The Youngster with the Fissure Sandshrew is a reference to the Trainer from one of the early Episodes of the Show where there is this Trainer who also has a Sandshrew with Fissure and who is about to achive a 100 Battle Winning Streak, absolutely stomping Newbie Trainer Ash and his Pokémon as his 99th Win. The Youngster's Dialoge referneces the Episode, too.
I never comment but you used my name for Ekans and it gave me a whole new appreciation for the silly purple snake. Thanks for the amazing content, Scott!
The Sandshrew knows Fissure because of the Anime if I remember correctly. There was a trainer in the first season with one who really punished it to become stronger and stronger. It used the move in that episode.
Oh man, I remember this episode! The trainers name was AJ. He was training all of his pokemon super hard and had set a goal of 100 (I think consecutive) wins and then he was gonna start his gym circuit. He stomped Ash for his 99th win, then I think Ash came back and beat him. I never knew this was an anime tie in, that's neat!
Did you know that "Ekans" backwards is "According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready!"?
“My snake is obviously much stronger than his.” Bring on the immaturity! Ekans is enjoyably diverse. I got one in trade back when all this was fresh off the block and I had spent most of my TMs, so I didn’t realise it had such potential. Awesome play through.
Scott's thoughts on a Tuesday what an amazing surprise 😲 Ekans is a fun pokemon for sure. Can't wait to see a versus with Arbok vs Sandslash who were version exclusives in red and blue, who is the better version exclusive?
Prediction here: Sandslash wins this cause of a combo of Slash (even with lower Speed this move has a high ratio to crit) and Ground being a much better typing defensively than Poison. It will struggle a lot vs Misty and Lorelei, maybe Erika but her Pokemon are weak even for that point in the game and you can skip her so yeah.
@@Acacius1992 IMO I think Muk vs Weezing would be a better comparison since they're basically filling a similarish role just swapping the stat they specialize in. (Granted Muk doesn't have that massive SpD it has in Gen 2 onward)
Totally loving the poke sprites on Koffing and this video, this little added details make your channel stand out and that along with your great script keeps us coming back, Kudos Scott you are killing it
That champion battle at lv. 71 has to be one of the most clutch/fluke things I’ve ever seen, and thats saying something for Gen 1 lmao. But this was a really fun run. Just goes to show how RBY becomes an entirely different game depending which mon you choose.
You know what always bugged me as a kid when I was first playing rby, why doesn't ekans learn defense curl (snakes can legit curl up into a ball), all the fang moves (snakes are mostly about their bites) and if it learns mega drain why doesn't it have leech life too.
That trainers Sandshrew has *Fissure* bc of that one episode with that trainer AJ in the anime who had a Sandshrew who used Fissure. He had a win streak of 99 wins in that episode, I believe
While a nice connection, that's not why it has Fissure. Maybe the other way around, if not a coincidence. The games came out first, so they can't really reference the show unless that Fissure Sandshrew is only in Yellow. Even then it depends on if Yellow came out before that episode specifically.
@@Kahadi That’s incorrect. Yellow version is based on the anime with changes made to a few NPC trainers. The guy with the fissureing Sandshrew is one. He has a different team and dialogue in Red/Blue. The trainers facing each other on the route north or Vermilion is another example. They have dialogue and pokemon changed to be based on characters from the episode «School of hard knocks».
That would be interesting. I think either muk or weezing would take it. Weezing has high defense and above average attack and even decent special. Muk has a decent movepool though honestly. Hard to call it, my gut says weezing but I like that one best.
My favorite Snake and eventually Kobra. Big fan of the content I’m glad we have people like you who are willing to suffer through wrapping onix so that we don’t have to haha. Keep up the great work
I caught a nasty strain of the flu on Sunday and it's been kicking my butt but this kind of content has been making things easier so a new video out or nowhere today is a big treat. Thanks Scott :)
Seriously, after all your Venomoth shenanigans, when you said „the water/ice type“ in regards to Dewgong, for a split second I contemplated whether or not that’s it’s actual typing…
You've quickly become my favorite pokemon content creator! You've improved a ton since you started and your passion continues to be outstanding. You're the gold standard to me. Well done!
The pokémon commentary really adds to the entertainment. Yes, you mentioned that rock slide makes no sense for Ekans to learn! Ekans learns rock slide because Onix learns rock slide. That seems to be the only reason.
Scott’s Thoughts Pokemon Lunch #16: adding beets to pasta make it turn purple. Ill make Beet Butter Linguine so it also matches with the yellow on Ekans Love your videos Scott
I love seeing what some of these underused and at times forgotten pokemon are like and how well they do, or don't, perform. keep up the great work Scott!
I love the "HUD" you have setup for these videos, super informational. Of course all the little pops ups and changing Ekans based on what's happening is fun too.
I like the idea of Ekans using wrap on an onix and it just being unable to move. Also who knew that just turning ekans' pupil 180○ would make it such a cutie
First off, I've been absolutely loving the videos, and my partner can't get over all the PP jokes. What I was wondering, though, is in your level tests, I assume you use something like a rare candy cheat to check what level you need to be to meet some threshold, but when you do your reruns, you usually have to do a lot more fights, giving a bunch of stat xp. Could keeping that in mind save you a level or 2 worth of wild Pokemon training?
