QuentinQuonce
formerly green_typhlosion
I've been breeding lots of nice shiny Pokemon in GSC with cool egg moves as a project to keep me from the crushing despair of my uni work, and it's time for them to actually do something.
Being the only generations in the series with mutual compatibility, Gen I and Gen II have some quirks when it comes to trading between them. Namely, exclusive moves. If you're familiar at all with the Gen I competitive scene you'll no doubt be aware of the term "tradeback" - that is, moves Pokemon gained access to in Gen II that they couldn't learn in Gen I. For instance, Fire Punch existed in Gen I, but Alakazam couldn't learn it by any means. When it was made into a TM in Gen II, Alakazam gained access to the move, meaning that an Alakazam which knew Fire Punch could be traded back to Gen I with a nifty new move it couldn't otherwise get.
Multiple Pokemon in Gen I have similar situations going on - some of their tradeback moves useful, some not so much. So I got to thinking whether I could base a challenge around that. I've wanted to do a complete Pokedex challenge on Yellow for a while, but what if I were to use a team of Gen I Pokemon with only tradeback moves?
That led to the formation of this challenge - my Pokemon Yellow Stylish Shiny Breedlocke Tradeback Chosen-by-Committee CompleteDex Challenge!
(seriously, I'm just gonna use the acronym PYSSBTCCCCC, it'll save everyone, including my fingers, lots of time)
"But wait!" I hear the pedants already crying out. "Shininess doesn't show up in Gen I." I know. I'm just breeding them that way for the fun of it.
The Challenge
Here's how this is going to work:
-All six team members must know moves they can’t learn by any means in Gen I (the more useless, the better). Those are the ONLY moves they are allowed to know - they are NOT allowed to learn or use any other moves. If a Pokemon does not have 4 or more moves which fit the bill, it obviously has no option but to learn other moves by levelling up (due to Gen I lacking a Move Deleter) but it is not permitted to use them. An exception is made for HMs, which still cannot be used in battle unless the HM in question is a tradeback move (such as Flash for Parasect).
-This is a Pokedex completion challenge in which trading is forbidden, but due to the nature of the challenge all six of my team members will need to be traded in from another game. Once the six Pokemon I will be using are on my Yellow save file, that's it - the gates are shut, the drawbridge pulled up, closed for business, no more trading until the challenge is over. All remaining Pokemon in the game must be obtained natively*, with the added restriction that I must capture all 151 Pokemon BEFORE becoming the Champion.
-This will be a timed challenge: once my team of six is chosen and I sound the starting whistle, I must beat the game and complete the Pokedex within 60 hours. The challenge will kick off on Sunday at 10AM UK time, and end at 10PM the following Tuesday. I'll embed a timer, and be writing regular updates as I progress.
*The Mew glitch will be used where needed (for a detailed explanation of how this works, check out Bulbapedia's article on the topic). Note that to make proper use of the Mew glitch, I may have to use Pokemon other than the ones on my team. However they will not be used in battle - only the chosen six can be used to continue the game's story - i.e. if it's a battle with no wider objective.
The whole "chosen-by-committee" part
A list of candidates for this challenge is below. And here's where the fun part comes in! There are fifteen Pokemon on this list, but I won't be selecting six to use. No, dear reader - you'll be the one doing that. The first six people to comment get to nominate a Pokemon I have to use (limited one per user). Once I have a full team of six selected, the challenge can begin in earnest.
To select a Pokemon for the challenge, use the format of the message below in your post. Please do feel free to select the ones you judge will be most challenging to use.
Green_typhlosion, I choose for you [Pokemon]!
Horsea
Dragon Rage, Headbutt, Waterfall, Splash
Horsea's picks for tradeback moves are the ultimate mixed bag. Dragon Rage is fearsome in the early-game while Headbutt and Waterfall are both perfectly serviceable options. It also gets... Splash. Well, you can't win them all. But it's certainly better overall than a lot of other mons. Note that Seadra also gets Disable and Aurora Beam as tradeback moves but both are illegal with Dragon Rage and Splash - in the spirit of the challenge, I had to go for the largest number of moves possible at the same time.
Ponyta
Thrash, Hypnosis, Double Kick, Quick Attack
Ponyta's moveset looks pretty underwhelming but my intuition is that it's probably a lot better than it looks. Sure it can't do shit against Gengar but Normal and Fighting are perfectly good offensive types in Gen I, and Hypnosis is always a good option. It's going to miss having a STAB move though.
Jigglytuff
Dizzy Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunderpunch
With the classic trio of Thunderpunch, Ice Punch, and Fire Punch, as well as nifty STAB options in both Dizzy Punch and Headbutt, Jigglypuff is one of the big winners in the game of GSC tradebacks. The only issue is it’s, uh… Jigglypuff. But it’s not all bad.
