explore, what new pokémon designs and type combinations we would want to see. But it wasn't yugioh or beyblades that became the new hotness. It was Magic the Gathering that with its already huge install base absorbed tweens and teens when Pokémon was seen as too uncool for that age. I never bought in, but my friends got peer pressured into it. And frankly, the TCG had lost some of its original luster. Introducing dark and steel types as special energy cards that you could only have four of per deck was detrimental to deckbuilding and unsatisfying when opening booster packs. The Light, Dark, and Gym Leader's variants felt gimmicky in how one can't be used to evolve into another. Then the e-Reader card designs came about and just look worse, and by the time EX Delta Species launched and any pokémon could now be any type or even multiple types at once, I no longer recognized the game at all. By the time I got Sapphire for christmas I hadn't even wished for it, nor was I especially interested in getting it since all of my friends had gotten out of the fandom. It didn't help that there was no ability to transfer over pokémon from previous generations, so the appeal of completing a pokédex wasn't there either. It wasn't an open world setting like I'd wanted, it was just a linear affair again. The introduction of Abilities didn't seem like a big deal, it was just codifying the Pokémon Powers concept that some cards already had, and there were no new types. But I still wanted to enjoy the new designs and a sense of discovery since I hadn't been following Gen 3 on the internet. I was excited about Lotad's water/grass typing... but then it needed a stone to fully evolve and I could never find one. I was stoked about Nincada's bug/ground typing, but then it became "just another bug flying type" when it evolved and I didn't know about Shedinja so I missed out on that for having a full party. Finally I was delighted by Surskit's bug/water typing... and then my heart broke when it also evolved into "just another bug flying type." I didn't buy another Pokémon game until Sun & Moon, though I did play Diamond and White when I didn't have anything better to do and at the time I didn't care for them though I appreciate them now. And now I again don't think I'll ever buy another Pokémon game after how the Switch games turned out. All this self-indulgence to say Thank You Scott for making content that can tap into my happy childhood feelings even when I'm old and bitter and otherwise disconnected from the Pokémon franchise. 💙
@I’ve done it once. It’s a huge ask given it’s likely going to be your Fly user and type stacking is generally not a good idea and you need to train it up quite a bit before it’s ready for major battles. That said, wow it’s a powerful choice.
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@@paulmann8570 I love ancient pokemon, so for me Aerodactyl is a goas as oon as I get surf...so typically my 5th badge
I love the happy Aerodactyl. It's amazing that 2 or 3 changes makes it go from "Fearsome prehistoric monster" to "Sleeps at the end of your bed". Speaking of Pokémon you had to go out of your way to find, before the Legendaries, I'd say Aerodactyl itself was the first Pokémon you'd have to actively go looking for to get. Backtracking to Pewter City with Cut in hand is not exactly on anyone's intinerary, unless you remembered that the guide asked you to keep it in mind.
Started with Pokemon Crystal and never looked back. Still playing pokemon as of Gen 9 and I have tons of adult friends who play the videos games like me. We meet up on Saturdays and either do competitive VGC or we do Tera Raids. Pokemon granted the one wish that I had as a child, to have friends. Even if they weren't real in the games, I considered my pokemon my friends. Now Pokemon has given me real world friends. Please keep up the great videos and the amazing work.
Wow, my experience with pokemon and gen 3 specifically was remarkably similar to yours! I played through the games with my starters + Kyogre and had the same struggle of most of my friends leaving pokemon, as well as these being the games I jumped into without knowing anything else about gen 3. Even the secret bases! Honestly, there's a part of enjoying games like that that simply won't happen again. Adult responsibilities and overabundance of games to play means you can't really get lost in the world of a game and just explore and replay it untik you've squeezed everything out of them.
Generation 5 was actually my first introduction to the pokemon games as a kid. I was into the anime and the series as a kid but it wasn't until black and white I had both a console and a desire to try the main series games. From there I've played everything since, side games included
Your stories about your time with Pokémon during its height and your generation moving onward throughput adolescence is neat to hear! My first Pokémon game was Blue, followed by Silver (my fav), and my last Pokémon game was Sapphire. I became disinterested as my tastes changed while going through grade school, as well as my friends moving on from Pokémon. I became more interested when X and Y came out and I had a college roommate who had geeked out over the upgraded visuals and happily explained the competitive scene via Showdown. Also, the Twitch Plays Pokémon series and later Pokémon Go helped ease me back into the series. I still haven't played mainline game since Sapphire, but I find watching Pokémon continue to grow and remain persistent as a global phenomenon very fascinating. The most alluring part is learning about the artistic (both official and fan) approaches to Pokémon design (visual, movesets/abilities, sound, and story/lore) and how they relate to zoology, ecology, botany, mythology, geography, various world cultures, and real-world franchising of the series. Your solo series also helped me further my fascination with Pokémon. The idea of measuring the attributes of a Pokémon within a Pokémon game vs other Pokémon was such an engaging thought. It's like a blend of an animal documentary with a competitive sports league (much like TierZoo, an amazing channel). The results of each Pokémon helping to piece together of what I had pondered as a kid: what a Pokémon ecosystem would like in a way many of the games (outside of Snap and New Snap) didn't showcase as much to me. Anyways, thank you again for a wonderful video! P.S. Aerodactyl's back-sprite looked like it was ripped straight from Gen 2, haha.
I adore that babysitting story, you definitely left them with an amazing memory. I’m around the same age as you so I got started in the earlier generations. My first game was Silver and I spent hundreds of hours trying to complete the Pokédex, but unfortunately I didn’t have friends to trade with. I convinced my mom to get red version and I played it shortly after and did some between game trading with myself 😂
Your experiences with pokemon are very similar to mine (mid-90's birthday). I remember getting Sapphire for my birthday right around when the games were rapidly cooling off in my class, and I never ended up picking up G4 and beyond. It's a bittersweet memory for me, but more sweet than bitter.
Your reminiscing took me WAY back. I felt like I was listening to my own story at the pivotal age where Pokémon went from cool to uncool. When I purchased Sapphire version and a cobalt Gameboy SP in 5th grade (with my hard-earned 3 months of allowance/chores savings) I couldn't shut the game off. And along with so many other classmates of mine, we enjoyed exploring Hoenn together. Yet just a short 2 years later in 7th grade yugio was king and only 1 classmate played fire red... Pokémon was officially uncool. I thought I left pokemon for good. When I FINALLY came back to my senses and played Pokémon at the end of high-school and college I only played get 1 & 2, and wasn't until I was a "rent-paying-pseudo‐adult" that I downloaded a GBA emulator, stepped into Hoenn once again and played emerald for the very first time. Since then, I have hard-core nuzlocked emerald attempted countless times along w Fire red. Scott, I watch all your play-throughs. Thank you for recreating a snippet of my childhood. Sincerely, A 90s kid
8:11 IKR, Hoenn is awesome. The sheer diversity of the cities and landscapes is fun, Steven is a badass and an intellectual at the same time (like Cynthia), it gives us the coolest, most unique pseudo-legendary of all time in Metagross, and there are quite a few cool mechanics.
Scott! Your stories really resonate with me! I had a very similar life with Pokémon though I think I’m a little older. Loved gens1-3 felt people stop playing them and learned Pokémon wasn’t cool anymore around high school. Then long after I was out of and school and because of a significant other at the time I purchased Pokémon Y and it reinvigorated my love for the franchise. I don’t play it so much anymore, but watching your videos and others like it on TH-cam and twitch has been such a treat. Thank you and keep being your awesome self!
I cannot wait for Venomoth's run in Hoenn! I realized that there's a trifecta that get their playthrough first before the others: Butterfree, Aerodactyl, and Venomoth. Anyways, I think the optimization will be interesting for Aerodactyl. 0.5) There is a PP Max at the Magma Hideout. It's at the side cave past the Left Ear burning Magma Grunt. Hug to the left and you can max out Ancient Power's PP without looking for 2 other PP Ups. 1) Rock Head and Double-Edge. I think this is a pretty common thing people would suggest. Normally, you hate Recoil moves, but thanks to Rock Head, Double-Edge and other Recoil moves can be used without inflicting Recoil. In addition, Double-Edge is 120 Power since Gen 2. Because of this, Double-Edge is a great lategame move for Sidney, Drake, and even Juan and Wallace. Without Silk Scarf, it's a 18 Power difference from Max Power Return. With Silk Scarf, that's a 30 Power difference. In fact, Earthquake is kinda a dead moveslot until you get to Steven. 2) Substitute. Substitute is an interesting idea that not many people would think about. For the Elite Four, Substitute is incredibly valuable. For one, Aerodactyl shields itself from the various Status moves flying around. You don't get Sand Attack to oblivion. You don't have to deal with Phoebe's first Dusclops using Confuse Ray and Curse. Substitute does block Ghost-type Curse until Black and White, where Curse can go through a Substitute. Second, you get a shield to take 1 hit from Glacia's Walrein and Drake's Kingdra. Lastly, Substitute blocks Intimidate, letting Aerodactyl's Attack to be in good shape to OHKO Salamence and Altaria. And, Aerodactyl can comfortably 2HKO Milotic and 1HKO Gyarados without Intimidate involve. 3) The Hidden Power type for Aerodactyl is perfectly fine. Hidden Power Ghost is ideal over STAB Hidden Power Rock or Flying. Also, you might want to consult Showdown's Hidden Power IV spreads to get 31 Attack IV when choosing a Physical Hidden Power. 4) The E4 and Champion moveset would be something like this: Sidney: Ancient Power, Substitute, Double-Edge, Wing Attack Phoebe: Ancient Power, Substitute, Double-Edge, Hidden Power Ghost Glacia: No changes. Substitute as Sealeo sets up Hail. Ancient Power her team down. Drake: No changes. Substitute when Shelgon protects. Rock Tomb shouldn't take out the Substitute if you do decent HP EV Training from Whismur when trying to beat Roxanne. Wallace: Ancient Power, Substitute, Double-Edge, Aerial Ace. Since Wailord seems to favor Rain Dance at the start, Substitute isn't a bad idea. Using a high power move should make Water Spout not deal much damage, even with Rain up. I didn't list Earthquake, since I actually calculate the damage output. I did consider the Badge boost match in equation, despite putting more EVs. Lvl 70 212+ Atk Silk Scarf Aerodactyl Double-Edge vs. Lvl 55 0 HP / 0 Def Tentacruel: 168-198 (98.8 - 116.4%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO (231 Atk w/o Intimidate) Lvl 75 212+ Atk Aerodactyl Double-Edge vs. Lvl 55 0 HP / 0 Def Tentacruel: 174-205 (102.3 - 120.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO (W/o Intimidate) Aerodactyl should be able to 1HKO Tentacruel with Silk Scarf Double-Edge without needing Earthquake at Level 70 most of the time. At Level 75 (2 Damage Rounding thresholds), you don't need Silk Scarf to 1HKO Tentacruel. In addition, you can comfortably 2HKO Milotic and Whiscash with Double-Edge. Although... Lvl 75 212+ Atk Silk Scarf Aerodactyl Double-Edge vs. Lvl 58 0 HP / 0- Def Milotic: 174-205 (88.7 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO (246 Atk w/o Intimidate) Lvl 78 180+ Atk Silk Scarf Aerodactyl Double-Edge vs. Lvl 58 0 HP / 0- Def Milotic: 181-213 (92.3 - 108.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO (249 Atk w/o Intimidate) For Steven, Substitute might be constricting, since you need Earthquake, Ancient Power, Rest, and Fire move for Skarmory. Though, again, Substitute might have its merit in shielding against 1 Meteor Mash from Metagross should you not get an Ancient Power boost during the fight.