Yup. This is a flaw in the method to save time. I’d rather be a bit stronger than anticipated instead of just barely not making it so the stat exp sort of acts like a buffer. I think it’s a bit too risky to try to cut a level in the follow up
I don't know why, but I've found that I sleep way better when I listen to one of your videos. Everything is just so smooth that I start watching your videos on shuffle, fall asleep and wake up 7-8 videos later...
@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon on a different note, a cool idea once you've finished the gen 1 challenge dex, how do some of the worse Pokémon fair in the remakes in gen 3
Ekans and Arbok are my favorite (and Houndoom too haha) thanks for the run! I feel Ekans and Arbok are generally good due to move diversity especially in later gens with Intimidate and the move Coil
Man, I was so sad when I saw that Earthquake pop up on your move-list. I had just been thinking about what you should do for your moveset for the league during the rival fight outside and I realized it gave you a lot of flexibility to use mimic (because of how powerful mimic is vs Agatha and Lance, not as good as natural coverage moves but it's rare to find a pokemon with natural access to both Ice Beam and Earthquake to trivialize them) and then get Earthquake back for the rival (as mimic is really only good there if you have terrible coverage, not the case here). After seeing your Zubat run I never fault you when you hold onto moves longer than is optimal just for moveset flexibility, at least during a first run. Dig and Earthquake are a prime example of this since they have the same base power in gen 1, but I get the desire to just move onto earthquake to speed up the real time. Still, was sad to see how that came back to bite you. Glad to see a pokemon without a type advantage over Brock able to manage him consistently without too much time investment!
Thank you for reminding me of my original and first ever favorite Pokémon! As a kid I was so disappointed with its poor usability when I first played Blue, but still kept it on my team. Glad to see it get some love.
Great videos. I love the little details like current moveset, PP remaining, stats, animations, and possible learned moves you add on the side. I don't know much about the video editing process but it's worth it and adds to the viewing experience. Looking forward to the next videos and challenges.
Hey Princess Goth, sorry to hear about the anxiety and lack of sleep. That really sucks. Glad my videos help though! More coming later today and another one on the weekend!
Been binging your videos the past few days, absolutely love them!! I've been interested in Pokemon since I could have a coherent thought, learning everything I could about it, but I wasn't around for and have never really played gen 1 or 2, and these challenges are perfect for scratching that information itch!! Thanks for making videos man, hope you're having a great day/week/month ^-^
i was the kid that liked arbok and muk. because of that, i have played with them quite a lot back in the day. i predict levels of suffering that will hurt your soul forever my friend. this video will be a hard one for sure. post video: omg! i am really surprised by this. your knowledge of the game really pays off. good job.
Whenever I watch these gen 1 challenges, it really makes me think of how hard it would be to do these runs in the remakes with the change to wrap and opponent AI. Regardless, fantastic video again
Its a bit of a balance and trade off. No badge boost glitch, many useful exploits and glitches gone like exploiting wrap and the Pokedoll oversight. But at the same time, a larger variety of moves, better balance with Special split into Sp. Atk and Sp. Def even if the special split hasn't happened for moves yet. Then also a trade off for stats themselves with IVs, EVs, and natures instead of DVs and stat experience, not sure which is better overall. The addition of Dark and Steel types and some of the new Pokemon can be a lot easier, but abilities are iffy, helping some areas hut hurting others (Magnemite having Levitate means Ekans can't defeat it with Dig anymore, despite Ground otherwise being 4x effective against Electric/Steel types in general. But inversely, that would also help with a Magnemite run). So while the lack of a Wrap exploit would initially seem harder, additions like Bite being Dark and now super effective against Starmie, making Misty easier even while Brock would be tougher.
@@Kahadi yeah there is a lot to the gen 3 version for sure. I didn’t want to go too in depth but you definitely hit it on the nose here. May just have to run it myself and see right?!
Prediction: I think Ekans will do OK at the gym challenge as it has a decent attack stat and access to Body Slam and Dig, though Brock will be hard. If I have to guess, Koga might be tough too, especially with his Venomoth being, at best, only neutral thanks to its Poison / Fairy typing. Its lower speed will hurt it vs. Agatha, Sabrina, and later Rival fights, though. Result: I knew you would have to rely on Wrap early game, but I did not expect you to hold onto it for that long. It must have been frustrating! Anyway, I did not expect it to do that well overall, although I did think the gym challenge itself would be OK. Sadly, its STAB moves are just terrible. That being said, I did not know it learned Rock Slide and Mega Drain. I think access to Rock Slide, Mega Drain, and Dig/Earthquake really saved it from the depths of the F tier, because it actually had a moveset it could work with. I feel if it had a stat boosting move, it would have had a shot at D tier, too, as seen with that strangely lucky Kinesis. Its speed is low enough that, by itself, it's going to be outsped by speedy Psychic Pokémon like Alakazam, but not too low where badge boosts can't save it. Overall, this was a pretty solid performance for Ekans. I loved this video!
@WingOfRedemption Goodness, hello! I feel like you have me mixed with someone else? If not, what exactly am I "appearing offline" on or "giving advice" about? And to stop what? I'm kinda confused here, as all I'm doing is making a fun prediction comment, then editing it later. And frankly, if you're looking for advice on how to run a solo Ekans, my advice is to watch the Scott's Thoughts video, as he goes a lot into the movesets used and at what levels.