Kabuto
Mega Drain, Sand-Attack, Dig, and Headbutt
Ah, Gen I. A halcyon era in which, for a good chunk of the Pokemon that existed at the time, your best hope of getting a STAB move was usually from some obscure NYPC event. No Rock Throw for Kabuto, sadly, but Mega Drain, Dig, and Headbutt are decent enough. Sand-Attack is... kind of just there. While it's not spectacular, it's more than sufficient and a lot more than others get.
Aerodactyl
Earthquake, Flamethrower, Headbutt, Roar
Monstrous, both statistically and aesthetically, Aerodactyl manages to have great tradeback options despite none of them being STAB (except Rock Throw which - much like its fossilised brethren - only ever came via an NYPC event). Unfortunately the final tradeback move it gets is... Roar, which is borderline useless in Gen I. But when dealing with Rock-types, one must take the rough with the smooth. (I'm here all week.)
Gyarados
Headbutt, Thrash, Flamethrower, Waterfall
Gyarados may not have the wide range of great options like Earthquake, Aqua Tail, Hidden Power, and Bounce it gets in later gens, but its movepool is still surprisingly wide here. With Headbutt, Thrash, Flamethrower, and Waterfall, it's a total monster and even has STAB. Overpowered or what?
Rhydon
Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Headbutt, Roar
Rhydon's notorious versatility serves it well here, as it gains Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, and Headbutt from Gen II - more than enough to get by, despite its abysmal Special stat. Note that I'm using a pre-obtained low-level version of the in-game trade Rhydon from Yellow (BUFFY), which is possible by way of catching a level 10 Golduck in Gen II.
Paras
Psybeam, Poisonpowder, Light Screen, Flash
People often write Paras off, but with Poisonpowder, Light Screen, and Flash, it becomes an absolutely superb defensive supporter capable of whittling down a good chunk of the game. And if you're going to be restricted to a single offensive move, you could pick a worse type in Gen I than Psychic (which also handily covers the Poison-types immune to Poisonpowder).
Exeggcute
Confusion, Mega Drain, Strength, Flash
Unexpectedly, Exeggcute actually looks like the winner here. With perfectly usable STAB in the form of Confusion and Mega Drain as well as a decent enough backup in Strength, it's probably the most well-off Pokemon on this list. Flash helps too. A complexity exists in that Strength is a tradeback move for Exeggcute but not for Exeggutor, meaning that it can only use that particular move until and unless it evolves.
Tauros
Horn Attack, Surf, Flamethrower, Thrash
Tauros has a cool niche in that it's the only Pokemon to get Surf as a tradeback move. Beyond that, it also gets Flamethrower, giving it a decent Normal-Water-Fire trio of moves. It's not quite the barnstorming array of physical options that truly would make it a titan, but it's just about good enough.
Poliwhirl
Headbutt, Ice Punch, Mist, Haze
Poliwhirl has a fair bit of choice when it comes to tradebacks. No Fighting-type STAB for its eventual evolution, but it does get Waterfall. Ice Punch and Headbutt look like enough to round out the set - but why make things easy? It also gets Haze and Mist; two attacks which, while occasionally useful, are largely pointless in-game. Booting Waterfall from its moveset and giving it Ice Punch, Headbutt, Mist, and Haze are just enough to keep things spicy. Note that it must already be a Poliwhirl for this challenge as Poliwag cannot learn Ice Punch; arbitrary code execution will be used to lower its level.
Growlithe
Thrash, Fire Spin
In any other generation, Fire Spin would be a pretty sucky option for your sole STAB move. But not so in Gen I! Growlithe strikes gold, managing to be surprisingly overpowered with only two moves.
Nidoran-M
Amnesia, Confusion, Disable, Defence Curl
Nidoran lives up to its evolution's mighty name, learning a veritable smorgasbord of tradeback moves including the top prize in RBY - Amnesia. While it gets the full set of elemental punches, that would make it way too overpowered so we've gone with Disable and Defence Curl with Confusion as its only STAB. But, much as with Paras, Psychic is a pretty decent sole STAB to have in Gen I, and that, in conjunction with Amnesia, is enough to turn Nidoking into a Nido-nuke. This thing will tear shit up.
Meowth
Amnesia, Hypnosis, Dream Eater, Headbutt
Like Nidoran-M, Meowth wins the game of tradebacks by getting access to Amnesia. However, its other moves aren't so fantastic. No Surf or Flamethrower or Ice Beam for the OG Poke-kitty, but it does at least get both Hypnosis AND Dream Eater. Not everyone's that lucky. It also gets Headbutt which is nice.
Snorlax
Tackle, Lick, Defence Curl, Flamethrower
Overpowered though Snorlax is, its tradeback moves hobble it immensely. The best that can be said is that it gets a STAB move (however paltry it might be) but Lick - useless against Psychics in this gen - won't be doing it any favours. Flamethrower at least gives it some utility.
I look forward to receiving your picks, and to embarking on my quest later this week.
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