For me, Gen3 is when I returned to pokemon. I played when gen1 came out. However, I was really young and barely able to read at that point. around 7 or 8 I think, I was able to read enough to get me to the pokemon league with a lot of difficulty, but I had lost my Red cartridge at a restaurant and it left me heartbroken, never able to finish it. I didn't get another pokemon game until a few years after gen3 came out and a friend gifted me their sapphire cartridge as they lost interest. I was around 13/14 at the time. this break was honestly a good thing for me socially, as much as it sucked having to give up on my most beloved hyper-fixation. During the Gen 1-4 time period of pokemon, where I lived, pokemon was hated with a passion by kids and adults alike. It was seen as the baby game and if you were over the age of 6, you were bullied relentlessly for liking it. And I mean legitimately injured and sent to the nurse kind of bullying. Even adults would tell me to stop talking about Pokemon to their kids because they didn't want such a thing in their households. I loved pokemon, but unfortunately it was something that I just couldn't share with others. I took losing my red cartridge as a sign to just give up on Pokemon and bury my love for it. It wasn't until early high-school did people actually see pokemon as an okay thing to enjoy. It was still the nerdy thing, but at least it was seen as acceptable. I'll be honest, I sometimes get bitter when I think about the fact that most kids did not deal with this growing up, that in most places, kids loved pokemon and it was in middle school and high school where pokemon was seen as just a kids game. It feels unfair... but I'm an adult now, I can't let my bitterness take over. What's done is done and I am glad that Pokemon is still loved by many and I am still able to enjoy it all these years later.
Sapphire was my first game that I actually had a sense of what was going on and where I was actually able to beat it. I had just turned 6 (2003) so I was still young, but had grasped the idea of type matchups and the format of the battles, exploration etc. My older cousin gifted me his Yellow, Gold, Silver, N64 and Stadiums1/2 around 1-2 years before RS released so I understood pokemon, just had never beaten any of the games. I've been playing Pokemon at every release ever since and still enjoy the franchise. Looking back, I think gens 3 and 4 are the ones where I put the most hours into, whether it was resetting save files, trading between games to complete the pokedex, or shiny hunting.
Your stories remind me of my first pokemon game. I was maybe five, and my uncle gave me a gameboy and firered. I didn't understand how to catch pokemon, but somehow made it all the way to fuchsia city with a level 84 Charizard and never figured out how to surf any farther. Fond memories
The primary reason the Gen 3 games didn’t go back to Johto or Kanto is because they were supposed to be the “new generation” and basically a series restart. It wasn’t until people complained about not having their Gen 1 favorites when they brought out FireRed/LeafGreen.
Ruby/Sapphire was my first pokemon game. I was playing with my sister and a friend of ours. We each picked a different starter and played it together. It was happy times, indeed.
One of my first memories was trying to play my older brothers hand-me-down copy of Pokémon Red on the Game Boy and being jealous of their brand new Game Boy Advances and copies of Ruby and Sapphire. I was like 3 or 4 at the time. I remember eventually getting my own copy wherein I caught a Bagon and grinded it up to a level 100 Salamence. I was so proud and showed all of my cousins at the next family gathering. I then let one of my cousins play on it a bit not realizing they had intended to start a new save file until it was too late. Let me tell you, that stung deep in my soul. That cartridge was dead to me. Didn't play Pokémon again until I became addicted to Emerald when it came out. Ended up discovering a dupe glitch in that one. Got like 7 Rayquazas and like 5 copies of my starter or something. I hadn't intended to write this much, but as I was writing more and more, memories just kept on resurfacing. It seems that Pokémon was an integral part of my childhood.
I think my first generation of Pokémon was playing Diamond on my older brother’s DS. I was young enough that I don’t remember the name of anything but I remember an epic fight with Roark using a bidoof and turtwig, a team I absolutely refused to add new members to. I accidentally set up defense curl into rollout with my bidoof and ended up critting through the entire team. I really fell in love with the games when I found an old game boy (I was born post 9/11 lmao) and a copy of emerald, I was so intrigued by the “my dad is a gym leader” idea and thought that was the coolest idea ever. When I beat the game and learned that you don’t get to be a gym leader I was really bummed, but it was a great time and I remember it fondly.
Scott, amazing content as always! I suggested the surfing raichu versus non surfing raichu challenge (compared to the three usual starters) in your kangaskhan yellow/red video. Just wanted to say thank you; your channel has evolved so many times since your first vid over a year ago! They always make my 5 hours Friday and Sunday drives easy and my daughter (6 now) is getting into Pokémon! So thank you for making great vids that entertain us both! Keep up the amazing work my guy!
I was 10 when Ruby and Sapphire came out. And I remember spending literal hours slowly decoding the regi puzzle letter by letter. (Thankfully, I had the strategy guide.) I wanted the regis so bad that I was so excited when I finally decorated the puzzle.
The Sceptile + Groudon League story definitively rings true for me: I picked Treecko in my first Ruby playthrough, I remember struggling a lot against Wattson to the point where I had to reach level 29 and learn Leaf Blade to even have a chance - I had other Pokémon but they were too underleveled and didn't have enough Special Defense to survive; I kept using mostly Sceptile but grew a bit tired of it because it just wasn't doing enough damage. I ended up catching Groudon and immediately feeling the power difference, so I switched to mostly using it, even in the Wallace fight. I ended up training up in Victory Road, using Groudon and giving the Exp Share to Pokémon I leveled up just for the sake of completing the Pokédex, so my Groudon became really overleveled and I didn't have a real team; furthermore, I feared that stuff like Leer and Intimidate were actually lowering my Pokémon's stats overall, rather than just for battle, so I actually used my level 54 Sceptile in the League... to take Mightyena's Intimidate and other moves of this kind, just so that Groudon wouldn't get "permanently" debuffed, since I didn't care about Sceptile, at that point. Even sadder, Ruby wasn't even my first Pokémon game, but I don't remember being that wary of stat drops in Gold.
So I got into pokemon starting in gen 1. I played thru gen 2 and grew up a bit and got really into ps rpgs like final Fantasy 7 etc etc. I came back to pokemon in gen 7 with sun and moon and eventually started picking up all the games from the generations I missed. I really love the foundations of the series, but my biggest complaint is I just wish they were harder. I played thru platinum and emerald last year and was pretty satisfied with how challenging the 2 were. Love the content, keep up the great work! I wanna see a roselia run one day dude, as that one is my fave.
I’ve been trying to catch up on videos and I love I can binge watch/listen while I cook. Listening to your story I know how you felt after Pokémon Silver I stopped cause no one cared, only got back into Pokémon after I had my first son not much to do with a baby lol but I completed Soulsilver and the pokedex and when the Covid nonesense happened you inspired me to play all the games I never got too. And I’ve collected almost every version up to generation 5. I am so thankful for your channel and all your hard work! I wish I could have been your friend back then, knowing how passionate you were about Pokémon. Thanks for all you do. 🤙🏽🤘🏽🐉🍻
Ah, to be in elementary school in the early 2000s again. I went from Emerald to Yu Gi Oh cards to Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon only to finally come back to Pokémon for XY. Something about the commercials felt really nostalgic compared to what I had seen of gens 4 and 5.
Gen 3/FireRed was actually my first Pokemon game! My mom actually managed to find an abandoned copy of it on the ground at her job and gave it to me because I had a Gameboy. I had no idea that it would then become one of my favorite games.
Scott, THANK YOU! I dealt with the same disappointment the first time I played these games as I was looking forward to going back to Kanto and johto! 😂 And likewise, as they had soul samples of these places I thought there would be a way to get there! So frustrating and I thought I was the only one!
Ruby and Sapphire were literally the last games I played as a kid, primarily because of Yu-Gi-Oh. I didn't get back into the series until Pokemon Go came out and a friend told me about Sun and Moon. I've been a fan again ever since
My first introduction to Pokemon was a friend at school with blue version. He was stuck in Seafoam Island with a lv 60~ Blastoise. I asked what he was playing and he handed me the Gameboy and said he'd give me his chocolate milk if I could get him out. I eventually got my own copy of Pokemon blue, then red, and eventually yellow. I got gold and silver when they came out, but then I didn't play again until sword and shield came out. Since then I went back and played emerald and several gen 1/2 rom hacks. I've played a little bit of most of the games now but haven't finished any of them yet.
I started Pokemon with the anime and the cards, and didn't end up being able to actually play the games except when I got to borrow someone else's Game Boy. Silver was my first Pokemon game, and I was obsessed with it for a long time. It's been so long that I don't have a ton of clear memories, but I do remember letting someone else borrow it, and the madlad did the duplication trick with Rare Candies as well as transferring in a Mewtwo from one of the Gen I games, so I had fun beating the Elite Four over and over with a level 100 Mewtwo with the elemental punches and Psychic. I also remember trying to complete the Pokedex and not having a good time, and I don't think I've ever successfully completed a Pokedex since. more power to the people that can, but I didn't really have any friends to trade with, and only later did I get multiple consoles so I could trade with myself. Gen III was huge for me, because, like Scott, it was when I was starting to be really active on the internet, and I devoured news about the games. I printed out pictures of the new Pokemon as they were revealed before the game release and tacked them to the walls of my room. I remember absolutely adoring Zigzagoon for some reason. still think it's probably the cutest early Normal type, even edging out Wooloo. Gen III is where I played the absolute most Pokemon. I never had Sapphire, but I had every other mainline game and Colosseum and XD. and let me tell you, I logged a ludicrous amount of hours in the latter two games. I don't know if I ever caught all the Shadow Pokemon, but I got close. I even successfully caught the final boss's entire team + Lugia. not first try, obviously. the last battles in those two games are absolutely harder than any main story battle in the mainline Gen III games. circling back around to the mainline games, I absolutely fell in love with a lot of Gen III Pokemon, with Sceptile being my favorite. but I liked all of the starters, though I resented Blaziken because it was getting more of a marketing push and seemed like the most popular one, and I've always had a bit of a hate-on for the overdog in any circumstance. I remember my contest star was a Torkoal. I liked the Beauty contest because you could just spam powerful moves in that to win, whereas the others required some strategy. I don't know if I ever won a Smart contest. other than Zigzagoon and Sceptile, my Gen III favorites were Breloom, Swalot (you can get Gulpin early in XD and Swalot became a mainstay on my team for reasons I still don't quite understand), Aron/Lairon/Aggron, Makuhita, Cacnea, Trapinch/Flygon, Swellow, Torkoal, Spheal, Spoink/Grumpig, Seviper, Corphish/Crawdaunt, Sharpedo, and Metagross. I still think Gen III has some of the best designs, and the overall design aesthetic both in terms of Pokemon and region are absolute peak. it's also unbeatable in music. XD and Colosseum, by the way, have some of the very best music in the franchise, especially the battle music. Emerald is nostalgic for me in part because I'm pretty sure I found Serebii.net around that time, and that website would end up one of my most visited websites for years and years to come. That, and Bulbapedia as well. the Gen III era is also the last time I was watching the anime, because in the switch to Gen IV, the dub actors changed and the show ended up moving to cable. My parents never got cable, lol. So much of my development and lacking nostalgia for the things others in my generation took for granted is based on not having cable. and the channel that showed The Simpsons not being very reliable, so I rarely watched that show, and only knew a handful of references.