For poisonous snakes, I've only used Serviper (my Special Attacker in ORAS), but I've always been curious about Ekans. Interesting to learn that Status immunity was always a thing, just specific to the type of attack used and as a secondary effect. The interactions with the various other Pokémon, mainly with Koffing popping up, were hilarious! Also... top of E tier for Ekans! What a coincidence.
@@vizzy61 It has even Attack and Special Attack (both 100), so when I had a Special Attack + nature, it seemed a natural choice. It doesn't have great type coverage for special moves (Fire, Dark, Poison, Normal and Hidden Power) but it worked out well enough.
I love that you've started doing the oak fights! I find it to be a lot more engaging than the Mewtwo fight/Evoloution Ending. The oak fight was something I suggested a few weeks back, and maybe it was something that you were already working on, or that was already on your radar, but It really feels like you're actually reading the comments and taking what your viewers say to heart rather than just hitting a reaction to a comment and typing some nonsense. You've done a video on a simple ROMhack to insert a starter of your choosing. Maybe people might be interested in seeing the long range trainer glitch, and how it's used not only for catching a mew, as many are familiar with, but getting the game to call specific trainer battles, like Oak of course.
30:54 ekans vs arbok is the funniest 1 touch ever... imagine in life you see a baby snake vs a king cobra ain't no way a baby snake using earthquake lol
16:05 the reason that particular youngster’s Sandshrew knows Fissure because it’s a homage to an episode of Pokémon that a trainer named A.J. that used Fissure to beat Team Rocket. Isn’t there a Lass somewhere between Misty & Surge that has a Cubone? She would be a homage to Giselle, another character from the classic anime.
Loved the vid! Thought you would ride the Toxic/Wrap combo but I can see how it might not be the most consistent way with all late game Pokémon being able to 1 or 2 hit you
"Sandshrew!! Show them your Fissure Strikeeeee!" - early episode of the animated series. As a kid I was sad that it never learned it through level up too...
I tried this is in Firered with Arbok; it couldn’t beat Lance and the Champ, but the original’s AI is so broken that I doubt they’ll be a problem; No access to (playable) STAB is the true cross to bear for the Ekans line. At least original Dig should and rock slide should carry until the elite four. I’m certain double team and or level over 90 is necessary. Let’s hope I was wrong.
@@Minicheche250 both ekans and the recent weezing get great abilities to help them out, in intimidate and levitate (tho notably intimidate is /less/ useful for a single challenge)
@@heatherhikyuu ngl don't really care about which is really better just love his videos and think it'll be great to watch :P it'll make for a pretty long video, which I personally enjoy because of work, and it'll be pretty cool seeing the differences in more of a side by side comparison with any game even if it's Gen 4+ games but doubt he'll be doing hgss before frlg/rse lol But who knows 🤔
Arbok was on my very first Pokemon team on Red version. I'm making this comment as the video is starting, so I'm very curious to see how the run plays out. I hope Ekans makes me proud.
Ekans is one of those gen 1 pokemon that are really uninspired but given character by the anime. And honestly it's good for Pokemon to have some designs that are simple and believable! See you next week!
Ekans's good coverage has made this run easier then with Koffing. Your use of mega drain was really good for Ekans, because it's kind of frail. And I really liked how let it face every oak battle, it was kind of fun watching his party getting beaten by a solo Ekans. Well done! 😊👏👏Your optimizations and your dedication is really showing in these runs, so thanks for always doing that. 😊 Surprisingly, Ekans access to ground moves combined with nice attack stat, which is really good. I'm glad that you've used fissure, but it goes hand in hand with a move that Ekans has, which is glare. Glare is cutting down the speed of each pokemon in half, so you could actually hit the opposing pokemon, with ease. So whenever you can use a one hit ko move, compere your pokemon's speed stat with the opposing pokemon's speed stat, and if you need more speed, then lower theirs. Anyways, I'm glad that you tried it out so see how it would fit your playthough overall. 😊
Thanks Batel! You're comments are always so positive and in depth. They give me something to look forward to reading every week. I will start comparing speed stats when considering OHKO moves. While 30% accuracy isn't great, it is faster than just leveling up in some situations. (Especially with slow growth rate Pokemon).
@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon oh, thanks for that😊. I think that constructive criticism is a good recipe for improving any skill, when it's done correctly. That's how I learned a lot of things about pokemon (and in general), so I'm always glad to do it for you. You really deserve it, because you are actually reading everyone's comments, and you really appreciate each and every one of them, by taking your time to read all our comments , replying to most of them, which is something, that for me, holds a special place in my heart. So helping you out, it's kind of like helping a close friend ☺️.
Ah, I love snakes! I can't wait to see Arbok one day (and Seviper & Rayquaza in 3), too - Ekans did well, all things considered! Glad to see they and Dragonair have some respectable spots on the list.
When are you going to do some more Gen 3 runs? I imagine that they're more tedious due to the fact that you have to worry about which Pokémon you're fainting to, but I really enjoyed what you made.
The little guys popping up on the corners are so adorkable! Should we name the triple Pidgey Jr. Trainer Sandy? You're showing me many new things this time around. I wonder if the Fissure Sandshrew is an inside joke.
