I'm genuinely surprised there's people out there that HADN'T tried out the pokeathalon before. I spent so much time in that mode without even touching the juice mechanics (because little kid me was always terrified of stat changing mechanics because I thought they would be permanent)
One extra tidbit: Jump has different stat minimums than the other four stats! The lowest an ordinary Pokemon can go, even with as many negative modifiers stacked together as possible, is two Jump stars. Having one Jump star is exclusive to Diglett and Dugtrio, who can never jump ever and are also capped to never having more than one Jump star.
I was waiting the whole video for him to comment on Diglett, as its inability to jump is the only Pokeathlon fun fact I already knew ,and surely it's in the most comprehensive breakdown the game mode will ever get, right??? :V
Ok so hear me out, a video on the gamemode that gets hated way more than it should solely because the tutorial is mandatory: Pokéstar Studios I have sunk so many hours into it. I've managed to max out the sales on every movie, get every unique interaction and ending, and by this point i basically always have one of the 6 mons i use for it on my team, being Ledian, Bronzong, Smeargle, Shedinja, Kyurem and Luvdisc
It always takes everyone by surprise. I remember not being able to max out one stat for my Croagunk and checking it out on Bulbapedia, I was flabbergasted at the sheer stupidity of the mechanic
Since medals are per-species and not specific to any particular Pokémon, you can catch multiple different members of a species with different natures to better suit each course. That’s how I got Unown to be a medalist species with minimal juicing. Since I had caught all 28 formes already, I had a wide variety of strengths and weaknesses to choose from. I’d bet this is probably a common strategy due to an overlap in the people who care about getting Pokeathalon achievements and people who care about getting all the Unown formes.
The noise of sheer malicious delight I made when I heard the words "day of the month modifier". I also played this mode so much, and was really good at it. Which is why I was really confused when you started talking about aprijuice, because I had just completely forgotten it existed. Don't need it if you have a ton of random Pokemon you don't use except for in Pokethalons! Just choose the best ones for available for whatever events you're gonna do, and you can completely ignore the juice aspect
To answer your final question: yes, I played a ton of the Pokéathlon! Never engaged much with the Aprijuice system, but I liked the gameplay enough that it didn’t matter (I was a HUGE fan of Block Smash, so satisfying when your Pokémon has a high strength stat). They totally could’ve gotten away with releasing those minigames standalone on DSiWare or something.
I'm glad they made the aprijuice not as crucial to winning in the pokéathlon as pokéblocks were for contests, it's not ideal of course, but if you're committed to making your mechanics impenetrable, letting people straight up ignore them is probably preferable...
It's strange how it FEELS straightforward enough. Put apricorn of color. Run. Drink. But the deeper you go the more you realize the game trying to fuck you over. The day of the month thing is the nail on the coffin
There's this amazing fanfic called Legendary Athlete where a guy catches Mewtwo... specifically because he wants to make mewtwo swol for the Pokéathlon That fic is so good it's a shame it's never gonna be finished
That sounds hilarious omg, even tho it's unfinished I gotta read that -- I used to compete my Mewtwo in the Pokeathalon _all the time_, so that sounds like a fic I'd get a kick out of x'D What website(s) is it hosted on, if you remember?
I have barely started the video but I saw that you had a Subrosian in your streaming setup and the fact someone else out there acknowledges the Oracle games can’t go unnoticed.
I think this is one of the areas of the game that GameFreak really didn't mean for us to optimize. They probably didn't originally intend for us to optimize things like EVs and IVs either, but in recent years they've adapted to account for this. The Pokéathalon has mechanics that you technically can optimize, but it's a ridiculous amount of work for incredibly diminishing returns on performance in minigame that aren't all that difficult to play.
Every single time I play through Heartgold since my 1st playthrough, I make a stop at the Pokeathlon. Well, before it, I stop by National Park to pick up a Scyther. The Pokeathlon is the ONLY place (on Fridays) you can obtain metal coats before defeating the Elite 4. Competing there is almost a ritual I do every time I play the game.
Whitney mentions the pokeathalon dome after you beat her, and advises you check it out. So it's funny that both you and your friend have played this game hundreds of times collectively and never knew about it, despite reading that, every time. Not blaming you either, I played like 10 playthroughs and like 12 years before I found out Kanto was in the game 💀
My headcannon on why Pokemon get less potential stars as they evolve is that at an earlier point in their lives they are more malleable and willing to change while as they evolve they become more set in their ways
Also, one thing I feel like you should have mentioned with regards to how much waiting there is in the Pokeathlon, is that when you say you can buy Apricorns, what you actually mean is that you can buy *one* apricorn. Each of the Pokeathlon shop items can only be bought once before the shop inventory restocks the next day, so if you want to buy 5 red apricorns for a drink you'll need to wait until the daily prizes show a red apricorn five times.
I had brothers so we did the Pokéathlon together and it was so much fun we played the minigames by ourselves. We didn't engage with the drinks that deeply, maybe at all.
I played a TON of pokeathalon when this game was new, and even more of it last year out of some necessity when I picked up HG for a challenge with some friends to complete a gen 4 living pokedex only using gen 4 games. I’m genuinely surprised by how few people knew about this mode. I adored it when I was younger, and I’ve only grown to appreciate it more now that i’m approaching 30. I never really bothered with the aprijuice, what I really enjoyed was the concept of trying my best with whatever pokemon i’d captured so far. Some playthroughs that was mostly just my regular team, this last time I had a massive roster to try out and I’ve been having a blast. It’s really a shame it’s so hidden, there’s so much to do here and barely anyone to appreciate it
Me and a group of friends played THE SHIT out of pokeathlon back in high school when the game was new. I have no idea how it was just a single year before BW, because my hours spent with HGSS feel so much longer than that. I suppose having great friends and lots of content to plow through made it that much more memorable. My favorite was always relay run but one of my pals smashed those stone plates at such speeds we started avoiding playing that mode when they were involved lol.