RSE have a special place in my heart, since Sapphire was not only the first pokemon game I got to play for myself (my older sisters had Silver and Crystal), but also the first game that was all mine. I just rushed through the whole thing with swampert, but I also had a shiny electrike. My sisters and I thought it was a glitch because it was the first shiny we had ever seen! Then I left it in the daycare and forgot about it until its level was in the 60s.
Gen 3 is the one that I skipped back in the day. I was in my teens and started thinking I was too old for Pokémon. Now I'm 37 and proudly playing Pokémon on TH-cam lol
Ive been a Pokemon fan since Red/Blue...but i fell out before Gen 3 came out. No one was playing or talking about Pokemon around me. When the GameCube games came out, i tried them...and then eventually got Emerald! And ive been playing ever since
Me and my friends are in our mid 30s now. We went through the yu-gi-oh phase in highschool, giving up completely on Pokemon. I always loved it though, even making my own romhacks to make the vanilla games more exciting for my own personal taste. A year ago my friend messaged me: "bro lets get back into the pokemon tcg." I'd love to, but sadly the magic just isn't there. It'll never be the same as playing at the lunch table or discussing our decks at recess. I miss the old games, I wish I could play them for the first time again, with my old friends, not knowing the science behind it, just pretending we're the greatest battlers ever.
My first was RBY, and I followed it to gen 4. I fell off because I became and angsty teenager, but fell back in love during 6th gen. I still felt like the games were for kids, so I didn't really talk about them. But the resounding success of Pokemon GO made people of all ages play again. All of a sudden pokemon was cool for adults too 🤣 i was no longer embarrassed, and now I have lots of friends that like the main games
I started playing Pokemon when my brother broke his arm. He was given a game boy and pokemon red and we were hooked. I distinctly remember receiving a game boy and pokemon blue for my birthday that year. I played gens 1 and 2 until gen 4, where my brother received pokemon diamond for his birthday. I wanted my own gen 4 game so bad my parents had to get me a copy of pearl before my birthday! I came back to gen 3 with emerald and have played all the mainline games except legends arceus and black/white 2. For me, pokemon just never went away even after my friends outgrew it. I used to buy all the games upon release but I stopped after ultra sun and moon. It's amazing that people can build their entire career off pokemon! If you told baby me that people could make a job of playing pokemon I don't know if she'd believe you!
I was born in 93 and my first pokemon game was Blue, I didn't play for another 10 years and at that point I played gold and then another 10 years later I finally played Emerald. I don't really intend to go beyond gen 3, but who knows, maybe in another 10 years I will be adventurous enough to give it a try.
I distinctly remember leaf green as my first pokemon game on a GBA SP, I was maybe 4 or 5, so as an 04 kid they came out when I was born and I played them around the release of Soul silver, my second pokemon game.
I met a guy at the park once while playing Pokémon go. He told us the story of how he had a 4* shiny Aerodactyl in go that he traded to someone. The pain is immeasurable, especially since stats get completely rerolled when traded in GO.
Generation 3 were indeed my first Pokemon games; I think Leaf Green was my first, I soloed the game with Blastoise and it became a tradition for me on my first playthroughs of the games to curb stomp the entire game with just the Water starter pokemon. (Water types represent.) I immediately went back and played Blue, Yellow, Silver, Crystal - and although I didn't get Stadium 1 and 2 until later in life and never really got the appeal of them, Pokemon Colosseum is my favourite out of the franchise; Hoenn from my time with Sapphire and Emerald is probably also my favourite region. Continuing from there I played XD: Gale of Darkness and got emotionally invested in the Mystery Dungeon games. Run Away in Red Rescue Team was probably the first time I cried at the storytelling in a video game - the friendship between the main characters was really touching to me. I also remember these as the first signs of 4th gen Pokemon, along with Ranger which I got for the Manaphy egg event. I remember racing to beat my friend in completing Diamond/Pearl over a holiday we both went on, and at one sleepover we grinded out the entire Odd Keystone event to both get Spiritomb. (He fell asleep part way through so I finished his for him as a thanks.) My teenage years were troubled and I stopped playing after Platinum - before Heart Gold and Soul Silver came out, I remember being excited for them but never got them myself. Then when Black/White 1 & 2 came out they just kind of passed me by. X/Y was where I really lost interest in Pokemon; moving to 3D from the sprites on the handheld main line games really alienated me, even if I did think the sprite animation in Black and White looked jank. I also remember having strong opinions on Mega Evolution for just being something straight out of Digimon. Sun/Moon grabbed my attention with Z moves and regional variant forms - which unlike Mega Evolution were gimmicks i was very much for. I own Moon but have never gotten around to playing it. I did go back and play Pokemon White though, first time I played through with a full team not relying on starters/legendaries... that I can remember*. And I'm glad I did, I own White 2 but didn't get as into it as I did White. The Ruby/Sapphire remakes passed me by, but I loved them using the Red Orb and Blue Orb to give Kyogre and Groudon their true power; I always felt they were underwhelming when I was younger, especially Groudon. It made me look forward to Dialga and Palkia eventually getting the same treatment. Then Sword/Shield, the games set in my home country of the UK... less said about those the better, for me. At least Scarlet and Violet seem like they were good despite their performance issues. Gigantimax felt like the dumbest gimmick and Terastal Pokemon - while effectively the Holon type swaps I wanted from the trading cards all the way back in generation 3 - seemed like a pointless contrivance to the type altering mechanic I had always wanted. (*Apparently when I played Yellow I disliked Pikachu so much as a starter that by end game team was Butterfree, Wigglytuff, the three legendary birds, and Pikachu was just the 6th slot tag along.) ...Wow, guess I have quite the history with the franchise actually. I was thinking this would only be one or two paragraphs. ^_^"
Addendum: Black/White disappointed me by not introducing the Light type (I've also always wanted an Air type but I settled for it being too similar to Flying... even though we have Rock and Ground type); since Zekrom as a Dark/Dragon and Reshiram as a Light/Dragon made so much sense to me. After Platinum, I conceptualised an entry in the series taking place in Taiwan; introducing Light and Air types, "Aeon Stones" which could shift Pokemon between devolved/true-self ancient forms and futuristic hyper evolved forms - as well as the ability to swap out a Pokemon's secondary typing for an alternative third typing. I still really like all the creativity I put into "Aozora/Bronze/Cerise" (was a trilogy rather than 3 versions funnily enough) even though nothing will ever come of it. xD
Back then even if there wasn't a way to get stuck for days i found one. It happened so regularly i just remember it being the default for me playing games as a child.
Like other commenters here, I started playing Pokémon with the RBY Gen. My brother had Blue and I had Red with our Gameboy Colors. I’m kind of a snob, and don’t really like any Pokémon games after Gen 3. A lot of times I feel like they ran out of ideas for Pokémon and started making random items (like keychains and chandeliers) into living creatures or just like a legitimate flamingo lol. So I just stick with the first few generations. I love your content Scott!
This is a very very very light request as I imagine it would be more difficult than what its worth on top of trying to squish it into the UI, but it would be very interesting to see EVs (or maybe even how much stat points are currently from EVs) in these runs
My First Game was Yellow and i checked out on the Hoenn Stuff. Also stopped watching the Anime and came back with the Anime for Y and X and cried when Ash finally won the legue. Now i know, that i'm old.
I was around 4 or 5 when i got my copy of Emerald, and that birthday is a core memory for me, because Gen 3 was my whole damn life back then. I did play gen 4 when it came out, but for some reason after completing diamond and abusing action replay shennanigans, i went back to gen 3 and lost my copy of diamond. Its a bummer because the exact same thing happened to my copy of White and my copy of Black 2, but for some reason Gen 3 is just ingrained into my veins to the point where i can play sections of the game out in my head near flawlessly. Im definitely a Gen 3 guy lmao
I started with Gen 3, my first portable console was a Gameboy Advance SP, and my Dad eventually bought two copies of all 5 GBA Pokémon games for me and my brother, as well as a link cable, before we realized that Leafgreen and FireRed were mostly the same, and same for Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. Oops. I did LeafGreen three times (thanks to save file erasures near the league twice before), then I got burned out of Pokémon. It's only in my early 20s that, we were going on a trip to my Dad's Aunt that lived like 650 km away, and I needed a console that could last 7-8 hours, and the only one I had was the gameboy advance. So, I took a copy of Pokémon Emerald, along with 4-5 other games thinking I'd get bored of Emerald pretty quickly, but no. I played it on the way there, on the way back, in the evenings when people were going to sleep, in the mornings when I would wake up early, and clocked in like 50 hours at the end of that week. And it gave me back the love for the Pokémon games.
Generation 3 wasn’t where I started with the series, but it was definitely where it became a cornerstone of my early memories with video games. I had played crystal before it was my cousins version and it felt kinda old for the time period I played it at (which was right before ruby and sapphire came out), and I was more interested in other things. Around when Fire red and leaf green came out my mom got me fire red because my cousins were very interested in the series and I was old enough for the game to actually interest me and I got hooked, shortly after fire red I got Pokémon emerald and to this day those two games are my most played Pokémon games. I never did any solo challenges with the games but I distinctly remember trying to beat the elite four solo with every Pokémon I could (which becomes a fairly unique thing when you don’t have any non replenish-able TM’s for majority of Pokémon)
FR/LG is where Aerodactyl will finally receive its long-awaited vindication, with the Rock Slide tutor available as early as Rock Tunnel... and entirely for FREE. The Battle Frontier move tutors are one of those things that's pretty cool for post-game activities, but regrettably these expanded move pools are obviously useless for a standard playthrough. When Scott eventually gets around to multiple playthroughs of Emerald he should also do a "traded" moves sub-series to show off what differences could be made if they were more readily accessible. Egg moves would also be something to consider as well.
Pokemon Emerald was my first Pokemom game at 10 yo after writing the series off when I was younger. First game I ever beat and started a love for a series I still love 18 years later! Edit: I am weird because my favorite gens are probably 3, 6, and 7. I find those to be uncommon choices.