I have had that experience as a kid, coming out of that cave with 1 Mon left and it's poisoned, have you ever just skipped flash and walk through blind
16:10 the reason that sandshrew knows fissure is because it is a anime reference to the 100 wins trainer who saved the day from team rocket with fissure
The fissure Sandshrew is an Anime reference to AJ who had the 100 win streak Sandshrew. There are also other anime references within the game as well such as the trainer with the underleveled weepinbell and the girl next to him with the Cubone.
Arbok and Golbat made it on to Agatha’s team so they are obviously top tier Pokemon despite being team rocket fodder. Then again, Bruno has two Onyx and there is just no good reason for that.
I've watched all your video's in short succesion and i want to say a few things: - Keep up the great work - Some of your solo challenges aren't in your solo challange playlist (aerodactyle, voltorb, magnemite, seel, ekans (iirc) - In the solo challange playlist some of the video's aren't in chronological order I waited to comment untill this video since it's the last one i haven't watched and i must admit that it eases me playing my games since i'm putting your video's in the background
hey Scott, Ekans the sassy snake... Definitely the best team rocket Pokémon. I hope all is well, another great video!!! p.s. suspense over the eeveelution video is killing me...
“My snake is having PP problems” never change Scott
I was expecting that joke to be in the video at least twice but don't tell me I'm still watching the video lol
Forget Scott's Thoughts
Today it's time for Ekans Reckons
And Ekans reckons it's time for a wrap
This is an amazing comment.
Best comment. Deserves to be pinned to be appreciated more
The Youngster with the Fissure Sandshrew is a reference to the Trainer from one of the early Episodes of the Show where there is this Trainer who also has a Sandshrew with Fissure and who is about to achive a 100 Battle Winning Streak, absolutely stomping Newbie Trainer Ash and his Pokémon as his 99th Win.
The Youngster's Dialoge referneces the Episode, too.
AJ
Is that the guy who built his own gym? I haven’t seen the og series in a long time
@@b.r.v.8609 Yes.
True :)
@WingOfRedemption ...no one's giving advice...?
I never comment but you used my name for Ekans and it gave me a whole new appreciation for the silly purple snake. Thanks for the amazing content, Scott!
You’re welcome! Good to hear from you in the comments and thanks for the support
@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon yes we want oak fights for runs except edit them seriously lol
I can’t come up with a cool Pokémon pun for ekans, so I guess I’ll just slither away and watch
The Sandshrew knows Fissure because of the Anime if I remember correctly. There was a trainer in the first season with one who really punished it to become stronger and stronger. It used the move in that episode.
Yeah, if there's ever anything that seems odd to you about decisions in pokemon yellow, there's a good chance its an anime refrence
I remember this episode! Haha memory I didn't even know I had
Oh man, I remember this episode! The trainers name was AJ. He was training all of his pokemon super hard and had set a goal of 100 (I think consecutive) wins and then he was gonna start his gym circuit. He stomped Ash for his 99th win, then I think Ash came back and beat him. I never knew this was an anime tie in, that's neat!
@WingOfRedemption What a self ironic comment
Ash never beat AJ. Sandshrew left and then came back to help AJ beat Team Rocket for win number 100 then he left for his own gym challenge.
Did you know that "Ekans" backwards is "According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready!"?
No way, that's wild.
Wat
Sound like Pratchett
"My snake is having PP problems because of all the grinding."
Glorious line.
“My snake is obviously much stronger than his.” Bring on the immaturity!
Ekans is enjoyably diverse. I got one in trade back when all this was fresh off the block and I had spent most of my TMs, so I didn’t realise it had such potential. Awesome play through.
@WingOfRedemption umm, was this meant for someone else? I got no idea what you're on about.
@@shikishinobi They're a bot - They've replied with the same nonsense on most of the comments on this video. Just report them for spam.
Scott's thoughts on a Tuesday what an amazing surprise 😲 Ekans is a fun pokemon for sure. Can't wait to see a versus with Arbok vs Sandslash who were version exclusives in red and blue, who is the better version exclusive?
Prediction here: Sandslash wins this cause of a combo of Slash (even with lower Speed this move has a high ratio to crit) and Ground being a much better typing defensively than Poison. It will struggle a lot vs Misty and Lorelei, maybe Erika but her Pokemon are weak even for that point in the game and you can skip her so yeah.
Sandslash would probably smoke arbok. If not then they'll both do rather poorly
How about Weezing vs Arbok?
Jessie vs James!
@@Acacius1992 IMO I think Muk vs Weezing would be a better comparison since they're basically filling a similarish role just swapping the stat they specialize in. (Granted Muk doesn't have that massive SpD it has in Gen 2 onward)
@@CoffeeFlavoredMilk Also a good idea that's true.
Never thought of ekans to drop fissures left and right like that. Nice run. Great content as always Scott.
The Scott's Thoughts solo challenge videos has gone into the Team Rocket arc
Totally loving the poke sprites on Koffing and this video, this little added details make your channel stand out and that along with your great script keeps us coming back, Kudos Scott you are killing it
Thanks Kiba, I’m having so much fun adding these details. I’m glad that they make a difference because i a lot of time and love into them
I just love the Pokémon art so much! Ekans’ little happy face when you win is so cute. 💕
That champion battle at lv. 71 has to be one of the most clutch/fluke things I’ve ever seen, and thats saying something for Gen 1 lmao. But this was a really fun run. Just goes to show how RBY becomes an entirely different game depending which mon you choose.
