A Beginner's Guide to RBY Tradebacks

Introduction

The first generation of Pokémon is unique in that it can trade forwards and backwards with Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal via the Time Capsule. This makes it the only generation directly influenced by a future one; most notably, Pokémon can learn moves that normally cannot be obtained. For example, it's possible for Magmar to learn Thunder Punch via TM in GSC, and since this is an existing move in RBY, you can trade it back without any issues. This is also the only way to get around RBY's unusual DV legality; otherwise, due to encounter rates influencing DV generation, it's impossible for some Pokémon—most notably Tauros—to get legitimate max DVs across the board.

The legitimacy of what would become known as Tradebacks has been widely disputed in the RBY community ever since the early 2000s on Azure Heights. Some believe it diversifies the game, while others believe it's unintended and hurts the generation's identity. There is no right or wrong answer to this decades-old debate, but the divide has been large enough to ban Tradebacks in standard play. Regardless, "Tradebacks OU" has continued to exist as a side format that's enjoyed by players, but lacks the plentiful resources of RBY OU. This guide aims to change that.

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List of Tradeback Moves

GSC changed RBY Pokémon's movepools significantly. Generally, many Pokémon received the elemental punches and Headbutt, giving them a good pool of staple moves to use. Additionally, many Pokémon gained reliable coverage, such as Hypno and Alakazam. Pokémon Crystal's Move Tutor also made Flamethrower accessible to pretty much any Pokémon that learned Fire Blast, giving them a consistent option to use instead. Breeding also gave many Pokémon all manner of interesting options, such as Hypnosis Persian and Ninetales, Rock Slide Charizard, and Fire Spin Arcanine. The Odd Egg gave a few Pokémon Dizzy Punch, though it has no effect, so it's not too notable.

The most notorious source of Tradebacks is the New York Pokémon Center (NYPC) events. From 2001 to 2003, the New York Pokémon Center distributed Pokémon to the Gen 2 games. These could be shiny, have special moves, or sometimes even both. This event gave many Pokémon unusual moves; most notably, it released the demonic Lovely Kiss Snorlax that has since rocked the metagame.

This list will go over moves exclusively learned through Tradebacks. Methods such as Stadium 2's move relearner can allow a Pokémon to learn any normally obtainable move as well. For Pokémon that are part of evolutionary families, all moves carry up.

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Notable Changes to OU

Tradebacks OU is an almost entirely different metagame to regular RBY OU. It's far more aggressive in nature and you'll be seeing a lot of KO trades and fast-paced gameplay. This is Pokémon in its purest form: you have your status, your setup, and your damage. No tricks or gimmicks, all while being flexible enough in the teambuilder to give you much wider team variety than in standard play.

Your New Big 3

The first thing to get out of the way is introducing your new Big 3: Snorlax, Hypno, and Gengar. Tauros and Chansey are still incredible, but very droppable in this format; the general power uptick is the main culprit.

Being bestowed with Lovely Kiss jacked up Snorlax's threat level to a high degree. Snorlax is nigh-impossible to OHKO without a Self-Destruct from another Snorlax or a very lucky critical hit, allowing it to strike back in return with Lovely Kiss to cripple a Pokémon for the rest of the game. This puts you into a situation where you have to freeze or sleep it first, only the latter of which can be reliable. As a result, with Self-Destruct in mind, Snorlax can now do a similar two-for-one that Exeggutor does in regular RBY OU, only this time it's backed by its already amazing utility. It also gets Ice Punch, which will freeze more often than not by the time all of its PP is exhausted, making it more effective at forcing opposing Snorlax out.

On the flip side, Snorlax often has to make a big compromise to run Lovely Kiss, especially on the Reflect set, which forfeits the Gengar matchup. There's also the matter of it being the slowest sleeper in the game, so against something like Exeggutor, it's liable to lose out and now you're a Snorlax down. The physical set also has to pick between dropping Self-Destruct or Hyper Beam, both of which are crucial for blowing past important threats like Chansey. However, these drawbacks do little to detract from what Snorlax can bring to a team. As a lead or anywhere else, it'll do something for you. Never drop this bear!