Very embarrasing story for me: when i played HG as my first pokemon game as a kid, i didnt realise you had to water the sudowoodo for at least a full year of playing the game (found out from a magazine as well). I could not figure out how to leave goldenrod, so all i could do is the bug catching and pokeathlon for a literal year. The pokeathlon definitely is the minigame in a pokemon game ive played the most. I was still thoroughly entertained, and it was still one of my most played ds games despite that. When i finally learned where the watering can was, it took me around 1-2 weeks of play to beat the game (+ kanto). Needless to say, thanks for highlighting the pokeathlon, been excited for this since i forst saw your videos!
Sounds extremely similar to my story, except the big wall in my way was a complete inability to beat Whitney and her godforsaken Miltank. Even if I got past her, the Sudowoodo probably would've kept me at bay for a while - I wasn't very bright when it came to progressing in games as a kid. Just know you're not alone!
absolute BANGER video!!!! I will say, you *can* unlock the friendship room without aprijuice! I managed to do it with my casual team a few years back. but, admittedly, I haven’t done the FULL 100%. that’ll probably require some Juice either way i’m SO fuckin hyped to try Pokéathlon again. AND for your return!!! Battle Frontier teaser aside I’m super interested in stream highlights :>
The Pokéathlon was required for a trainer star in HGSS! I engaged with it mostly for that. Fond memories, though, in part since SS was the only game where I earned all 5 stars.
i absolutely love that you provide updates on your previous video/respond to comments at the beginning of every video. it feels like such an old youtube thing and i miss when people did it rather than just leaving a pinned comment that only so many people are going to bother looking at.
I literally talk to every npc everytime I enter a room and its honestly so helpful since you get hints, items, trades, and sometimes interesting dialogue and side things to do, it's a shame others don't take to time to explore rooms and talk to npcs, it's great!
As I’m sure others will echo, I’ve done a bunch of Pokéathlon stuff, and love returning to it to continue to get 5 medals on Pokémon and go for high scores, but barely touched the Apricorn system. As long as you catch a variety of Pokémon during your playthrough, you’ll have more than enough good options available to you to easily destroy the CPUs, even on the harder difficulty. Going for high scores is the true appeal to me, even if getting 50+ in Pennant Capture seems impossible to me even after 15 years.
I haven't returned to it in quite a while, but yes I played it a lot and 100% agree that 50+ in Pennant Capture is ridiculously hard. I have gotten 44/45 several times, but getting that with enough time left for the next Pokemon to grab those last few has been impossible.
ElectricWindGirlfriend shouted out Rev before, Jimothy Cool had Rev on his podcast and called him the funniest Poketuber, and Yellow is more active in Revcord than Rev himself
I played Pokeathalon so much. I would play it with my brothers a lot, and many days I would turn on my DS just to do this mode rather than any other part of the game. I'm surprised people *didn't* know it was a thing
Yeah, theyre meant to be things you do for a bit, go keep doing the main gameplay loop and story, then return to after a while has passed. The 'waiting' mechanics make more sense with that in mind.
i loved the pokeathlon. my favorite sidegame in any of the mainline games. it was nice to learn what the juice mechanics were for, i thought the juice was a temporary buff for the next event specifically when i was young. iirc i just used the associated juice from the vendor for each contests primary stats before each competition.
I really played and grinded the Pokeathlon when I played the game as a kid, I unlocked all the rooms and got quite a few trophies. I did engage with the apricot juice but I don't remember min maxing it, I just kind of brute forced it with my party until I got good enough stats. I'm pretty sure I also made use of the bought juice. I definitely did min max the minigames themselves, and changed the Ds date to buy the things I wanted to. I have many fond memories of it since I sunk an absurd amount of hours into it and enjoyed most of it.
I remember loving the Pokeathalon back in the day. I dont think I put in the effort to max out ALL the trophies but I went as far as to unlock all the basement rooms. I definitely put in a few dozen hours to achieve as much as I could. It was the perfect endgame content after finishing my self-imposed gauntlet of all 16 gym leader rematches
Your video series has motivated me to finally get around to modding my 3DS just so I can back up my pokemon files and play again. As far as side content goes I barely did any of the ones you discussed let alone min maxed them and I doubt I will in future, but it's still interesting to see how much work GameFreak put into these games. Each of the DS/3DS pokemon gens had so much content it's insane.
I was actually super into the Pokeathalon events. I avoided the Apricorn nonsense to the best of my abilities, but just used Pokemon with high enough bases that even crappy Apricorn use didn't stop me from winning. I haven't played it in years, so I got my game out and went into the Friendship Room to look at my overall trophies - 33. 10 Collective 5 Trust - I only need 3 more medalists for the next one, not sure why I never got around to it. 8 Potential - Listening to this video gave me the information that I should be able to get one of the remaining two with just a little practice. 10 Friendship The only extraneous trophy that I don't have is the one for winning each event 50 times.
insane that you were writing the script over half a year ago, its amazing how much effort was put into this and your other videos, really appreciated :D
I still have nostalgia for the Pokéathlon! I used to play it years ago in school with some friends. I rag on Johto a lot, but the memories of spending my school lunch with dear school friends will never be forgotten. Also oh my goodness I didn't realize the Aprijuice stuff was so much busy work. I feel bad my Pokemon were fed some mid ass drinks because I know I did the bare minimum walking around.
I actually loved the Pokeatholn as a child. When I got bored by training Pokemon I went there to test their might in different ways. Biggest problem I had was that I didn’t understand English at the time so I had no clue at the juice making mechanics. It brings back memories watching this video, all the hours I spent just doing it to get all medals on my starter Typhlosion. Great video I will happily subscribe and watch other stuff you made
Pokeathlon might be my favorite piece of side-content in the franchise, it's always been so cool that they just went ahead and made a whole second game within the game. I also think it deserves a bit more credit for full-game integration; it may not seem it at first but evolutionary stones on-demand is a big ask in Johto, even if you gotta play the time-change lottery a few times to cash out
Sorry I know you’re trying to help me understand math, but the second I hear the Pirate’s Curse OST I instantly zone out and start dancing. That’s on you, bro
I played so much of the Pokeathelon on my copy of Soulsilver as a kid. I remember making notes and making my own analysis (without the help of external tools mind you) and absolutely loving the events. I remember specifically that these events are what made me fall in love with the Hoppip line of pokemon. I also loved the Johto safari zone as a kid as well and spent countless hours on that. I additionally spent ages with the Battle Frontier, doing as much as I could with this and my copy of Platinum to optimize. I was maybe a strange kid for enjoying these to the degree that I did.