I agree. So clutch/flukey. I was so surprised when it happened because I was just about to give up.
An hour long Video about one of my favourite pokemon of all time? Now that's what i call an excellent end for a day.
I hope to see toxic/wrap for at least one battle. Bring the cheese!
You know what always bugged me as a kid when I was first playing rby, why doesn't ekans learn defense curl (snakes can legit curl up into a ball), all the fang moves (snakes are mostly about their bites) and if it learns mega drain why doesn't it have leech life too.
That trainers Sandshrew has *Fissure* bc of that one episode with that trainer AJ in the anime who had a Sandshrew who used Fissure. He had a win streak of 99 wins in that episode, I believe
AJ was actually the first Pokemon character voiced by the late Maddie Blaustein before she voiced Meowth.
I remember this!
While a nice connection, that's not why it has Fissure. Maybe the other way around, if not a coincidence. The games came out first, so they can't really reference the show unless that Fissure Sandshrew is only in Yellow. Even then it depends on if Yellow came out before that episode specifically.
@@Kahadi That’s incorrect. Yellow version is based on the anime with changes made to a few NPC trainers. The guy with the fissureing Sandshrew is one. He has a different team and dialogue in Red/Blue. The trainers facing each other on the route north or Vermilion is another example. They have dialogue and pokemon changed to be based on characters from the episode «School of hard knocks».
It would be great to see a 3 way battle between Wheezing, Muk and Arbok. Love the videos mate keep it up
That would be interesting. I think either muk or weezing would take it. Weezing has high defense and above average attack and even decent special. Muk has a decent movepool though honestly. Hard to call it, my gut says weezing but I like that one best.
My favorite Snake and eventually Kobra. Big fan of the content I’m glad we have people like you who are willing to suffer through wrapping onix so that we don’t have to haha. Keep up the great work
I caught a nasty strain of the flu on Sunday and it's been kicking my butt but this kind of content has been making things easier so a new video out or nowhere today is a big treat. Thanks Scott :)
I was sick over the weekend too. Get better soon! More content coming this week!
Can confirm. His videos are comfy on a sick day.
Seriously, after all your Venomoth shenanigans, when you said „the water/ice type“ in regards to Dewgong, for a split second I contemplated whether or not that’s it’s actual typing…
That final Lass in Rock Tunnel is infuriating when I'm barely alive. Plus the possibility of losing to the trainers just outside, too.
Was not expecting EKANS to do so well or have such a move pool with EARTHQUAKE AND ROCK SLIDE?! No less Body Slam. Wow, this surprised me a lot!
You've quickly become my favorite pokemon content creator! You've improved a ton since you started and your passion continues to be outstanding. You're the gold standard to me. Well done!
Thanks Keoni!
Dude everytime you put out a new video its like opening an early christmas present. Keep up the good work.
I will ;)
The pokémon commentary really adds to the entertainment.
Yes, you mentioned that rock slide makes no sense for Ekans to learn!
Ekans learns rock slide because Onix learns rock slide. That seems to be the only reason.
Scott’s Thoughts Pokemon Lunch #16: adding beets to pasta make it turn purple. Ill make Beet Butter Linguine so it also matches with the yellow on Ekans
Love your videos Scott
Thanks Evan! Enjoy lunch!
It's incredible how just have a few good coverage make a pokemon much better to use on a solo run
Watching the Brock battle: Behold! The power of Gen 1 wrap!
That was fun hearing your live reaction
High hopes for the little snake! As always thank you scott for the content and hope to see more in the future
I love seeing what some of these underused and at times forgotten pokemon are like and how well they do, or don't, perform. keep up the great work Scott!
I love the "HUD" you have setup for these videos, super informational. Of course all the little pops ups and changing Ekans based on what's happening is fun too.
Ekans and Koffing will always have a special place in my heart.
Why?
@@IanT372 pokemon anime, apparently people watch that
@@pixel3042 oh I'm sure they do. I just wondered what it is about those two specific pokemon that holds a special place.
I like the idea of Ekans using wrap on an onix and it just being unable to move. Also who knew that just turning ekans' pupil 180○ would make it such a cutie
First off, I've been absolutely loving the videos, and my partner can't get over all the PP jokes.
What I was wondering, though, is in your level tests, I assume you use something like a rare candy cheat to check what level you need to be to meet some threshold, but when you do your reruns, you usually have to do a lot more fights, giving a bunch of stat xp. Could keeping that in mind save you a level or 2 worth of wild Pokemon training?
Yup. This is a flaw in the method to save time. I’d rather be a bit stronger than anticipated instead of just barely not making it so the stat exp sort of acts like a buffer. I think it’s a bit too risky to try to cut a level in the follow up
I don't know why, but I've found that I sleep way better when I listen to one of your videos. Everything is just so smooth that I start watching your videos on shuffle, fall asleep and wake up 7-8 videos later...