Sample Sets

• Snorlax
• Ability: None
• - Body Slam
• - Hyper Beam / Self-Destruct
• - Earthquake
• - Lovely Kiss

• Snorlax
• Ability: None
• - Amnesia
• - Blizzard / Ice Beam
• - Body Slam
• - Rest / Self-Destruct

• Snorlax
• Ability: None
• - Body Slam
• - Earthquake / Lovely Kiss / Ice Punch / Self-Destruct
• - Reflect
• - Rest

Hypno is great. Gaining Amnesia and actual coverage did it a big favor, making it RBY's premier user of the move. It has a variety of sets, with Amnesia + Thunder Wave and then any of Psychic, an elemental punch, Rest, Hypnosis, and Reflect being the main pool of options. With just two boosts, it nearly reaches the 999 stat cap, making it a scary foe to fight. You can really fine-tune it to what your team needs.

However, it's far from unbeatable and suffers from just not being able to do everything, arguably being a healthy top tier threat. Unlike the terrifying Amnesia Slowbro, Hypno suffers from having decidedly mediocre physical bulk, making it very vulnerable to Persian, Tauros, and Snorlax. If using Rest to try and copy the "TobyBro" set, it will often perform worse and have trouble sweeping. It's a big draw for Explosion Pokémon in the same way Slowbro is, but without the survivability. Make no mistake though, Hypno will absolutely deal massive damage before finally being brought down.

Sample Set

• Hypno
• Ability: None
• - Amnesia
• - Psychic
• - Reflect / Ice Punch / Thunder Punch
• - Rest / Thunder Wave / Hypnosis

Gengar gained a ton of value with the addition of elemental punches to its movepool, and with Tauros finally being a remotely droppable Pokémon combined with Persian's rise it's in a very good position in the metagame. With the ability to run Thunderbolt and Ice Punch together in addition to its already great Hypnosis + Explosion combination, it's a common fixture on offensive teams. It's also one of your best Snorlax checks, letting you pivot around its Body Slam whether asleep or not, often giving very important information on its set. Gengar can be quite difficult to wall at times, similar to Starmie albeit less powerful, so expect to see it popping up a lot. It's also possible to run Rest when leading with it to absorb paralysis while not losing the utility that pivoting around Snorlax brings to the table.

However, it's still Gengar, and ergo, it suffers from the same issues it's always had; Hypnosis's low accuracy, an annoying Ground weakness, and a lack of STAB moves being the most glaring ones. Its Ground weakness particularly drags it down against Pokémon like Tauros. Compared to Starmie, its damage output isn't as high as it looks either. These flaws are really quite minor though, so don't let them discourage you from splashing Gengar onto your teams.

Sample Sets

• Gengar
• - Hypnosis
• - Thunderbolt
• - Ice Punch
• - Explosion

• Gengar
• - Rest
• - Thunderbolt
• - Ice Punch
• - Hypnosis / Body Slam / Psychic / Explosion

New and Improved Threats

Tradebacks doesn't just buff the OU staples though; it also propels many lesser-used Pokémon into viability. This makes for a significantly more diverse metagame.

Persian is a very flawed Pokémon in standard OU, lacking offensive pressure outside of Slash. With the addition of Hypnosis and Amnesia to its movepool, Persian goes from an off-meta pick just barely missing OU to a staple lead. Having the fastest sleep move in the game makes Persian a very scary foe to face, forcing the opponent into a 50:50 situation where they can try to sack something or take a Slash. Additionally, a successful sleep often means an uncontested Amnesia, allowing it to fire off boosted Thunderbolts or Bubble Beams.

This isn't to say Persian is suddenly overpowered, though. It's still somewhat hurt by Gengar if it isn't using Amnesia + Thunderbolt to force it to Explode, and it isn't like paralysis users are suddenly nonexistent. Paralysis is still the absolute counter to Persian's existence, and the very sight of Alakazam can send it packing. Persian is also less inclined to run Bubble Beam as a result of Amnesia allowing it to get past Gengar, which indirectly makes Rhydon a very big threat despite its drop in usage. Hypnosis has very shaky accuracy as well, which makes Persian among the most inconsistent leads out there; combined with its pitiful bulk, the new Persian is a high-risk, high-reward Pokémon.