I used to pour a lot of time into this mode as a kid, and checked in on it regularly when I did a SS nuzlocke (still currently ongoing, just taking a break). My opinion on it did sour some in recent years, feeling like its implementation was prioritized over fixing the issues inherent to the Johto games, and while I do still feel that way to some extent, actually seeing how much work went into the mode has given me a newfound respect for it. I even learned some new stuff about the courses that I’d never known, like the cracks in the blocks being what causes those big smashes (I always thought you had to strike the same point repeatedly, like a focus thing). Also, you were right on the money with the reaction to the Johto Safari Zone being mentioned lmao. I already thought it was frustrating before learning about its inner workings, but after watching Lyra’s video about it, I got worried for your sanity thinking you were gonna tackle it.
Once again well worth the wait! This was a joy to watch! I played through tons of the Poke Athelon across multiple playthroughs since HGSS came out when I was 10! I ravaged my touch screens and had a blast making boxes of medalist pokemon, so getting so many memories from a sincere and well researched video is a special thing! Thanks for uploading this, and can't wait for the next one!
i never touched contests as a kid as far as i can recall but pokeathlon was my THING i loved it and also was endlessly frustrated by it since of course i had no way of knowing all the 1 billion mechanics that actually go into winning. i mostly did power course with typhlosion gyarados and ... either a second gyarados or lugia (i don't quite remember). i also strongly agree with what you said about them intending for HGSS to be played for a LONG TIME, it feels like there were little daily events built into the world that were meant for you to keep coming back to, almost similar to something like animal crossing. i kind of want to start a fresh save to keep for years and try to see how much of it i can experience. honestly as a kid i was too scared to take on the league after beating claire and getting lugia so i just wandered the region for several years and was plenty entertained by it, before eventually resetting my save to try to do a nuzlocke with a friend. (honestly i still really regret resetting my save since i didn't even trade my starter to another game or anything ;___;) also last thing i really enjoy how you present and build off of previous information in these videos, they feel a lot more like "teaching" than "listing facts" if that makes sense. i feel like you would do really well at making educational videos on other subjects too, if that's something that interests you! i know these are primarily for entertainment but the way you break down complex information does make it really easy to grasp and that's not a skill everyone has.
I absolutely played the pokeathalon! Those were some of my fondest memories of playing Heartgold as a kid. I’m honestly shocked that some people DIDN’T play it
man, i loved playing the pokeathlon. i played that mode a lot and had a bunch of fun. every once in a while, id just go back there and play the pokeathlon again.
This video made me so happy :> I loved the athlon as a kid and played so SO much of it with my team. I must have HOURS in it. I remember playing the strength one again and again with my starter (fire but only remember German name lmao) and I also remember being confused at the juice. And genuinely didn't understand the star sizes. Until today I thought small 2 star was worse then normal 1 star lmao
Pokeathlon was always my favorite side activity in Pokemon. Though, I think one reason why I seemed to enjoy it more than you did was I just... didn't worry too much about mildness. Jump isn't THAT useful for hurdle dash, so you can reasonably use it as a dump stat for every course except the jump course, and for the jump course you can afford to drop either power or stamina, it'll hurt a bit in either disc catch or lamp jump respectively but they're not super vital. I feel like going all in on aprijuice is mostly for if you're specifically farming athlete points, or aiming for high score records (which you only really need to succeed at once.) For most of my athlete career which was trying to get medalist on as many pokemon as I could, it was more about just practicing the games themselves and balancing my team out so if I was working on one pokemon who was a weak link (looking at you dugtrio on the jump course) I had two other pokemon who could reasonably carry them.
I have played the pokeathlon quite a lot, and that is throughout the years from when I started playing heartgold the first many years ago to now, tho I have not touched it in 2 years or so since most of my time spent on it was when I was pretty young, I didnt get to 100% it yet but that has been a plan for me along side with everything else in heartgold it is funny that you said "did they really expect you to play this game for years to come?" or something along the lines of that, since that is exactly what ive been doing every few years I get into a phase where I start playing heartgold every day again, it means a lot to me, many things ive still not yet done (maybe because I kinda suck at pokemon and so the battle towers are tough as hell). anyway about the pokeathlon, im very happy to know most of what there is to know about it now, so many things I didnt know about like surprisingly that the stats vary between days?? I feel like I noticed the stats being off like it feeling like they were slightly different but I easily shrug it off as just not remembering well also the aprijuice... yea that mechanic was so confusing to me and I didnt want to accidentally waste my apricots that I never really touched that haha, good thing I didnt! I have definitely tried a few times but... how was I supposed to know anything without looking it up??? absolute crazy system. also I remember I made a comment on pokeathlon in one of your videos where you teased an upcoming one (which I think is the aprijuice teaser), I wonder if I was one of the two people that got that reference or if I was just suggesting you to cover it haha, I have no idea how to easily find that comment back
i had the guidebook for hgss and raised a sunkern thinking it would be good, but i just kept feeding them like it was poffins and just brute forced the minigames. i also remember this prominent bait and switch meme about the pokeathelon hall where it was a lama dance
I really enjoyed the pokeathlon back when the games released, with all the trying to win, failing, learning and completely ignoring the aprijuice (young me not understanding how that worked), it has always been a lot of fun. I do remember though, that I actually managed to get to the room of friendship once, by using 3 Arceus I had gotten from diamond, pearl and platinum. those 5 stars in every category really came in handy when you don't want to deal with the juice
I played this side mode with friends so much in high school! Good times! Definitely the best side mode, it's a shame we don't really have anything like this in modern games
to answer your closing question, yes, I was obsessed with the Pokeathalon. My team was ninetails, lugia, and eevee for everything, even the stuff they weren't any good at. It's one of the amazing reasons this game is the evergreen standard for pokemon games for me.