You’re not the only one! My fiancé wants me to make an Asmr run for her to go to sleep to haha
@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon on a different note, a cool idea once you've finished the gen 1 challenge dex, how do some of the worse Pokémon fair in the remakes in gen 3
Arbok is my favourite pokemon, so I'm looking forward to seeing how Arbok Jr does!
The champion battle was absolutely epic. Lolololol. Love these vids
I know. Probably the most surprising fights I’ve ever had
Ekans and Arbok are my favorite (and Houndoom too haha) thanks for the run! I feel Ekans and Arbok are generally good due to move diversity especially in later gens with Intimidate and the move Coil
Man, I was so sad when I saw that Earthquake pop up on your move-list. I had just been thinking about what you should do for your moveset for the league during the rival fight outside and I realized it gave you a lot of flexibility to use mimic (because of how powerful mimic is vs Agatha and Lance, not as good as natural coverage moves but it's rare to find a pokemon with natural access to both Ice Beam and Earthquake to trivialize them) and then get Earthquake back for the rival (as mimic is really only good there if you have terrible coverage, not the case here). After seeing your Zubat run I never fault you when you hold onto moves longer than is optimal just for moveset flexibility, at least during a first run. Dig and Earthquake are a prime example of this since they have the same base power in gen 1, but I get the desire to just move onto earthquake to speed up the real time. Still, was sad to see how that came back to bite you. Glad to see a pokemon without a type advantage over Brock able to manage him consistently without too much time investment!
Arbok has been on my team for awhile now. Such a underrated mon
Thank you for reminding me of my original and first ever favorite Pokémon! As a kid I was so disappointed with its poor usability when I first played Blue, but still kept it on my team. Glad to see it get some love.
Great videos. I love the little details like current moveset, PP remaining, stats, animations, and possible learned moves you add on the side. I don't know much about the video editing process but it's worth it and adds to the viewing experience. Looking forward to the next videos and challenges.
I could not sleep last night very well due to anxiety, but ur videos really helped keeping me sane. Also ekans is very cute :3
Hey Princess Goth, sorry to hear about the anxiety and lack of sleep. That really sucks. Glad my videos help though! More coming later today and another one on the weekend!
Been binging your videos the past few days, absolutely love them!! I've been interested in Pokemon since I could have a coherent thought, learning everything I could about it, but I wasn't around for and have never really played gen 1 or 2, and these challenges are perfect for scratching that information itch!! Thanks for making videos man, hope you're having a great day/week/month ^-^
Thanks Jasper, hope you’re having a great day too! Glad the information itch is being scratched by my content!
Loving the unexpected upload. Much love my man.
Ekans is decent but I love Arbooook.
Also commenting for that emerald slaking run at some point.
i was the kid that liked arbok and muk. because of that, i have played with them quite a lot back in the day. i predict levels of suffering that will hurt your soul forever my friend. this video will be a hard one for sure.
post video: omg! i am really surprised by this. your knowledge of the game really pays off. good job.
I haven't watched it yet but I'm so excited! I bet you'll 'wrap' this up real quick though.... nevermind 1 hour video. I love your longer videos
Glad you like the longer vids! They take longer to make but I feel better about them!
Love the addition to the side animations in this video. Excellent subtle touch
Whenever I watch these gen 1 challenges, it really makes me think of how hard it would be to do these runs in the remakes with the change to wrap and opponent AI. Regardless, fantastic video again
Its a bit of a balance and trade off. No badge boost glitch, many useful exploits and glitches gone like exploiting wrap and the Pokedoll oversight. But at the same time, a larger variety of moves, better balance with Special split into Sp. Atk and Sp. Def even if the special split hasn't happened for moves yet. Then also a trade off for stats themselves with IVs, EVs, and natures instead of DVs and stat experience, not sure which is better overall. The addition of Dark and Steel types and some of the new Pokemon can be a lot easier, but abilities are iffy, helping some areas hut hurting others (Magnemite having Levitate means Ekans can't defeat it with Dig anymore, despite Ground otherwise being 4x effective against Electric/Steel types in general. But inversely, that would also help with a Magnemite run).
So while the lack of a Wrap exploit would initially seem harder, additions like Bite being Dark and now super effective against Starmie, making Misty easier even while Brock would be tougher.
@@Kahadi yeah there is a lot to the gen 3 version for sure. I didn’t want to go too in depth but you definitely hit it on the nose here. May just have to run it myself and see right?!
I like the more frequent uploads, but I feel like my Sundays just aren't the same without one of these videos
Moved my uploads to Fridays. So I can have a weekend. This one is just a bonus. There will still be a release on Friday.
Prediction: I think Ekans will do OK at the gym challenge as it has a decent attack stat and access to Body Slam and Dig, though Brock will be hard. If I have to guess, Koga might be tough too, especially with his Venomoth being, at best, only neutral thanks to its Poison / Fairy typing. Its lower speed will hurt it vs. Agatha, Sabrina, and later Rival fights, though.
Result: I knew you would have to rely on Wrap early game, but I did not expect you to hold onto it for that long. It must have been frustrating! Anyway, I did not expect it to do that well overall, although I did think the gym challenge itself would be OK. Sadly, its STAB moves are just terrible.