In terms of personal nostalgia, I started out watching the gen 3 and 4 animes along with buying the cards and receiving older cards from like the jungle sets too. I actually had some of the older anime episodes on VHS along with a couple of the very first movies! We always played it on this tiny little TV, and it was the best. I've since rewatched the entire anime series as an adult (In terms of how I felt after watching the whole anime, Gen 7 is the best for me out of them all despite my initial impressions made by the community going into it, but Gen 6 is close and gens 4/3 are up there too, just not as high despite being my nostalgia picks). The first game I got into was BW at the end of its cycle basically, and after resetting so many times to do nuzlockes and the like, I got B2W2, of which I played the absolute shit out of (maxed out the timer and I still wasn't done with all the events) and from there I kept getting the games until USUM (which I regret stopping at bc I missed out on a lot of good content from that game tbh). I got back into playing the actual games when PLA came out, and enjoyed both that and Violet a lot. Thanks for another great vid!
I've made so many comments Scott, but I've never told you my pokemon story. I'm like you in that I had yellow version, and then when I got older my brother got gold and I got silver. When ruby and Sapphire came out I definitely felt the same way you did with pokemania dying down. However, in my middle school, my brother and I kept it alive with out friends so the hype was awesome for ruby and Sapphire but died down quickly within a month or two. Every time you face tate and Liza it reminds me. Don't forget our Xatu agreement my friend! Whatever earth day thanksgiving reason you choose to do a gen2 Xatu run, I expect at least a passing mention! With our pop punk roots in common, the power of sum 41 compels you!!!!!! Lmao
I always enjoyed pokemon even from a young age, my first experience with it was Ruby when my brother got a gameboy advance. Then my parents got me one as well that came with Pokemon Crystal. I got Leaf Green a couple years later (my dad would take us to GameCrazy and we'd pick-up used games from time to time). There weren't many kids at my Middle School that did play Pokemon, Runescape was the larger fad at the time. When I got into highschool I did find several friends who played the Gen 4 games and during my Senior year a friend I had known since Elementry School along with his younger brother both played the Gen 5 games... to which I absolutely demolished both of them because another friend introduced me to competitive pokemon my freshman year. I even helped both brothers out with their competitive teams since they'd attend tournaments by providing them with mons/items (I was the friend with the Action Replay, so pkhex mons into code to overwrite trash mons in party and unlimited items)
I remember my first Pokemon game was Blue back in... I think Christmas '98. I had RBY, and GSC, along with the 2 Stadium games on N64, and the Transfer Pack. After Gen 2, I had Sapphire when I got my GBA in... I think it was Christmas 2003. After a while, I just took a break from the series, only to come back with Heart Gold in 2011, which I loved. I later picked up Black 1 and enjoyed my time with Unova. I skipped Gen 6, and picked up Sun when I saw Rowlet. I love that birb, and I thought the game was decent, but with how cutscene-heavy the start of the game was, I never really went back to it, and that was the last mainline game I played.
I had an extremely similar experience as you did with r/s. I was one of the last of my friends to play a Gen 3 game, and as a result, I stopped engaging with Pokémon. I ended up getting back into the games in college as well.
Been playing since 1998 and the very beginning. Pokémon Red was one of the three first real video games I played (beyond the edutainment stuff that taught me to read and everything). I’ve been with the series the whole time, though Gen 5 is my definitive favorite since that’s when I finally got serious about completing the Pokédex and learning how to actually play the game.
It's interesting how Tate and Liza's Claydol kept using Earthquake even after your HM slave got KOed, well until Claydol was the only one on their side of the field as well! Almost as if the mere presence of multiple Pokémon on the field triggered it to use Earthquake regardless of efficacy, but we know it doesn't do that every time, so Aerodactyl being /Rock probably also had something to do with it..?
I played yellow first, then a lot of Gold but I remember being old enough when Ruby came out to truly appreciate it and know what I was doing. Loved doing contests and building a secret base as well as learning how to read braille to get the Regi's!
I started with Pokémon Red as a Christmas gift because my grandma knew I liked Dinosaurs and saw the one with the dragon on the front. I've played basically every game new. But around D&P I only played them occasionally and was starting to burn out. But then, I also had a baby sitting job where the kids I was watching were so impressed by my knowledge of the games that we watched their pokemon tapes and played the card game. After that I decided it might have more potential for longevity then I thought. That said I wasn't fully on board with Black and White. I wasn't a fan of the first dexit and thought the game was too grindey(really funny now that b&w are now some of my favorites). But B2&W2 were so expansive with sheer amounts of team options really enthralled me and the new online trading system now that I had wifi, really solidified the series as my comfort hobby.
I've been with the Pokemon series since Gen 1, but I had an extended experience with Gen 3 due to growing up poor and only having a gameboy advanced until black 2 and White 2 were released, so Gen 3 rose to become my favorite as a result. I was so happy to be able to re-experience Hoenn in Gen 6 with ORAS which I adore.
Crystal version was my first foray into the pokemon universe, and after 20 years, its still pretty much the only one I play, along with the occasional fire red romp. I had the same experiences that you mentioned, when I beat emerald, or platinum, I was so excited to go back to the other regions, just like I had done in crystal all those years prior. But we never went back.
Really love the Hoenn vids. My favourite regions are Johto and Hoenn, with Hoenn being my #1. I completely understand what you meant by being obsessed with Pokémon when everyone else had lost interest. I kept my interest and when I finished Emerald and the Safari Zone opened up and you could catch Johto mons otherwise inaccessible, I lost my mind. I told all my friends about it, and none of them cared. I remember pointing out to a friend that it was weird Shuckle could learn Withdraw which is a Water Type move and Shuckle is weak to Water. He absolutely went balistic at me. That was back in 2006. I stuck with it for DP, but they were very disappointing games, so I didn't play Platinum or BW, B2W2. In the end my now ex got me back into the series with XY. I think that's why I'm quite fond of Diantha.
I started of on Gen 1, while I couldnt read though and couldnt understand what the game wants for me or really means to press any button. But with time and Gen 2 I "really" started and had such a great time.
i remember the old gameboy color pokemon red and blue. I had to beg my mother for yellow. Then gold and silver came out playing those was fantastic. I didnt play ruby and sapphire until later on. they use to have pokemon on tv on Saturdays
My first game was Ruby! Around the time Diamond and Pearl came out. I'd been into Pokémon for years beforehand - I loved the cards and the anime as a younger kid but my parents were quite hesitant to get me a game console. I got a GBA SP for Christmas with a copy of Ruby, and I got a copy of Blue version soon after. And Red Rescue Team soon after that! Around the time of Platinum's release I saved my pocket money to buy a second hand DS lite and a copy of Pearl, and I got a copy of Platinum on a trip to the Osaka Pokémon Center before it came out in my country. :) I've gotten every game on release since.
Gen 3 was in fact actually my first Pokemon Generation, but it wasn't the first I owned, I always loved playing my brother's copies of Ruby, Sapphire, and LeafGreen. The first one I owned was gen 4 with Soul Silver.
Speaking of multi region games, it would be neat to have built in lower level caps for the second region and use it as a way to encourage breeding new pokemon and working towards egg moves for more than just competitive edge cases.
Hi Scott, I love your Pokémon challenge runs and have done for years but I was too afraid to comment until now. I have loved Pokémon since I was 3 years old. My favourites are Fire Red and Emerald and it's Pokémon challenge run channels like yours and many others I watch on a daily basis, that I started doing my own Pokémon challenge runs back in 2020 and I am still doing them now.
Hi Scott! Love your work! Re: the Abra, why not just start with an Abra coded to be in your box1? The amount of time it takes to walk to the PC & withdraw should be approximately the amount of time that it would take to *catch* an Abra (if you came across one), and then no one needs to complain about how catching Abra is fair/unfair because you *always* have access to it if you want.
Sapphire was my first Pokemon game, I remember stealing it from one of my cousins as a kid because "they didn't play video games like I did." Never got caught, everyone has been none the wiser for about 15 years now lol
Been playing since Gen 2. I got Red and my Brother Blue. I was a Freshman in HS and my Best Friend was in 8th and my brother in 7th. Tbh not many in my class had interest but I had my friend and brother to play with. While life has caused my brother to drop off sometime around Gen 5 or 6 but my friend and I have been active players the whole time. Was super excited for Scarlet/Violet and can’t wait for what’s next
Imagine a remake where you can travel between Kanto, Johto and Hoenn. That would be the ultimate nostalgia hype game.
Throw Sinnoh in there too for icing on the cake. A create a character with an open intro would be nice as well. As an adult, I would like a more matured play through other than a 10 year old youngster.
Skyrim but it's Pokémon, also have all regions
Yeah!
while the idea in general is great you’d have to find a way to properly handle the level curve
That fact they haven't done this already makes no sense.
That story with the babysitting kids was really nice. I’m a bit younger and my first games were Diamond and Pearl, and White 2 is still one of my favorite games to this day. Pokémon just never went away.
Personally I've been playing since Pokemon Red, my brother had Blue. We're in our mid 30s now so we were approximately 10 when Gen 1 came out and took the world by storm. Happy times
im soon 33 ; best times ever , pokemania was INSANE!! for at least a full year!
@@TheTrooperMB were you even 5 when the gen 1 came out
@@BryanM86 in europe it stroke in 99 so i was 9
@@TheTrooperMB ahh ok that makes more sense
36 here and I remember game link came out and blew our minds. We even had gyms and made badges. I had a Rock Type team of Onix, Golem, Omastar, Rhydon, Kabutops, and Aerodactyl. I even made a few bucks doing it sometimes. Most were obsessed with Charizard and the Fire typing so I won more than I lost. Got thrashed by the water and grass types though. Good times. Lol!
I truly enjoy these mini series featuring aerodactyl. Your memories and feelings about legendary pokemon, overrelying on your starter, and disappointment due to the lack of additional regions are quite reminiscent to me as well. Thank you for a mini trip down the memory lane!
Speaking of Gen 3 nostalgia, it's interesting that you and I both had a "falling out of love with Pokémon" phase during Gen 3 even though our circumstances are completely different.
I was out of elementary school when Pokémon came to Europe in '99. First I heard of it was when I'd bought a British gaming magazine that had a special additional booklet previewing Pokémon but giving little context to the type of game it was, and the pokédex entries were so intriguing. The internet was already A Thing, and I was practicing my rudimentary HTML skill by making a Pokémon themed website to let myself keep track of what official art and data I could find of the 151 before I even played the game. I got it for christmas, and some starter decks for the trading card game too. I was on the forefront of introducing this to my friend group, who mostly being two years younger than me were still in elementary. Generation 2 was where all of them got in, getting their first Game Boys and trading cards. They fandom is something I look back on very fondly, and I remember sitting around with friends musing about what we wanted out of Gen 3; What new types to introduce to follow Steel and Dark, what new setting to explore, what new pokémon designs and type combinations we would want to see.