Answering your question at the end, yes, I did. I enjoy collecting ribbons for my dear pokémon and despite the fact that the pokeathlon doesn't gvie any (a shame) it still is a nice side activity, and the record rooms immortalize my partners in a neat way. I didn't care for the apriblender thingie, it's possible to bruteforce your way with a decently strong composition. Great video as always!
The Pokeathalon was my favorite minigame in the series! I didn't deal with the aprijuice much, but you don't really need to if you're just playing for the sake of playing or occasionally grabbing points for buying stuff; it really seemed to mostly be for minmaxers and record-chasers.
Pokémon SoulSilver was my first ever hyperfixation obsession of a game and the pokeathelon is a HUGE reason why. I was glued to my ds during those years and I easily racked up over a 100 hours on my save file. I did so much step grinding for aprijuice and for hatching eggs (I had recently discovered bulbapedia and found out how to use the incense items to hatch baby Pokémon lol), and I even found my first shiny, a sickly green fearow named Tyra outside of the dome and of course won each event with her at least once. A super fun mode for middle school me, didn’t feel inaccessible at all, if anything I remember how easy it was to kinda just pick up where you left off if you got bored and left but decided to return. Your juice stays in the blender for three uses and all the endgame stuff to achieve aren’t shoved down your throat pressuring you to grind. I love the pokeathelon so much
Oh man, I loved the pokeathelon. I’m so here for this video!! I remember reading the official hg/ss strategy guide to help me win the more difficult events, I wonder if they got anything wrong.
Finally i've been waiting for this video since the teaser at the end of the last one One thing you forgot to mention in terms of rewards for the pokeathlon is that besides getting access to that one room by having the record in all 10 courses you also get one of the stars on your trainer card
I played this mode maybe twice on my original playthrough of Heartgold. I thought it was neat but never really wanted to go hard into it. I knew going into this video that there was gonna be some insane depth to the stats but I was NOT ready on how insane this was. Great work on this like HOLY SHIT
My biggest life-achievement will always be getting into the friendship-room after playing each course once on my most recent playthrough. It might seem sad, but I think I'm just setting realistic expectations.
Wow, I went through a Pokeathalon phase where I would play it daily for a while, but I never realized the day of the month affected the stats! Probably because once you know you have a good team, there's no reason to go back and check their stats lol. I also never messed around with apricorn juice, besides drinking the premade stuff. I don't even remember the blender requiring steps to be used! Probably because for the average player, it's super annoying to even get apricorns, so most of us ignored the juice lol. I never got super into the side modes of the other games, so it's cool to see you deep dive into the one that I got into! Although, I guess I wasn't really 'deep' into it considering I barely ever made my own apricorn juice lol. I think most of us never bothered and just used legendaries or accepted that our favs would never be OP but used them anyway because we loved them and they deserved medals lol.
i didn’t have any friends with the game and my siblings and i shared one copy, so i never got to play multiplayer pokeathlon as a kid. always wanted to though. i’ve just realized that since i acquired a second copy of heartgold, i could totally force one of my siblings to play it with me lol
Pokéathlon hasn’t been the same since Michael Skrelps retired…
Or Usain Bellibolt’s…
Or Tsareena Williams
Or Katie Regilecky
Pasimione Byles is the next generation
At least we have Luxraygun around to keep us entertained, right?
I'm genuinely surprised there's people out there that HADN'T tried out the pokeathalon before. I spent so much time in that mode without even touching the juice mechanics (because little kid me was always terrified of stat changing mechanics because I thought they would be permanent)
If I could go back to my child hood I would tell myself this mode existed. Somehow I missed it, and I would have loved it
Did you also never use moves like Draco meteor as a kid because you thought the stat lowering would be permanent? (I did that)
I was obsessed with this side mode when I first played heartgold. Such good memories
You can tell who had the game guide and who didnt based on if they played the pokeathlon as its impossible to miss with that
i have like 50h+ on it i think i loveeed it
Here is the necessary "But the Azure Flute was too difficult" comment for this video
We appreciate you fulfilling the prophecy, your service is invaluable 😊
32:49 "is there something significant about red blue green yellow and pink?"
Super Sentai team member colours
I figured it was a cute-ified version of the 5 classical elements
also, original Pokemon games colors (if you count the cancelled Pokemon Pink)
One extra tidbit: Jump has different stat minimums than the other four stats! The lowest an ordinary Pokemon can go, even with as many negative modifiers stacked together as possible, is two Jump stars. Having one Jump star is exclusive to Diglett and Dugtrio, who can never jump ever and are also capped to never having more than one Jump star.
I was waiting the whole video for him to comment on Diglett, as its inability to jump is the only Pokeathlon fun fact I already knew ,and surely it's in the most comprehensive breakdown the game mode will ever get, right??? :V
Ok so hear me out, a video on the gamemode that gets hated way more than it should solely because the tutorial is mandatory: Pokéstar Studios
I have sunk so many hours into it. I've managed to max out the sales on every movie, get every unique interaction and ending, and by this point i basically always have one of the 6 mons i use for it on my team, being Ledian, Bronzong, Smeargle, Shedinja, Kyurem and Luvdisc
I LOOOOOOOVE that mode! Some of the most creative writing in the series for sure
@@Tudmoke Everybody gangsta 'till you lose to and promptly turn into a door and some random background character kills mechagodzilla in a car crash
YOU'RE FUCKING REAL
i've never heard anyone hating on it
I loved it too
i actually said "WHAT" out loud when you said day of the month modifier
It always takes everyone by surprise. I remember not being able to max out one stat for my Croagunk and checking it out on Bulbapedia, I was flabbergasted at the sheer stupidity of the mechanic
I said "what" out loud 😊when he said "January"
That plot twist of the bike footage NOT just being there to Subway Surfer us was so good.
It was surprisingly distracting, even if only a little bit. Still worth it though.
Since medals are per-species and not specific to any particular Pokémon, you can catch multiple different members of a species with different natures to better suit each course. That’s how I got Unown to be a medalist species with minimal juicing. Since I had caught all 28 formes already, I had a wide variety of strengths and weaknesses to choose from. I’d bet this is probably a common strategy due to an overlap in the people who care about getting Pokeathalon achievements and people who care about getting all the Unown formes.