That being said, I did not know it learned Rock Slide and Mega Drain. I think access to Rock Slide, Mega Drain, and Dig/Earthquake really saved it from the depths of the F tier, because it actually had a moveset it could work with. I feel if it had a stat boosting move, it would have had a shot at D tier, too, as seen with that strangely lucky Kinesis. Its speed is low enough that, by itself, it's going to be outsped by speedy Psychic Pokémon like Alakazam, but not too low where badge boosts can't save it.
Overall, this was a pretty solid performance for Ekans. I loved this video!
@WingOfRedemption Goodness, hello! I feel like you have me mixed with someone else?
If not, what exactly am I "appearing offline" on or "giving advice" about? And to stop what? I'm kinda confused here, as all I'm doing is making a fun prediction comment, then editing it later.
And frankly, if you're looking for advice on how to run a solo Ekans, my advice is to watch the Scott's Thoughts video, as he goes a lot into the movesets used and at what levels.
@@SnowyTotodile It's a bot. Just report it for spam.
@@richarddill692 Oh, okie dokie!
Poison types have always been my favorites
For poisonous snakes, I've only used Serviper (my Special Attacker in ORAS), but I've always been curious about Ekans. Interesting to learn that Status immunity was always a thing, just specific to the type of attack used and as a secondary effect. The interactions with the various other Pokémon, mainly with Koffing popping up, were hilarious!
Also... top of E tier for Ekans! What a coincidence.
didn't know serviper was a special attacker, neat.
@@vizzy61 It has even Attack and Special Attack (both 100), so when I had a Special Attack + nature, it seemed a natural choice. It doesn't have great type coverage for special moves (Fire, Dark, Poison, Normal and Hidden Power) but it worked out well enough.
I love that you've started doing the oak fights! I find it to be a lot more engaging than the Mewtwo fight/Evoloution Ending. The oak fight was something I suggested a few weeks back, and maybe it was something that you were already working on, or that was already on your radar, but It really feels like you're actually reading the comments and taking what your viewers say to heart rather than just hitting a reaction to a comment and typing some nonsense. You've done a video on a simple ROMhack to insert a starter of your choosing. Maybe people might be interested in seeing the long range trainer glitch, and how it's used not only for catching a mew, as many are familiar with, but getting the game to call specific trainer battles, like Oak of course.
I am always listening
What a champion battle! Was not expecting that!
Almost bought those antidotes but you must have heard me yelling "NO SCOTT!!!!" at my screen
My training and practice almost got me haha
30:54 ekans vs arbok is the funniest 1 touch ever... imagine in life you see a baby snake vs a king cobra ain't no way a baby snake using earthquake lol
16:05 the reason that particular youngster’s Sandshrew knows Fissure because it’s a homage to an episode of Pokémon that a trainer named A.J. that used Fissure to beat Team Rocket.
Isn’t there a Lass somewhere between Misty & Surge that has a Cubone? She would be a homage to Giselle, another character from the classic anime.
Loved the vid! Thought you would ride the Toxic/Wrap combo but I can see how it might not be the most consistent way with all late game Pokémon being able to 1 or 2 hit you
59:25 congratulations on your engagement, scott! I wish the two of you the best of luck and a healthy relationship!
Get better soon :D
Oh, interesting to use the Oak fight as a kind of tie-breaker. I love that little detail of including that fight and I smile each time I see it.
"Sandshrew!! Show them your Fissure Strikeeeee!" - early episode of the animated series. As a kid I was sad that it never learned it through level up too...
New Scott's Thoughts right before lunch break? God loves me!
Hello Scott and Denis!
Good luck with this one! Interested to see how it goes!
Jessie from Team Rocket had this pokemon and I remember getting one and well, not being impressed as a kid.
I tried this is in Firered with Arbok; it couldn’t beat Lance and the Champ, but the original’s AI is so broken that I doubt they’ll be a problem; No access to (playable) STAB is the true cross to bear for the Ekans line. At least original Dig should and rock slide should carry until the elite four. I’m certain double team and or level over 90 is necessary. Let’s hope I was wrong.
Bro whenever you decide to do more Gen 3 it'd be pretty dope to see all the deoxys forms compete for best
I think abilities would be fun to play around in a solo run
@@Minicheche250 both ekans and the recent weezing get great abilities to help them out, in intimidate and levitate (tho notably intimidate is /less/ useful for a single challenge)
Im pretty sure that Deoxys' form is determined by what game its in in gen 3, so comparing them would be pretty difficult because of that.
@@heatherhikyuu ngl don't really care about which is really better just love his videos and think it'll be great to watch :P it'll make for a pretty long video, which I personally enjoy because of work, and it'll be pretty cool seeing the differences in more of a side by side comparison with any game even if it's Gen 4+ games but doubt he'll be doing hgss before frlg/rse lol
But who knows 🤔
"Remember, if you hit a bird with a rock it'll stop moving..."
-Jello Apocalypse
Arbok was on my very first Pokemon team on Red version. I'm making this comment as the video is starting, so I'm very curious to see how the run plays out. I hope Ekans makes me proud.
Ekans is one of those gen 1 pokemon that are really uninspired but given character by the anime. And honestly it's good for Pokemon to have some designs that are simple and believable!
See you next week!