But it wasn't yugioh or beyblades that became the new hotness. It was Magic the Gathering that with its already huge install base absorbed tweens and teens when Pokémon was seen as too uncool for that age. I never bought in, but my friends got peer pressured into it. And frankly, the TCG had lost some of its original luster. Introducing dark and steel types as special energy cards that you could only have four of per deck was detrimental to deckbuilding and unsatisfying when opening booster packs. The Light, Dark, and Gym Leader's variants felt gimmicky in how one can't be used to evolve into another. Then the e-Reader card designs came about and just look worse, and by the time EX Delta Species launched and any pokémon could now be any type or even multiple types at once, I no longer recognized the game at all.
By the time I got Sapphire for christmas I hadn't even wished for it, nor was I especially interested in getting it since all of my friends had gotten out of the fandom. It didn't help that there was no ability to transfer over pokémon from previous generations, so the appeal of completing a pokédex wasn't there either. It wasn't an open world setting like I'd wanted, it was just a linear affair again. The introduction of Abilities didn't seem like a big deal, it was just codifying the Pokémon Powers concept that some cards already had, and there were no new types. But I still wanted to enjoy the new designs and a sense of discovery since I hadn't been following Gen 3 on the internet. I was excited about Lotad's water/grass typing... but then it needed a stone to fully evolve and I could never find one. I was stoked about Nincada's bug/ground typing, but then it became "just another bug flying type" when it evolved and I didn't know about Shedinja so I missed out on that for having a full party. Finally I was delighted by Surskit's bug/water typing... and then my heart broke when it also evolved into "just another bug flying type." I didn't buy another Pokémon game until Sun & Moon, though I did play Diamond and White when I didn't have anything better to do and at the time I didn't care for them though I appreciate them now. And now I again don't think I'll ever buy another Pokémon game after how the Switch games turned out.
All this self-indulgence to say Thank You Scott for making content that can tap into my happy childhood feelings even when I'm old and bitter and otherwise disconnected from the Pokémon franchise. 💙
In FireRed and LeafGreen the Rock Slide move tutor is on Rock Tunnel.
Just in case you wanna do an Aerodactyl run there.
Should also bring up the Double-Edge tutor, which is just at the end of Victory Road.
This time, choose Rock Head for the ability.
It's wild how much better it is during the main game of LGFR. A pretty legitimate threat if you're willing to raise it.
@I’ve done it once. It’s a huge ask given it’s likely going to be your Fly user and type stacking is generally not a good idea and you need to train it up quite a bit before it’s ready for major battles.
That said, wow it’s a powerful choice.
@@paulmann8570 I love ancient pokemon, so for me Aerodactyl is a goas as oon as I get surf...so typically my 5th badge
Your layout , particularly how the gym leaders’ Pokémon are displayed, really reminds me of the old strategy guides. I loved them
I love the happy Aerodactyl. It's amazing that 2 or 3 changes makes it go from "Fearsome prehistoric monster" to "Sleeps at the end of your bed".
Speaking of Pokémon you had to go out of your way to find, before the Legendaries, I'd say Aerodactyl itself was the first Pokémon you'd have to actively go looking for to get. Backtracking to Pewter City with Cut in hand is not exactly on anyone's intinerary, unless you remembered that the guide asked you to keep it in mind.
It took until the 3rd gen, but Aerodactyl finally has moves!
RSE holds the most nostalgia for me. I grew up playing them all (29) but this slaps differently.
Started with Pokemon Crystal and never looked back. Still playing pokemon as of Gen 9 and I have tons of adult friends who play the videos games like me. We meet up on Saturdays and either do competitive VGC or we do Tera Raids. Pokemon granted the one wish that I had as a child, to have friends. Even if they weren't real in the games, I considered my pokemon my friends. Now Pokemon has given me real world friends. Please keep up the great videos and the amazing work.
Wow, my experience with pokemon and gen 3 specifically was remarkably similar to yours! I played through the games with my starters + Kyogre and had the same struggle of most of my friends leaving pokemon, as well as these being the games I jumped into without knowing anything else about gen 3. Even the secret bases!
Honestly, there's a part of enjoying games like that that simply won't happen again. Adult responsibilities and overabundance of games to play means you can't really get lost in the world of a game and just explore and replay it untik you've squeezed everything out of them.
The amount of high quality content you are putting out is just incredible I love these runs
Generation 5 was actually my first introduction to the pokemon games as a kid. I was into the anime and the series as a kid but it wasn't until black and white I had both a console and a desire to try the main series games. From there I've played everything since, side games included
Man, new Scott's Thoughts on a Wednesday afternoon. This is a very pleasant surprise!
Your stories about your time with Pokémon during its height and your generation moving onward throughput adolescence is neat to hear! My first Pokémon game was Blue, followed by Silver (my fav), and my last Pokémon game was Sapphire. I became disinterested as my tastes changed while going through grade school, as well as my friends moving on from Pokémon.
I became more interested when X and Y came out and I had a college roommate who had geeked out over the upgraded visuals and happily explained the competitive scene via Showdown. Also, the Twitch Plays Pokémon series and later Pokémon Go helped ease me back into the series. I still haven't played mainline game since Sapphire, but I find watching Pokémon continue to grow and remain persistent as a global phenomenon very fascinating.
The most alluring part is learning about the artistic (both official and fan) approaches to Pokémon design (visual, movesets/abilities, sound, and story/lore) and how they relate to zoology, ecology, botany, mythology, geography, various world cultures, and real-world franchising of the series.
Your solo series also helped me further my fascination with Pokémon. The idea of measuring the attributes of a Pokémon within a Pokémon game vs other Pokémon was such an engaging thought. It's like a blend of an animal documentary with a competitive sports league (much like TierZoo, an amazing channel). The results of each Pokémon helping to piece together of what I had pondered as a kid: what a Pokémon ecosystem would like in a way many of the games (outside of Snap and New Snap) didn't showcase as much to me.
Anyways, thank you again for a wonderful video! P.S. Aerodactyl's back-sprite looked like it was ripped straight from Gen 2, haha.
Oh my God! The Gen 3 posters! I remember these in Walmart in my area as a kid! You saying that seriously sent me spiraling back into my childhood 😂😂
This was the first game I got the paperback guide for. So many fun things I didn't know were possible until I read through that as a kid.
I adore that babysitting story, you definitely left them with an amazing memory.
I’m around the same age as you so I got started in the earlier generations. My first game was Silver and I spent hundreds of hours trying to complete the Pokédex, but unfortunately I didn’t have friends to trade with. I convinced my mom to get red version and I played it shortly after and did some between game trading with myself 😂
Your experiences with pokemon are very similar to mine (mid-90's birthday). I remember getting Sapphire for my birthday right around when the games were rapidly cooling off in my class, and I never ended up picking up G4 and beyond. It's a bittersweet memory for me, but more sweet than bitter.
Your reminiscing took me WAY back. I felt like I was listening to my own story at the pivotal age where Pokémon went from cool to uncool.
When I purchased Sapphire version and a cobalt Gameboy SP in 5th grade (with my hard-earned 3 months of allowance/chores savings) I couldn't shut the game off. And along with so many other classmates of mine, we enjoyed exploring Hoenn together.
Yet just a short 2 years later in 7th grade yugio was king and only 1 classmate played fire red... Pokémon was officially uncool. I thought I left pokemon for good.
When I FINALLY came back to my senses and played Pokémon at the end of high-school and college I only played get 1 & 2, and wasn't until I was a "rent-paying-pseudo‐adult" that I downloaded a GBA emulator, stepped into Hoenn once again and played emerald for the very first time. Since then, I have hard-core nuzlocked emerald attempted countless times along w Fire red.
Scott, I watch all your play-throughs. Thank you for recreating a snippet of my childhood.
Sincerely,
A 90s kid
8:11 IKR, Hoenn is awesome. The sheer diversity of the cities and landscapes is fun, Steven is a badass and an intellectual at the same time (like Cynthia), it gives us the coolest, most unique pseudo-legendary of all time in Metagross, and there are quite a few cool mechanics.
Scott! Your stories really resonate with me! I had a very similar life with Pokémon though I think I’m a little older.
Loved gens1-3 felt people stop playing them and learned Pokémon wasn’t cool anymore around high school. Then long after I was out of and school and because of a significant other at the time I purchased Pokémon Y and it reinvigorated my love for the franchise.
I don’t play it so much anymore, but watching your videos and others like it on TH-cam and twitch has been such a treat.
Thank you and keep being your awesome self!
I cannot wait for Venomoth's run in Hoenn! I realized that there's a trifecta that get their playthrough first before the others: Butterfree, Aerodactyl, and Venomoth.
Anyways, I think the optimization will be interesting for Aerodactyl.
0.5) There is a PP Max at the Magma Hideout. It's at the side cave past the Left Ear burning Magma Grunt. Hug to the left and you can max out Ancient Power's PP without looking for 2 other PP Ups.
1) Rock Head and Double-Edge. I think this is a pretty common thing people would suggest. Normally, you hate Recoil moves, but thanks to Rock Head, Double-Edge and other Recoil moves can be used without inflicting Recoil. In addition, Double-Edge is 120 Power since Gen 2. Because of this, Double-Edge is a great lategame move for Sidney, Drake, and even Juan and Wallace. Without Silk Scarf, it's a 18 Power difference from Max Power Return. With Silk Scarf, that's a 30 Power difference. In fact, Earthquake is kinda a dead moveslot until you get to Steven.
2) Substitute. Substitute is an interesting idea that not many people would think about. For the Elite Four, Substitute is incredibly valuable. For one, Aerodactyl shields itself from the various Status moves flying around. You don't get Sand Attack to oblivion. You don't have to deal with Phoebe's first Dusclops using Confuse Ray and Curse. Substitute does block Ghost-type Curse until Black and White, where Curse can go through a Substitute. Second, you get a shield to take 1 hit from Glacia's Walrein and Drake's Kingdra. Lastly, Substitute blocks Intimidate, letting Aerodactyl's Attack to be in good shape to OHKO Salamence and Altaria. And, Aerodactyl can comfortably 2HKO Milotic and 1HKO Gyarados without Intimidate involve.
3) The Hidden Power type for Aerodactyl is perfectly fine. Hidden Power Ghost is ideal over STAB Hidden Power Rock or Flying. Also, you might want to consult Showdown's Hidden Power IV spreads to get 31 Attack IV when choosing a Physical Hidden Power.
4) The E4 and Champion moveset would be something like this:
Sidney: Ancient Power, Substitute, Double-Edge, Wing Attack
Phoebe: Ancient Power, Substitute, Double-Edge, Hidden Power Ghost
Glacia: No changes. Substitute as Sealeo sets up Hail. Ancient Power her team down.
Drake: No changes. Substitute when Shelgon protects. Rock Tomb shouldn't take out the Substitute if you do decent HP EV Training from Whismur when trying to beat Roxanne.
Wallace: Ancient Power, Substitute, Double-Edge, Aerial Ace.