Juicing. How have I never made this connection lmao
The noise of sheer malicious delight I made when I heard the words "day of the month modifier".
I also played this mode so much, and was really good at it. Which is why I was really confused when you started talking about aprijuice, because I had just completely forgotten it existed. Don't need it if you have a ton of random Pokemon you don't use except for in Pokethalons! Just choose the best ones for available for whatever events you're gonna do, and you can completely ignore the juice aspect
56:00 I genuinely had no idea that there was an actual method for performing well in Block Smash. I would always just mash the bottom screen.
To answer your final question: yes, I played a ton of the Pokéathlon! Never engaged much with the Aprijuice system, but I liked the gameplay enough that it didn’t matter (I was a HUGE fan of Block Smash, so satisfying when your Pokémon has a high strength stat). They totally could’ve gotten away with releasing those minigames standalone on DSiWare or something.
I'm glad they made the aprijuice not as crucial to winning in the pokéathlon as pokéblocks were for contests, it's not ideal of course, but if you're committed to making your mechanics impenetrable, letting people straight up ignore them is probably preferable...
Indeed, I myself unlocked the friendship room without knowing a single thing about the juices, don’t think I every used any juices
It's strange how it FEELS straightforward enough. Put apricorn of color. Run. Drink. But the deeper you go the more you realize the game trying to fuck you over. The day of the month thing is the nail on the coffin
@@mertensiam3384 at least egg breeding doesn’t last literal real world time to hatch
@@typemasters2871 at least egg breeding is simple unless you're going to fully competitive Pokemon
There's this amazing fanfic called Legendary Athlete where a guy catches Mewtwo... specifically because he wants to make mewtwo swol for the Pokéathlon
That fic is so good it's a shame it's never gonna be finished
That sounds hilarious omg, even tho it's unfinished I gotta read that -- I used to compete my Mewtwo in the Pokeathalon _all the time_, so that sounds like a fic I'd get a kick out of x'D What website(s) is it hosted on, if you remember?
I have barely started the video but I saw that you had a Subrosian in your streaming setup and the fact someone else out there acknowledges the Oracle games can’t go unnoticed.
I loved digging like a madman in Subrosia. Might need to play through them on the Switch!
I think this is one of the areas of the game that GameFreak really didn't mean for us to optimize. They probably didn't originally intend for us to optimize things like EVs and IVs either, but in recent years they've adapted to account for this. The Pokéathalon has mechanics that you technically can optimize, but it's a ridiculous amount of work for incredibly diminishing returns on performance in minigame that aren't all that difficult to play.
Your cadence in speaking gets better and better with every video, it’s smooth like butter with a tinge of energy! It’s lovely to listen to.
Every single time I play through Heartgold since my 1st playthrough, I make a stop at the Pokeathlon. Well, before it, I stop by National Park to pick up a Scyther. The Pokeathlon is the ONLY place (on Fridays) you can obtain metal coats before defeating the Elite 4. Competing there is almost a ritual I do every time I play the game.
Whitney mentions the pokeathalon dome after you beat her, and advises you check it out. So it's funny that both you and your friend have played this game hundreds of times collectively and never knew about it, despite reading that, every time. Not blaming you either, I played like 10 playthroughs and like 12 years before I found out Kanto was in the game 💀
you think pokemon fans read the dialogue 😭
How did you not know there was Kanto for 12 years? It's the thing that's talked about the most in these games ever!
@@mertensiam3384 I didn't follow pokemon online much back then
My headcannon on why Pokemon get less potential stars as they evolve is that at an earlier point in their lives they are more malleable and willing to change while as they evolve they become more set in their ways
Also, one thing I feel like you should have mentioned with regards to how much waiting there is in the Pokeathlon, is that when you say you can buy Apricorns, what you actually mean is that you can buy *one* apricorn. Each of the Pokeathlon shop items can only be bought once before the shop inventory restocks the next day, so if you want to buy 5 red apricorns for a drink you'll need to wait until the daily prizes show a red apricorn five times.
I had brothers so we did the Pokéathlon together and it was so much fun we played the minigames by ourselves. We didn't engage with the drinks that deeply, maybe at all.
AAAAAAA that hint about the Johto Safari Zone after I commented before you should dive into it made me so hype!
I played a TON of pokeathalon when this game was new, and even more of it last year out of some necessity when I picked up HG for a challenge with some friends to complete a gen 4 living pokedex only using gen 4 games.
I’m genuinely surprised by how few people knew about this mode. I adored it when I was younger, and I’ve only grown to appreciate it more now that i’m approaching 30.
I never really bothered with the aprijuice, what I really enjoyed was the concept of trying my best with whatever pokemon i’d captured so far. Some playthroughs that was mostly just my regular team, this last time I had a massive roster to try out and I’ve been having a blast. It’s really a shame it’s so hidden, there’s so much to do here and barely anyone to appreciate it
Me and a group of friends played THE SHIT out of pokeathlon back in high school when the game was new. I have no idea how it was just a single year before BW, because my hours spent with HGSS feel so much longer than that. I suppose having great friends and lots of content to plow through made it that much more memorable. My favorite was always relay run but one of my pals smashed those stone plates at such speeds we started avoiding playing that mode when they were involved lol.
Very embarrasing story for me: when i played HG as my first pokemon game as a kid, i didnt realise you had to water the sudowoodo for at least a full year of playing the game (found out from a magazine as well).
I could not figure out how to leave goldenrod, so all i could do is the bug catching and pokeathlon for a literal year. The pokeathlon definitely is the minigame in a pokemon game ive played the most.
I was still thoroughly entertained, and it was still one of my most played ds games despite that. When i finally learned where the watering can was, it took me around 1-2 weeks of play to beat the game (+ kanto).
Needless to say, thanks for highlighting the pokeathlon, been excited for this since i forst saw your videos!
Sounds extremely similar to my story, except the big wall in my way was a complete inability to beat Whitney and her godforsaken Miltank. Even if I got past her, the Sudowoodo probably would've kept me at bay for a while - I wasn't very bright when it came to progressing in games as a kid. Just know you're not alone!