See you Friday ;)
Ekans's good coverage has made this run easier then with Koffing. Your use of mega drain was really good for Ekans, because it's kind of frail. And I really liked how let it face every oak battle, it was kind of fun watching his party getting beaten by a solo Ekans. Well done! 😊👏👏Your optimizations and your dedication is really showing in these runs, so thanks for always doing that. 😊
Surprisingly, Ekans access to ground moves combined with nice attack stat, which is really good. I'm glad that you've used fissure, but it goes hand in hand with a move that Ekans has, which is glare. Glare is cutting down the speed of each pokemon in half, so you could actually hit the opposing pokemon, with ease. So whenever you can use a one hit ko move, compere your pokemon's speed stat with the opposing pokemon's speed stat, and if you need more speed, then lower theirs. Anyways, I'm glad that you tried it out so see how it would fit your playthough overall. 😊
Thanks Batel! You're comments are always so positive and in depth. They give me something to look forward to reading every week. I will start comparing speed stats when considering OHKO moves. While 30% accuracy isn't great, it is faster than just leveling up in some situations. (Especially with slow growth rate Pokemon).
@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon oh, thanks for that😊. I think that constructive criticism is a good recipe for improving any skill, when it's done correctly. That's how I learned a lot of things about pokemon (and in general), so I'm always glad to do it for you.
You really deserve it, because you are actually reading everyone's comments, and you really appreciate each and every one of them, by taking your time to read all our comments , replying to most of them, which is something, that for me, holds a special place in my heart. So helping you out, it's kind of like helping a close friend ☺️.
Ah, I love snakes! I can't wait to see Arbok one day (and Seviper & Rayquaza in 3), too - Ekans did well, all things considered! Glad to see they and Dragonair have some respectable spots on the list.
When are you going to do some more Gen 3 runs? I imagine that they're more tedious due to the fact that you have to worry about which Pokémon you're fainting to, but I really enjoyed what you made.
It’s a software limitation right now. Can access gen 3 ram. It’s just encrypted. We are actively working on decrypting it
Awww the snek ! 🐍❤ an arbok vs wheezing match would be fun some day.
The little guys popping up on the corners are so adorkable! Should we name the triple Pidgey Jr. Trainer Sandy?
You're showing me many new things this time around. I wonder if the Fissure Sandshrew is an inside joke.
Decent run & analysis video! Thanks for uploading!
You’re welcome ;) thanks for watching and commenting
Omastar/Kabutops/Aerodactyl: Sure wish I could learn Rock Slide... 😭
Ekans: 😏🪨
This little snake really impressed me, seems like a fun one to do a play through with.
Impressed me too Brandon! I thought it might be worse than Koffing because as a kid Arbok always felt so much worse than Weezing. Happy to be wrong!
I think Ekans will be better than koffing but worse than tangela. Anyone have any fun thoughts or opinions?
I really enjoyed this video.
"My Snake had pp problems... um No"
That was my favorite blooper.
I have had that experience as a kid, coming out of that cave with 1 Mon left and it's poisoned, have you ever just skipped flash and walk through blind
Great videos Scott! :)
Thanks!
Had no idea the Ekans line has such a good moveset in gen 1!
This channel keeps growing so fast! Keep
Up the good content,
It does! I’m trying to keep up! Thanks for compliment Dark Places!
''my snake has pp problems because of all the grinding''
16:10 the reason that sandshrew knows fissure is because it is a anime reference to the 100 wins trainer who saved the day from team rocket with fissure
The fissure Sandshrew is an Anime reference to AJ who had the 100 win streak Sandshrew. There are also other anime references within the game as well such as the trainer with the underleveled weepinbell and the girl next to him with the Cubone.
Arbok and Golbat made it on to Agatha’s team so they are obviously top tier Pokemon despite being team rocket fodder.
Then again, Bruno has two Onyx and there is just no good reason for that.
Golbat is garbage and Bruno doesn't have the sense Arceus gave a Self-Destructing Hiker to waste two team slots on Onixes that don't Explode.
I've watched all your video's in short succesion and i want to say a few things:
- Keep up the great work
- Some of your solo challenges aren't in your solo challange playlist (aerodactyle, voltorb, magnemite, seel, ekans (iirc)
- In the solo challange playlist some of the video's aren't in chronological order
I waited to comment untill this video since it's the last one i haven't watched and i must admit that it eases me playing my games since i'm putting your video's in the background
Thanks for catching those things!
@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon this proves i watched them ;p and that u actually read all your comments, love it :D
Used Ekans/Arboc in a nuzlocke and after leveling some, actually was pretty useful
Just recently found your channel. Subscribed! Thanks Scott 👍
You’re welcome!
hey Scott, Ekans the sassy snake... Definitely the best team rocket Pokémon.
I hope all is well, another great video!!!
p.s. suspense over the eeveelution video is killing me...
That one is quite far away. Don’t expect it in the five month
@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Thank you for the update, I was going to wait to suggest this one but what about "Raikou Entei and Suicune which is best?"
To be fair, you couldn't catch any of the Team Rocket (Ekans/Koffing/Meowth lines) pokémon in Yellow, so the holdover backsprite makes sense.
To be honest technically anything that knows EQ and dig should be able to cause rock slide if you think about it on the side of the mountain
38k subscribers. Great to see you doing good, Scott :)
Wow, Ekans' luck on that first playthrough. And hot damn, that second playthrough was very consistent.
Great run. Ekans was a really solid performer all through.