Since Wailord seems to favor Rain Dance at the start, Substitute isn't a bad idea. Using a high power move should make Water Spout not deal much damage, even with Rain up. I didn't list Earthquake, since I actually calculate the damage output. I did consider the Badge boost match in equation, despite putting more EVs.
Lvl 70 212+ Atk Silk Scarf Aerodactyl Double-Edge vs. Lvl 55 0 HP / 0 Def Tentacruel: 168-198 (98.8 - 116.4%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO (231 Atk w/o Intimidate)
Lvl 75 212+ Atk Aerodactyl Double-Edge vs. Lvl 55 0 HP / 0 Def Tentacruel: 174-205 (102.3 - 120.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO (W/o Intimidate)
Aerodactyl should be able to 1HKO Tentacruel with Silk Scarf Double-Edge without needing Earthquake at Level 70 most of the time. At Level 75 (2 Damage Rounding thresholds), you don't need Silk Scarf to 1HKO Tentacruel. In addition, you can comfortably 2HKO Milotic and Whiscash with Double-Edge. Although...
Lvl 75 212+ Atk Silk Scarf Aerodactyl Double-Edge vs. Lvl 58 0 HP / 0- Def Milotic: 174-205 (88.7 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO (246 Atk w/o Intimidate)
Lvl 78 180+ Atk Silk Scarf Aerodactyl Double-Edge vs. Lvl 58 0 HP / 0- Def Milotic: 181-213 (92.3 - 108.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO (249 Atk w/o Intimidate)
For Steven, Substitute might be constricting, since you need Earthquake, Ancient Power, Rest, and Fire move for Skarmory. Though, again, Substitute might have its merit in shielding against 1 Meteor Mash from Metagross should you not get an Ancient Power boost during the fight.
For me, Gen3 is when I returned to pokemon. I played when gen1 came out. However, I was really young and barely able to read at that point. around 7 or 8 I think, I was able to read enough to get me to the pokemon league with a lot of difficulty, but I had lost my Red cartridge at a restaurant and it left me heartbroken, never able to finish it. I didn't get another pokemon game until a few years after gen3 came out and a friend gifted me their sapphire cartridge as they lost interest. I was around 13/14 at the time.
this break was honestly a good thing for me socially, as much as it sucked having to give up on my most beloved hyper-fixation.
During the Gen 1-4 time period of pokemon, where I lived, pokemon was hated with a passion by kids and adults alike. It was seen as the baby game and if you were over the age of 6, you were bullied relentlessly for liking it. And I mean legitimately injured and sent to the nurse kind of bullying. Even adults would tell me to stop talking about Pokemon to their kids because they didn't want such a thing in their households. I loved pokemon, but unfortunately it was something that I just couldn't share with others. I took losing my red cartridge as a sign to just give up on Pokemon and bury my love for it. It wasn't until early high-school did people actually see pokemon as an okay thing to enjoy. It was still the nerdy thing, but at least it was seen as acceptable.
I'll be honest, I sometimes get bitter when I think about the fact that most kids did not deal with this growing up, that in most places, kids loved pokemon and it was in middle school and high school where pokemon was seen as just a kids game. It feels unfair... but I'm an adult now, I can't let my bitterness take over. What's done is done and I am glad that Pokemon is still loved by many and I am still able to enjoy it all these years later.
Sapphire was my first game that I actually had a sense of what was going on and where I was actually able to beat it. I had just turned 6 (2003) so I was still young, but had grasped the idea of type matchups and the format of the battles, exploration etc. My older cousin gifted me his Yellow, Gold, Silver, N64 and Stadiums1/2 around 1-2 years before RS released so I understood pokemon, just had never beaten any of the games. I've been playing Pokemon at every release ever since and still enjoy the franchise. Looking back, I think gens 3 and 4 are the ones where I put the most hours into, whether it was resetting save files, trading between games to complete the pokedex, or shiny hunting.
Your stories remind me of my first pokemon game. I was maybe five, and my uncle gave me a gameboy and firered. I didn't understand how to catch pokemon, but somehow made it all the way to fuchsia city with a level 84 Charizard and never figured out how to surf any farther. Fond memories
The primary reason the Gen 3 games didn’t go back to Johto or Kanto is because they were supposed to be the “new generation” and basically a series restart. It wasn’t until people complained about not having their Gen 1 favorites when they brought out FireRed/LeafGreen.
Ruby/Sapphire was my first pokemon game. I was playing with my sister and a friend of ours. We each picked a different starter and played it together. It was happy times, indeed.
I love how Venomoth is your mascot meme. But Aerodactyl is your most ironic meme
One of my first memories was trying to play my older brothers hand-me-down copy of Pokémon Red on the Game Boy and being jealous of their brand new Game Boy Advances and copies of Ruby and Sapphire. I was like 3 or 4 at the time. I remember eventually getting my own copy wherein I caught a Bagon and grinded it up to a level 100 Salamence. I was so proud and showed all of my cousins at the next family gathering. I then let one of my cousins play on it a bit not realizing they had intended to start a new save file until it was too late. Let me tell you, that stung deep in my soul. That cartridge was dead to me. Didn't play Pokémon again until I became addicted to Emerald when it came out. Ended up discovering a dupe glitch in that one. Got like 7 Rayquazas and like 5 copies of my starter or something.
I hadn't intended to write this much, but as I was writing more and more, memories just kept on resurfacing. It seems that Pokémon was an integral part of my childhood.
Bro your Killing it lately. İ am kinda sad in recent days, These daily Uploads helped me get my mind off Things, thank you
I think my first generation of Pokémon was playing Diamond on my older brother’s DS. I was young enough that I don’t remember the name of anything but I remember an epic fight with Roark using a bidoof and turtwig, a team I absolutely refused to add new members to. I accidentally set up defense curl into rollout with my bidoof and ended up critting through the entire team.
I really fell in love with the games when I found an old game boy (I was born post 9/11 lmao) and a copy of emerald, I was so intrigued by the “my dad is a gym leader” idea and thought that was the coolest idea ever. When I beat the game and learned that you don’t get to be a gym leader I was really bummed, but it was a great time and I remember it fondly.
I love the aerodactyl art featured on the challenges they're so cute!
Scott, amazing content as always! I suggested the surfing raichu versus non surfing raichu challenge (compared to the three usual starters) in your kangaskhan yellow/red video.
Just wanted to say thank you; your channel has evolved so many times since your first vid over a year ago! They always make my 5 hours Friday and Sunday drives easy and my daughter (6 now) is getting into Pokémon! So thank you for making great vids that entertain us both! Keep up the amazing work my guy!
I was 10 when Ruby and Sapphire came out. And I remember spending literal hours slowly decoding the regi puzzle letter by letter. (Thankfully, I had the strategy guide.) I wanted the regis so bad that I was so excited when I finally decorated the puzzle.
The Sceptile + Groudon League story definitively rings true for me: I picked Treecko in my first Ruby playthrough, I remember struggling a lot against Wattson to the point where I had to reach level 29 and learn Leaf Blade to even have a chance - I had other Pokémon but they were too underleveled and didn't have enough Special Defense to survive; I kept using mostly Sceptile but grew a bit tired of it because it just wasn't doing enough damage. I ended up catching Groudon and immediately feeling the power difference, so I switched to mostly using it, even in the Wallace fight.
I ended up training up in Victory Road, using Groudon and giving the Exp Share to Pokémon I leveled up just for the sake of completing the Pokédex, so my Groudon became really overleveled and I didn't have a real team; furthermore, I feared that stuff like Leer and Intimidate were actually lowering my Pokémon's stats overall, rather than just for battle, so I actually used my level 54 Sceptile in the League... to take Mightyena's Intimidate and other moves of this kind, just so that Groudon wouldn't get "permanently" debuffed, since I didn't care about Sceptile, at that point.
Even sadder, Ruby wasn't even my first Pokémon game, but I don't remember being that wary of stat drops in Gold.
So I got into pokemon starting in gen 1. I played thru gen 2 and grew up a bit and got really into ps rpgs like final Fantasy 7 etc etc. I came back to pokemon in gen 7 with sun and moon and eventually started picking up all the games from the generations I missed. I really love the foundations of the series, but my biggest complaint is I just wish they were harder. I played thru platinum and emerald last year and was pretty satisfied with how challenging the 2 were. Love the content, keep up the great work! I wanna see a roselia run one day dude, as that one is my fave.
I’ve been trying to catch up on videos and I love I can binge watch/listen while I cook. Listening to your story I know how you felt after Pokémon Silver I stopped cause no one cared, only got back into Pokémon after I had my first son not much to do with a baby lol but I completed Soulsilver and the pokedex and when the Covid nonesense happened you inspired me to play all the games I never got too. And I’ve collected almost every version up to generation 5. I am so thankful for your channel and all your hard work! I wish I could have been your friend back then, knowing how passionate you were about Pokémon. Thanks for all you do. 🤙🏽🤘🏽🐉🍻
Ah, to be in elementary school in the early 2000s again. I went from Emerald to Yu Gi Oh cards to Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon only to finally come back to Pokémon for XY. Something about the commercials felt really nostalgic compared to what I had seen of gens 4 and 5.
Gen 3/FireRed was actually my first Pokemon game! My mom actually managed to find an abandoned copy of it on the ground at her job and gave it to me because I had a Gameboy. I had no idea that it would then become one of my favorite games.
Although you say Emerald was hard to get going, your Emerald videos are fantastic! Looking forward to watching the rest! Also, Aerodactyl rules!
Scott, THANK YOU!
I dealt with the same disappointment the first time I played these games as I was looking forward to going back to Kanto and johto! 😂
And likewise, as they had soul samples of these places I thought there would be a way to get there!
So frustrating and I thought I was the only one!
Ruby and Sapphire were literally the last games I played as a kid, primarily because of Yu-Gi-Oh. I didn't get back into the series until Pokemon Go came out and a friend told me about Sun and Moon. I've been a fan again ever since
My first introduction to Pokemon was a friend at school with blue version. He was stuck in Seafoam Island with a lv 60~ Blastoise. I asked what he was playing and he handed me the Gameboy and said he'd give me his chocolate milk if I could get him out.
I eventually got my own copy of Pokemon blue, then red, and eventually yellow. I got gold and silver when they came out, but then I didn't play again until sword and shield came out. Since then I went back and played emerald and several gen 1/2 rom hacks. I've played a little bit of most of the games now but haven't finished any of them yet.
Was great hearing your first experiences of the game! I think gen 3 was my introduction to the games which got me hooked in the first place
I started Pokemon with the anime and the cards, and didn't end up being able to actually play the games except when I got to borrow someone else's Game Boy. Silver was my first Pokemon game, and I was obsessed with it for a long time. It's been so long that I don't have a ton of clear memories, but I do remember letting someone else borrow it, and the madlad did the duplication trick with Rare Candies as well as transferring in a Mewtwo from one of the Gen I games, so I had fun beating the Elite Four over and over with a level 100 Mewtwo with the elemental punches and Psychic. I also remember trying to complete the Pokedex and not having a good time, and I don't think I've ever successfully completed a Pokedex since. more power to the people that can, but I didn't really have any friends to trade with, and only later did I get multiple consoles so I could trade with myself.