Hey, no shame, something similar happened to me the first time I played Crystal, lol.
Dude same sudowoodo blocked the game for me
absolute BANGER video!!!! I will say, you *can* unlock the friendship room without aprijuice! I managed to do it with my casual team a few years back. but, admittedly, I haven’t done the FULL 100%. that’ll probably require some Juice
either way i’m SO fuckin hyped to try Pokéathlon again. AND for your return!!! Battle Frontier teaser aside I’m super interested in stream highlights :>
The Pokéathlon was required for a trainer star in HGSS! I engaged with it mostly for that. Fond memories, though, in part since SS was the only game where I earned all 5 stars.
Sunkern might have high potential because its a sprout and can "soak up" the smoothie.
i absolutely love that you provide updates on your previous video/respond to comments at the beginning of every video. it feels like such an old youtube thing and i miss when people did it rather than just leaving a pinned comment that only so many people are going to bother looking at.
People *missed* the Pokeathalon area? Do they, what, not explore rooms they enter? It's like one left turn, seriously.
Pokémon fans don't read nor explore. They only rush through the games to complain faster about it lacking things it actually has
I literally talk to every npc everytime I enter a room and its honestly so helpful since you get hints, items, trades, and sometimes interesting dialogue and side things to do, it's a shame others don't take to time to explore rooms and talk to npcs, it's great!
As I’m sure others will echo, I’ve done a bunch of Pokéathlon stuff, and love returning to it to continue to get 5 medals on Pokémon and go for high scores, but barely touched the Apricorn system. As long as you catch a variety of Pokémon during your playthrough, you’ll have more than enough good options available to you to easily destroy the CPUs, even on the harder difficulty. Going for high scores is the true appeal to me, even if getting 50+ in Pennant Capture seems impossible to me even after 15 years.
I haven't returned to it in quite a while, but yes I played it a lot and 100% agree that 50+ in Pennant Capture is ridiculously hard. I have gotten 44/45 several times, but getting that with enough time left for the next Pokemon to grab those last few has been impossible.
did not expect a Reverend mention, but this is the place it would happen (maybe Big Yellow did it once too)
I mean, I'm almost certain Big Yellow and Reverend at least know each other. They leave comments on each others' videos pretty often
@@malachiatkinson7245big yellow is more active in rev's patreon discord than rev himself
ElectricWindGirlfriend shouted out Rev before, Jimothy Cool had Rev on his podcast and called him the funniest Poketuber, and Yellow is more active in Revcord than Rev himself
@@maxlimit9129 I keep getting recommended ElectricWindGirlFriend, what's it about?
the poketube web spreads deep and vast
I played Pokeathalon so much. I would play it with my brothers a lot, and many days I would turn on my DS just to do this mode rather than any other part of the game. I'm surprised people *didn't* know it was a thing
I keep getting distracted by your incredible nicknames lol
54:27 i never realised these were metag and metagross themed WTF
Great video! I remember falling for the Sunkern thing as a kid.
Maybe it's less "padding" and more "You're not supposed to be binging the Pokéathalon"?
Yeah, theyre meant to be things you do for a bit, go keep doing the main gameplay loop and story, then return to after a while has passed. The 'waiting' mechanics make more sense with that in mind.
Plus you don't really need to juice all that much for them if you're catching a variety of Pokemon.
They programmed fucking BIORHYTHM into this? An extremely jank version, but still.
I was reading through the HGSS arc in adventures, which prominently features the Pokeathelon, when this video dropped lol
No way, a cameo from THE Murkus!!! Love him so much, he's a favorite on Simple's channel and in general
i loved the pokeathlon. my favorite sidegame in any of the mainline games.
it was nice to learn what the juice mechanics were for, i thought the juice was a temporary buff for the next event specifically when i was young.
iirc i just used the associated juice from the vendor for each contests primary stats before each competition.
I really played and grinded the Pokeathlon when I played the game as a kid, I unlocked all the rooms and got quite a few trophies. I did engage with the apricot juice but I don't remember min maxing it, I just kind of brute forced it with my party until I got good enough stats. I'm pretty sure I also made use of the bought juice. I definitely did min max the minigames themselves, and changed the Ds date to buy the things I wanted to.
I have many fond memories of it since I sunk an absurd amount of hours into it and enjoyed most of it.
how did i almost forget this??? i spent hours playing the pokeathlon as a kid!
I was looking for a video about aprijuice the other day, so this is wonderful ^_^
I remember loving the Pokeathalon back in the day. I dont think I put in the effort to max out ALL the trophies but I went as far as to unlock all the basement rooms. I definitely put in a few dozen hours to achieve as much as I could. It was the perfect endgame content after finishing my self-imposed gauntlet of all 16 gym leader rematches
Your video series has motivated me to finally get around to modding my 3DS just so I can back up my pokemon files and play again. As far as side content goes I barely did any of the ones you discussed let alone min maxed them and I doubt I will in future, but it's still interesting to see how much work GameFreak put into these games. Each of the DS/3DS pokemon gens had so much content it's insane.
I used to complain that there should have been ribbons for the pokeathelon but after watching this I'm glad there isn't.
I was actually super into the Pokeathalon events. I avoided the Apricorn nonsense to the best of my abilities, but just used Pokemon with high enough bases that even crappy Apricorn use didn't stop me from winning.
I haven't played it in years, so I got my game out and went into the Friendship Room to look at my overall trophies - 33.
10 Collective
5 Trust - I only need 3 more medalists for the next one, not sure why I never got around to it.
8 Potential - Listening to this video gave me the information that I should be able to get one of the remaining two with just a little practice.
10 Friendship
The only extraneous trophy that I don't have is the one for winning each event 50 times.
insane that you were writing the script over half a year ago, its amazing how much effort was put into this and your other videos, really appreciated :D
Thank you for taking my request!!
I still have nostalgia for the Pokéathlon! I used to play it years ago in school with some friends. I rag on Johto a lot, but the memories of spending my school lunch with dear school friends will never be forgotten.
Also oh my goodness I didn't realize the Aprijuice stuff was so much busy work. I feel bad my Pokemon were fed some mid ass drinks because I know I did the bare minimum walking around.
I actually loved the Pokeatholn as a child. When I got bored by training Pokemon I went there to test their might in different ways. Biggest problem I had was that I didn’t understand English at the time so I had no clue at the juice making mechanics. It brings back memories watching this video, all the hours I spent just doing it to get all medals on my starter Typhlosion. Great video I will happily subscribe and watch other stuff you made
Pokeathlon might be my favorite piece of side-content in the franchise, it's always been so cool that they just went ahead and made a whole second game within the game. I also think it deserves a bit more credit for full-game integration; it may not seem it at first but evolutionary stones on-demand is a big ask in Johto, even if you gotta play the time-change lottery a few times to cash out
Sorry I know you’re trying to help me understand math, but the second I hear the Pirate’s Curse OST I instantly zone out and start dancing. That’s on you, bro
I played so much of the Pokeathelon on my copy of Soulsilver as a kid. I remember making notes and making my own analysis (without the help of external tools mind you) and absolutely loving the events. I remember specifically that these events are what made me fall in love with the Hoppip line of pokemon.
I also loved the Johto safari zone as a kid as well and spent countless hours on that. I additionally spent ages with the Battle Frontier, doing as much as I could with this and my copy of Platinum to optimize. I was maybe a strange kid for enjoying these to the degree that I did.
this video, a german beer and a pre cooked pizza were the end of the weekend I needed
Died when the Jak 2/3 mission failed joke happened
let's go, legendary murkus cameo
he's going to show up!!
I used to pour a lot of time into this mode as a kid, and checked in on it regularly when I did a SS nuzlocke (still currently ongoing, just taking a break). My opinion on it did sour some in recent years, feeling like its implementation was prioritized over fixing the issues inherent to the Johto games, and while I do still feel that way to some extent, actually seeing how much work went into the mode has given me a newfound respect for it. I even learned some new stuff about the courses that I’d never known, like the cracks in the blocks being what causes those big smashes (I always thought you had to strike the same point repeatedly, like a focus thing).
Also, you were right on the money with the reaction to the Johto Safari Zone being mentioned lmao. I already thought it was frustrating before learning about its inner workings, but after watching Lyra’s video about it, I got worried for your sanity thinking you were gonna tackle it.
Once again well worth the wait! This was a joy to watch! I played through tons of the Poke Athelon across multiple playthroughs since HGSS came out when I was 10! I ravaged my touch screens and had a blast making boxes of medalist pokemon, so getting so many memories from a sincere and well researched video is a special thing! Thanks for uploading this, and can't wait for the next one!
I dont know how many people caught that Iron Chef Japan reference, but I did, and I loved it.
What's the reference?
i never touched contests as a kid as far as i can recall but pokeathlon was my THING i loved it and also was endlessly frustrated by it since of course i had no way of knowing all the 1 billion mechanics that actually go into winning. i mostly did power course with typhlosion gyarados and ... either a second gyarados or lugia (i don't quite remember). i also strongly agree with what you said about them intending for HGSS to be played for a LONG TIME, it feels like there were little daily events built into the world that were meant for you to keep coming back to, almost similar to something like animal crossing. i kind of want to start a fresh save to keep for years and try to see how much of it i can experience. honestly as a kid i was too scared to take on the league after beating claire and getting lugia so i just wandered the region for several years and was plenty entertained by it, before eventually resetting my save to try to do a nuzlocke with a friend. (honestly i still really regret resetting my save since i didn't even trade my starter to another game or anything ;___;) also last thing i really enjoy how you present and build off of previous information in these videos, they feel a lot more like "teaching" than "listing facts" if that makes sense. i feel like you would do really well at making educational videos on other subjects too, if that's something that interests you! i know these are primarily for entertainment but the way you break down complex information does make it really easy to grasp and that's not a skill everyone has.
I absolutely played the pokeathalon! Those were some of my fondest memories of playing Heartgold as a kid. I’m honestly shocked that some people DIDN’T play it
Hard to believe people missed out on this. I really enjoyed playing around with the juices and events when I played as a kid
Good video, been using several of your videos while I'm grinding for a shiny chimchar in platinum
Let's GOOO I've been waiting for the Aprijuice video!
man, i loved playing the pokeathlon. i played that mode a lot and had a bunch of fun. every once in a while, id just go back there and play the pokeathlon again.
This video made me so happy :> I loved the athlon as a kid and played so SO much of it with my team. I must have HOURS in it. I remember playing the strength one again and again with my starter (fire but only remember German name lmao) and I also remember being confused at the juice. And genuinely didn't understand the star sizes. Until today I thought small 2 star was worse then normal 1 star lmao
when I was a kid i thought you had to beat the pokeathelon to progress the game so I gave up on it
You better have made it to the super secret friendship room or whatever it's called
im moving right now and this video provided me great company while packing and moving boxes. thanks so much ❤❤
3:48 jak and daxter reference, neurons activated
I never owned HGSS but I bet I would’ve totally tried to minmax my guys in pokelympics as a kid.
Im not gonna lie, I did the pokeathalon a lot back when I played hgss, and I’d never even heard of aprijuice before this video
Pokeathlon was always my favorite side activity in Pokemon. Though, I think one reason why I seemed to enjoy it more than you did was I just... didn't worry too much about mildness. Jump isn't THAT useful for hurdle dash, so you can reasonably use it as a dump stat for every course except the jump course, and for the jump course you can afford to drop either power or stamina, it'll hurt a bit in either disc catch or lamp jump respectively but they're not super vital. I feel like going all in on aprijuice is mostly for if you're specifically farming athlete points, or aiming for high score records (which you only really need to succeed at once.) For most of my athlete career which was trying to get medalist on as many pokemon as I could, it was more about just practicing the games themselves and balancing my team out so if I was working on one pokemon who was a weak link (looking at you dugtrio on the jump course) I had two other pokemon who could reasonably carry them.