Gen III was huge for me, because, like Scott, it was when I was starting to be really active on the internet, and I devoured news about the games. I printed out pictures of the new Pokemon as they were revealed before the game release and tacked them to the walls of my room. I remember absolutely adoring Zigzagoon for some reason. still think it's probably the cutest early Normal type, even edging out Wooloo. Gen III is where I played the absolute most Pokemon. I never had Sapphire, but I had every other mainline game and Colosseum and XD. and let me tell you, I logged a ludicrous amount of hours in the latter two games. I don't know if I ever caught all the Shadow Pokemon, but I got close. I even successfully caught the final boss's entire team + Lugia. not first try, obviously. the last battles in those two games are absolutely harder than any main story battle in the mainline Gen III games. circling back around to the mainline games, I absolutely fell in love with a lot of Gen III Pokemon, with Sceptile being my favorite. but I liked all of the starters, though I resented Blaziken because it was getting more of a marketing push and seemed like the most popular one, and I've always had a bit of a hate-on for the overdog in any circumstance. I remember my contest star was a Torkoal. I liked the Beauty contest because you could just spam powerful moves in that to win, whereas the others required some strategy. I don't know if I ever won a Smart contest. other than Zigzagoon and Sceptile, my Gen III favorites were Breloom, Swalot (you can get Gulpin early in XD and Swalot became a mainstay on my team for reasons I still don't quite understand), Aron/Lairon/Aggron, Makuhita, Cacnea, Trapinch/Flygon, Swellow, Torkoal, Spheal, Spoink/Grumpig, Seviper, Corphish/Crawdaunt, Sharpedo, and Metagross. I still think Gen III has some of the best designs, and the overall design aesthetic both in terms of Pokemon and region are absolute peak. it's also unbeatable in music. XD and Colosseum, by the way, have some of the very best music in the franchise, especially the battle music.
Emerald is nostalgic for me in part because I'm pretty sure I found Serebii.net around that time, and that website would end up one of my most visited websites for years and years to come. That, and Bulbapedia as well. the Gen III era is also the last time I was watching the anime, because in the switch to Gen IV, the dub actors changed and the show ended up moving to cable. My parents never got cable, lol. So much of my development and lacking nostalgia for the things others in my generation took for granted is based on not having cable. and the channel that showed The Simpsons not being very reliable, so I rarely watched that show, and only knew a handful of references.
RSE have a special place in my heart, since Sapphire was not only the first pokemon game I got to play for myself (my older sisters had Silver and Crystal), but also the first game that was all mine. I just rushed through the whole thing with swampert, but I also had a shiny electrike. My sisters and I thought it was a glitch because it was the first shiny we had ever seen!
Then I left it in the daycare and forgot about it until its level was in the 60s.
Gen 3 is the one that I skipped back in the day. I was in my teens and started thinking I was too old for Pokémon. Now I'm 37 and proudly playing Pokémon on TH-cam lol
Ive been a Pokemon fan since Red/Blue...but i fell out before Gen 3 came out. No one was playing or talking about Pokemon around me. When the GameCube games came out, i tried them...and then eventually got Emerald! And ive been playing ever since
Me and my friends are in our mid 30s now. We went through the yu-gi-oh phase in highschool, giving up completely on Pokemon. I always loved it though, even making my own romhacks to make the vanilla games more exciting for my own personal taste. A year ago my friend messaged me: "bro lets get back into the pokemon tcg." I'd love to, but sadly the magic just isn't there. It'll never be the same as playing at the lunch table or discussing our decks at recess. I miss the old games, I wish I could play them for the first time again, with my old friends, not knowing the science behind it, just pretending we're the greatest battlers ever.
Scott at age 12 already thinking about the good old days.
My first was RBY, and I followed it to gen 4. I fell off because I became and angsty teenager, but fell back in love during 6th gen. I still felt like the games were for kids, so I didn't really talk about them. But the resounding success of Pokemon GO made people of all ages play again. All of a sudden pokemon was cool for adults too 🤣 i was no longer embarrassed, and now I have lots of friends that like the main games
I started playing Pokemon when my brother broke his arm. He was given a game boy and pokemon red and we were hooked. I distinctly remember receiving a game boy and pokemon blue for my birthday that year. I played gens 1 and 2 until gen 4, where my brother received pokemon diamond for his birthday. I wanted my own gen 4 game so bad my parents had to get me a copy of pearl before my birthday! I came back to gen 3 with emerald and have played all the mainline games except legends arceus and black/white 2. For me, pokemon just never went away even after my friends outgrew it. I used to buy all the games upon release but I stopped after ultra sun and moon. It's amazing that people can build their entire career off pokemon! If you told baby me that people could make a job of playing pokemon I don't know if she'd believe you!
I was born in 93 and my first pokemon game was Blue, I didn't play for another 10 years and at that point I played gold and then another 10 years later I finally played Emerald. I don't really intend to go beyond gen 3, but who knows, maybe in another 10 years I will be adventurous enough to give it a try.
I like those challenge videos ! I really like your stories about the series! I find it interesting to listen to while watching the gameplay.
I distinctly remember leaf green as my first pokemon game on a GBA SP, I was maybe 4 or 5, so as an 04 kid they came out when I was born and I played them around the release of Soul silver, my second pokemon game.
I played generation 1, handed to me by my uncle. I remember waiting for gen 2 and being super stoked. to this day, totodile is my favorite pokemon
I met a guy at the park once while playing Pokémon go. He told us the story of how he had a 4* shiny Aerodactyl in go that he traded to someone. The pain is immeasurable, especially since stats get completely rerolled when traded in GO.
Generation 3 were indeed my first Pokemon games; I think Leaf Green was my first, I soloed the game with Blastoise and it became a tradition for me on my first playthroughs of the games to curb stomp the entire game with just the Water starter pokemon. (Water types represent.) I immediately went back and played Blue, Yellow, Silver, Crystal - and although I didn't get Stadium 1 and 2 until later in life and never really got the appeal of them, Pokemon Colosseum is my favourite out of the franchise; Hoenn from my time with Sapphire and Emerald is probably also my favourite region.
Continuing from there I played XD: Gale of Darkness and got emotionally invested in the Mystery Dungeon games. Run Away in Red Rescue Team was probably the first time I cried at the storytelling in a video game - the friendship between the main characters was really touching to me. I also remember these as the first signs of 4th gen Pokemon, along with Ranger which I got for the Manaphy egg event.
I remember racing to beat my friend in completing Diamond/Pearl over a holiday we both went on, and at one sleepover we grinded out the entire Odd Keystone event to both get Spiritomb. (He fell asleep part way through so I finished his for him as a thanks.) My teenage years were troubled and I stopped playing after Platinum - before Heart Gold and Soul Silver came out, I remember being excited for them but never got them myself.
Then when Black/White 1 & 2 came out they just kind of passed me by. X/Y was where I really lost interest in Pokemon; moving to 3D from the sprites on the handheld main line games really alienated me, even if I did think the sprite animation in Black and White looked jank. I also remember having strong opinions on Mega Evolution for just being something straight out of Digimon.
Sun/Moon grabbed my attention with Z moves and regional variant forms - which unlike Mega Evolution were gimmicks i was very much for. I own Moon but have never gotten around to playing it. I did go back and play Pokemon White though, first time I played through with a full team not relying on starters/legendaries... that I can remember*. And I'm glad I did, I own White 2 but didn't get as into it as I did White.
The Ruby/Sapphire remakes passed me by, but I loved them using the Red Orb and Blue Orb to give Kyogre and Groudon their true power; I always felt they were underwhelming when I was younger, especially Groudon. It made me look forward to Dialga and Palkia eventually getting the same treatment.
Then Sword/Shield, the games set in my home country of the UK... less said about those the better, for me. At least Scarlet and Violet seem like they were good despite their performance issues. Gigantimax felt like the dumbest gimmick and Terastal Pokemon - while effectively the Holon type swaps I wanted from the trading cards all the way back in generation 3 - seemed like a pointless contrivance to the type altering mechanic I had always wanted.
(*Apparently when I played Yellow I disliked Pikachu so much as a starter that by end game team was Butterfree, Wigglytuff, the three legendary birds, and Pikachu was just the 6th slot tag along.)
...Wow, guess I have quite the history with the franchise actually. I was thinking this would only be one or two paragraphs. ^_^"
Addendum: Black/White disappointed me by not introducing the Light type (I've also always wanted an Air type but I settled for it being too similar to Flying... even though we have Rock and Ground type); since Zekrom as a Dark/Dragon and Reshiram as a Light/Dragon made so much sense to me.
After Platinum, I conceptualised an entry in the series taking place in Taiwan; introducing Light and Air types, "Aeon Stones" which could shift Pokemon between devolved/true-self ancient forms and futuristic hyper evolved forms - as well as the ability to swap out a Pokemon's secondary typing for an alternative third typing.
I still really like all the creativity I put into "Aozora/Bronze/Cerise" (was a trilogy rather than 3 versions funnily enough) even though nothing will ever come of it. xD
Back then even if there wasn't a way to get stuck for days i found one. It happened so regularly i just remember it being the default for me playing games as a child.
Like other commenters here, I started playing Pokémon with the RBY Gen. My brother had Blue and I had Red with our Gameboy Colors. I’m kind of a snob, and don’t really like any Pokémon games after Gen 3. A lot of times I feel like they ran out of ideas for Pokémon and started making random items (like keychains and chandeliers) into living creatures or just like a legitimate flamingo lol. So I just stick with the first few generations. I love your content Scott!
This is a very very very light request as I imagine it would be more difficult than what its worth on top of trying to squish it into the UI, but it would be very interesting to see EVs (or maybe even how much stat points are currently from EVs) in these runs
My First Game was Yellow and i checked out on the Hoenn Stuff. Also stopped watching the Anime and came back with the Anime for Y and X and cried when Ash finally won the legue. Now i know, that i'm old.
I was around 4 or 5 when i got my copy of Emerald, and that birthday is a core memory for me, because Gen 3 was my whole damn life back then. I did play gen 4 when it came out, but for some reason after completing diamond and abusing action replay shennanigans, i went back to gen 3 and lost my copy of diamond. Its a bummer because the exact same thing happened to my copy of White and my copy of Black 2, but for some reason Gen 3 is just ingrained into my veins to the point where i can play sections of the game out in my head near flawlessly. Im definitely a Gen 3 guy lmao
Your story about losing people to play the game with as a kid hit my feels so hard. Like, SO hard. :) ;_; ???
Thanks for sharing that, dude. Really.
I started with Gen 3, my first portable console was a Gameboy Advance SP, and my Dad eventually bought two copies of all 5 GBA Pokémon games for me and my brother, as well as a link cable, before we realized that Leafgreen and FireRed were mostly the same, and same for Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. Oops.