I have played the pokeathlon quite a lot, and that is throughout the years
from when I started playing heartgold the first many years ago to now, tho I have not touched it in 2 years or so
since most of my time spent on it was when I was pretty young, I didnt get to 100% it yet but that has been a plan for me along side with everything else in heartgold
it is funny that you said "did they really expect you to play this game for years to come?" or something along the lines of that, since that is exactly what ive been doing
every few years I get into a phase where I start playing heartgold every day again, it means a lot to me, many things ive still not yet done (maybe because I kinda suck at pokemon and so the battle towers are tough as hell).
anyway about the pokeathlon, im very happy to know most of what there is to know about it now, so many things I didnt know about like surprisingly that the stats vary between days?? I feel like I noticed the stats being off like it feeling like they were slightly different but I easily shrug it off as just not remembering well
also the aprijuice... yea that mechanic was so confusing to me and I didnt want to accidentally waste my apricots that I never really touched that haha, good thing I didnt! I have definitely tried a few times but... how was I supposed to know anything without looking it up??? absolute crazy system.
also I remember I made a comment on pokeathlon in one of your videos where you teased an upcoming one (which I think is the aprijuice teaser), I wonder if I was one of the two people that got that reference or if I was just suggesting you to cover it haha, I have no idea how to easily find that comment back
i had the guidebook for hgss and raised a sunkern thinking it would be good, but i just kept feeding them like it was poffins and just brute forced the minigames. i also remember this prominent bait and switch meme about the pokeathelon hall where it was a lama dance
I really enjoyed the pokeathlon back when the games released, with all the trying to win, failing, learning and completely ignoring the aprijuice (young me not understanding how that worked), it has always been a lot of fun.
I do remember though, that I actually managed to get to the room of friendship once, by using 3 Arceus I had gotten from diamond, pearl and platinum. those 5 stars in every category really came in handy when you don't want to deal with the juice
I played this side mode with friends so much in high school! Good times! Definitely the best side mode, it's a shame we don't really have anything like this in modern games
Babe wake up, Linneus just uploaded
it’s my sleepover and I get to pick the movie
to answer your closing question, yes, I was obsessed with the Pokeathalon. My team was ninetails, lugia, and eevee for everything, even the stuff they weren't any good at. It's one of the amazing reasons this game is the evergreen standard for pokemon games for me.
i remember playing the pokeathalon a lot as a kid! but i also played a TON of hgss so that probably factors in. great video!!!!!!
I remember really enjoying the pokeathelon as a casual player and playing in short bursts, which I feel iß how they intended to be
Answering your question at the end, yes, I did. I enjoy collecting ribbons for my dear pokémon and despite the fact that the pokeathlon doesn't gvie any (a shame) it still is a nice side activity, and the record rooms immortalize my partners in a neat way.
I didn't care for the apriblender thingie, it's possible to bruteforce your way with a decently strong composition. Great video as always!
Your video has inspired me to want to 100% the Pokèatholon. I’ll come back in 5 or so years and tell you guys if I’m shonen material
I love all the minigames! All of them! No exceptions!
the football one is a punishment, not a minigame
The Pokeathalon was my favorite minigame in the series! I didn't deal with the aprijuice much, but you don't really need to if you're just playing for the sake of playing or occasionally grabbing points for buying stuff; it really seemed to mostly be for minmaxers and record-chasers.
Pokémon SoulSilver was my first ever hyperfixation obsession of a game and the pokeathelon is a HUGE reason why. I was glued to my ds during those years and I easily racked up over a 100 hours on my save file. I did so much step grinding for aprijuice and for hatching eggs (I had recently discovered bulbapedia and found out how to use the incense items to hatch baby Pokémon lol), and I even found my first shiny, a sickly green fearow named Tyra outside of the dome and of course won each event with her at least once. A super fun mode for middle school me, didn’t feel inaccessible at all, if anything I remember how easy it was to kinda just pick up where you left off if you got bored and left but decided to return. Your juice stays in the blender for three uses and all the endgame stuff to achieve aren’t shoved down your throat pressuring you to grind. I love the pokeathelon so much
Excellent video! Yes, I did play the Pokeathlon a little. I don't know how many times I've played it. Maybe around 10-20 times or so.
Oh man, I loved the pokeathelon. I’m so here for this video!! I remember reading the official hg/ss strategy guide to help me win the more difficult events, I wonder if they got anything wrong.
Finally i've been waiting for this video since the teaser at the end of the last one
One thing you forgot to mention in terms of rewards for the pokeathlon is that besides getting access to that one room by having the record in all 10 courses you also get one of the stars on your trainer card
Bruh I literally spent so much time on the Pokeathlon as a kid, was never overly good at it but I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Banger vid, loved it ❤
But murkus at this stage of 2024?😬
I played this mode maybe twice on my original playthrough of Heartgold. I thought it was neat but never really wanted to go hard into it. I knew going into this video that there was gonna be some insane depth to the stats but I was NOT ready on how insane this was. Great work on this like HOLY SHIT
My biggest life-achievement will always be getting into the friendship-room after playing each course once on my most recent playthrough.
It might seem sad, but I think I'm just setting realistic expectations.
I love the Pokeathlon! It's my favorite part of Soul Silver!
Thank you so much for this video! ❤
Wow, I went through a Pokeathalon phase where I would play it daily for a while, but I never realized the day of the month affected the stats! Probably because once you know you have a good team, there's no reason to go back and check their stats lol. I also never messed around with apricorn juice, besides drinking the premade stuff. I don't even remember the blender requiring steps to be used! Probably because for the average player, it's super annoying to even get apricorns, so most of us ignored the juice lol. I never got super into the side modes of the other games, so it's cool to see you deep dive into the one that I got into! Although, I guess I wasn't really 'deep' into it considering I barely ever made my own apricorn juice lol. I think most of us never bothered and just used legendaries or accepted that our favs would never be OP but used them anyway because we loved them and they deserved medals lol.
i didn’t have any friends with the game and my siblings and i shared one copy, so i never got to play multiplayer pokeathlon as a kid. always wanted to though.
i’ve just realized that since i acquired a second copy of heartgold, i could totally force one of my siblings to play it with me lol