I did LeafGreen three times (thanks to save file erasures near the league twice before), then I got burned out of Pokémon. It's only in my early 20s that, we were going on a trip to my Dad's Aunt that lived like 650 km away, and I needed a console that could last 7-8 hours, and the only one I had was the gameboy advance. So, I took a copy of Pokémon Emerald, along with 4-5 other games thinking I'd get bored of Emerald pretty quickly, but no. I played it on the way there, on the way back, in the evenings when people were going to sleep, in the mornings when I would wake up early, and clocked in like 50 hours at the end of that week. And it gave me back the love for the Pokémon games.
Generation 3 wasn’t where I started with the series, but it was definitely where it became a cornerstone of my early memories with video games. I had played crystal before it was my cousins version and it felt kinda old for the time period I played it at (which was right before ruby and sapphire came out), and I was more interested in other things. Around when Fire red and leaf green came out my mom got me fire red because my cousins were very interested in the series and I was old enough for the game to actually interest me and I got hooked, shortly after fire red I got Pokémon emerald and to this day those two games are my most played Pokémon games.
I never did any solo challenges with the games but I distinctly remember trying to beat the elite four solo with every Pokémon I could (which becomes a fairly unique thing when you don’t have any non replenish-able TM’s for majority of Pokémon)
FR/LG is where Aerodactyl will finally receive its long-awaited vindication, with the Rock Slide tutor available as early as Rock Tunnel... and entirely for FREE.
The Battle Frontier move tutors are one of those things that's pretty cool for post-game activities, but regrettably these expanded move pools are obviously useless for a standard playthrough. When Scott eventually gets around to multiple playthroughs of Emerald he should also do a "traded" moves sub-series to show off what differences could be made if they were more readily accessible. Egg moves would also be something to consider as well.
Pokemon Emerald was my first Pokemom game at 10 yo after writing the series off when I was younger. First game I ever beat and started a love for a series I still love 18 years later!
Edit: I am weird because my favorite gens are probably 3, 6, and 7. I find those to be uncommon choices.
Scary Face and Agility were most likely added to its movepool as thematic moves
In terms of personal nostalgia, I started out watching the gen 3 and 4 animes along with buying the cards and receiving older cards from like the jungle sets too. I actually had some of the older anime episodes on VHS along with a couple of the very first movies! We always played it on this tiny little TV, and it was the best. I've since rewatched the entire anime series as an adult (In terms of how I felt after watching the whole anime, Gen 7 is the best for me out of them all despite my initial impressions made by the community going into it, but Gen 6 is close and gens 4/3 are up there too, just not as high despite being my nostalgia picks). The first game I got into was BW at the end of its cycle basically, and after resetting so many times to do nuzlockes and the like, I got B2W2, of which I played the absolute shit out of (maxed out the timer and I still wasn't done with all the events) and from there I kept getting the games until USUM (which I regret stopping at bc I missed out on a lot of good content from that game tbh). I got back into playing the actual games when PLA came out, and enjoyed both that and Violet a lot. Thanks for another great vid!
I've made so many comments Scott, but I've never told you my pokemon story. I'm like you in that I had yellow version, and then when I got older my brother got gold and I got silver. When ruby and Sapphire came out I definitely felt the same way you did with pokemania dying down. However, in my middle school, my brother and I kept it alive with out friends so the hype was awesome for ruby and Sapphire but died down quickly within a month or two.
Every time you face tate and Liza it reminds me. Don't forget our Xatu agreement my friend! Whatever earth day thanksgiving reason you choose to do a gen2 Xatu run, I expect at least a passing mention! With our pop punk roots in common, the power of sum 41 compels you!!!!!! Lmao
I always enjoyed pokemon even from a young age, my first experience with it was Ruby when my brother got a gameboy advance. Then my parents got me one as well that came with Pokemon Crystal. I got Leaf Green a couple years later (my dad would take us to GameCrazy and we'd pick-up used games from time to time). There weren't many kids at my Middle School that did play Pokemon, Runescape was the larger fad at the time. When I got into highschool I did find several friends who played the Gen 4 games and during my Senior year a friend I had known since Elementry School along with his younger brother both played the Gen 5 games... to which I absolutely demolished both of them because another friend introduced me to competitive pokemon my freshman year. I even helped both brothers out with their competitive teams since they'd attend tournaments by providing them with mons/items (I was the friend with the Action Replay, so pkhex mons into code to overwrite trash mons in party and unlimited items)
I remember my first Pokemon game was Blue back in... I think Christmas '98. I had RBY, and GSC, along with the 2 Stadium games on N64, and the Transfer Pack. After Gen 2, I had Sapphire when I got my GBA in... I think it was Christmas 2003. After a while, I just took a break from the series, only to come back with Heart Gold in 2011, which I loved. I later picked up Black 1 and enjoyed my time with Unova. I skipped Gen 6, and picked up Sun when I saw Rowlet. I love that birb, and I thought the game was decent, but with how cutscene-heavy the start of the game was, I never really went back to it, and that was the last mainline game I played.
Rock tomb's accuracy is soooo frustrating
Would love to see a solrock vs lunatone video, keep up the great work!
I had an extremely similar experience as you did with r/s. I was one of the last of my friends to play a Gen 3 game, and as a result, I stopped engaging with Pokémon.
I ended up getting back into the games in college as well.
Been playing since 1998 and the very beginning. Pokémon Red was one of the three first real video games I played (beyond the edutainment stuff that taught me to read and everything). I’ve been with the series the whole time, though Gen 5 is my definitive favorite since that’s when I finally got serious about completing the Pokédex and learning how to actually play the game.
Gen 1 player grew up with games never stopped playing
It's interesting how Tate and Liza's Claydol kept using Earthquake even after your HM slave got KOed, well until Claydol was the only one on their side of the field as well! Almost as if the mere presence of multiple Pokémon on the field triggered it to use Earthquake regardless of efficacy, but we know it doesn't do that every time, so Aerodactyl being /Rock probably also had something to do with it..?
I played yellow first, then a lot of Gold but I remember being old enough when Ruby came out to truly appreciate it and know what I was doing. Loved doing contests and building a secret base as well as learning how to read braille to get the Regi's!
9th birthday pokemon emerald my first game, much love for this game and generation
I started with Pokémon Red as a Christmas gift because my grandma knew I liked Dinosaurs and saw the one with the dragon on the front. I've played basically every game new. But around D&P I only played them occasionally and was starting to burn out.
But then, I also had a baby sitting job where the kids I was watching were so impressed by my knowledge of the games that we watched their pokemon tapes and played the card game. After that I decided it might have more potential for longevity then I thought.
That said I wasn't fully on board with Black and White. I wasn't a fan of the first dexit and thought the game was too grindey(really funny now that b&w are now some of my favorites). But B2&W2 were so expansive with sheer amounts of team options really enthralled me and the new online trading system now that I had wifi, really solidified the series as my comfort hobby.
I've been with the Pokemon series since Gen 1, but I had an extended experience with Gen 3 due to growing up poor and only having a gameboy advanced until black 2 and White 2 were released, so Gen 3 rose to become my favorite as a result. I was so happy to be able to re-experience Hoenn in Gen 6 with ORAS which I adore.
Crystal version was my first foray into the pokemon universe, and after 20 years, its still pretty much the only one I play, along with the occasional fire red romp. I had the same experiences that you mentioned, when I beat emerald, or platinum, I was so excited to go back to the other regions, just like I had done in crystal all those years prior. But we never went back.
Really love the Hoenn vids. My favourite regions are Johto and Hoenn, with Hoenn being my #1. I completely understand what you meant by being obsessed with Pokémon when everyone else had lost interest. I kept my interest and when I finished Emerald and the Safari Zone opened up and you could catch Johto mons otherwise inaccessible, I lost my mind. I told all my friends about it, and none of them cared. I remember pointing out to a friend that it was weird Shuckle could learn Withdraw which is a Water Type move and Shuckle is weak to Water. He absolutely went balistic at me. That was back in 2006. I stuck with it for DP, but they were very disappointing games, so I didn't play Platinum or BW, B2W2. In the end my now ex got me back into the series with XY. I think that's why I'm quite fond of Diantha.
Skipping the trainer battles with edit is doing gods work
I started of on Gen 1, while I couldnt read though and couldnt understand what the game wants for me or really means to press any button.
But with time and Gen 2 I "really" started and had such a great time.
My first Pokémon game was Blue version for my birthday. followed by Silver the next year for Christmas when it came out.
Pixel art aged much better, so true! Even as a kid I thought they tried to shift to 3D too early, those games where hard to watch
i remember the old gameboy color pokemon red and blue. I had to beg my mother for yellow. Then gold and silver came out playing those was fantastic. I didnt play ruby and sapphire until later on. they use to have pokemon on tv on Saturdays
My first game was Ruby! Around the time Diamond and Pearl came out. I'd been into Pokémon for years beforehand - I loved the cards and the anime as a younger kid but my parents were quite hesitant to get me a game console. I got a GBA SP for Christmas with a copy of Ruby, and I got a copy of Blue version soon after. And Red Rescue Team soon after that! Around the time of Platinum's release I saved my pocket money to buy a second hand DS lite and a copy of Pearl, and I got a copy of Platinum on a trip to the Osaka Pokémon Center before it came out in my country. :) I've gotten every game on release since.
Gen 3 was in fact actually my first Pokemon Generation, but it wasn't the first I owned, I always loved playing my brother's copies of Ruby, Sapphire, and LeafGreen. The first one I owned was gen 4 with Soul Silver.
Speaking of multi region games, it would be neat to have built in lower level caps for the second region and use it as a way to encourage breeding new pokemon and working towards egg moves for more than just competitive edge cases.
Scott really lived and died by the Omniboost on this one 🤣🤣🤣😢😢
Hi Scott, I love your Pokémon challenge runs and have done for years but I was too afraid to comment until now. I have loved Pokémon since I was 3 years old. My favourites are Fire Red and Emerald and it's Pokémon challenge run channels like yours and many others I watch on a daily basis, that I started doing my own Pokémon challenge runs back in 2020 and I am still doing them now.
Hi Scott! Love your work!
Re: the Abra, why not just start with an Abra coded to be in your box1? The amount of time it takes to walk to the PC & withdraw should be approximately the amount of time that it would take to *catch* an Abra (if you came across one), and then no one needs to complain about how catching Abra is fair/unfair because you *always* have access to it if you want.
Sapphire was my first Pokemon game, I remember stealing it from one of my cousins as a kid because "they didn't play video games like I did." Never got caught, everyone has been none the wiser for about 15 years now lol
Been playing since Gen 2. I got Red and my Brother Blue. I was a Freshman in HS and my Best Friend was in 8th and my brother in 7th. Tbh not many in my class had interest but I had my friend and brother to play with. While life has caused my brother to drop off sometime around Gen 5 or 6 but my friend and I have been active players the whole time. Was super excited for Scarlet/Violet and can’t wait for what’s next
Scott catches Abra to save time, I catch it because it’s my favorite line