Sample Set

• Persian
• Ability: none
• - Hypnosis
• - Slash
• - Thunderbolt
• - Amnesia

Alakazam gains the elemental punches, making it an incredibly versatile Pokémon in Tradebacks OU. The best part? It doesn't really have to drop Seismic Toss or even change at all, it's just gotten new weapons in its arsenal. Alakazam can fine-tune itself to beat Starmie or Exeggutor with the addition of Thunder Punch and Ice Punch, or keep with Seismic Toss for a more neutral matchup spread. Plus, even 3 attacks builds are a possibility if you don't need Thunder Wave. For those who like the Reflect build, that's improved with the advent of Barrier as well, allowing Alakazam to further boost its Defense stat if necessary. Generally, Alakazam is much more diverse in Tradebacks OU and is a lot of fun to build with.

It can be inferred that this added diversity makes Alakazam lose some consistency, though. When dropping Seismic Toss, Alakazam is going to lose more matchups in exchange for becoming more proficient in one, as well as become setup fodder for the terrifying Hypno. Ergo, the moves you choose on Alakazam are going to be centered on what your team needs. Doing otherwise will result in an objectively worse Pokémon.

Sample Set

• Alakazam
• Ability: none
• - Psychic
• - Seismic Toss / Thunder Punch / Ice Punch
• - Thunder Wave
• - Recover

Nidoking and Nidoqueen become much scarier in Tradebacks as their movepools grow forever deeper, with them both getting Lovely Kiss. Nidoking also gains Amnesia, though it's incompatible with Lovely Kiss. As it turns out, both are perfectly viable; Nidoking becomes an Amnesia sweeper with decent Speed, while Nidoqueen can be used as a Lovely Kiss lead. The reason you use Nidoqueen over Nidoking as a sleep lead is the extra Speed doesn't matter, and since Nidoqueen is bulkier, it's safer to miss with Lovely Kiss against Pokémon like Snorlax. You can still use Nidoking in the lead slot, but its only niche in this role is beating Nidoqueen leads. Overall, this is a metagame where you can use either and not lose out on much.

However, it's no secret that Poison / Ground is a horrific typing in RBY. Being weak to basically every common special move + Earthquake and only having an Electric immunity to make up for it, they're quite unwieldy to use, which begs the question of whether a team using them would be more effective with a different Pokémon. Regardless, making a team around them is very rewarding if an experienced player is piloting them, so they're solid metagame threats.

Sample Sets

• Nidoqueen
• Ability: none
• - Lovely Kiss
• - Blizzard
• - Thunderbolt
• - Earthquake

• Nidoking
• Ability: none
• - Amnesia
• - Blizzard
• - Thunderbolt
• - Earthquake

A Pokémon previously on the very edge of RBY OU viability, Clefable becomes a perfectly usable threat in Tradebacks OU. With Amnesia now under its belt, Clefable can serve as what can be considered a superior AmnesiaLax. While it can hardly replace the tubby bear, its immediate power and good stats make it a perfectly fine Pokémon to slot onto teams if you want to use a different Snorlax set or go with a two-pronged assault. The only setback is that it's not always a necessary pick, as Hypno often fulfils its role just fine.

Sample Set

• Clefable
• Ability: none
• - Amnesia
• - Blizzard / Psychic
• - Body Slam / Thunderbolt
• - Rest

Vaporeon is a fairly surprising threat to come out of Tradebacks, possessing Growth in addition to Acid Armor. This can make it a particularly brutal win condition when using Rest and Surf, being near-impossible to KO. It's easily one of the best abusers of the stat reapplication glitch as a result of its setup method as well. There's also the absolutely ginormous amount of PP it gets from Growth and Acid Armor's combined total of 122, making even Chansey stare in awe. Unlike Slowbro, it's not too scared of Thunderbolt from Starmie and Chansey either, as its special bulk forces them to land two critical hits in a row to bring it down. Vaporeon has to watch out for Persian's Slash if it comes in on its predicted Rest though, so care has to be taken before bringing Vaporeon to the field and setting up. It's also a bit slow to set up at times and Zapdos isn't too afraid until the boosts start racking up.

Sample Set

• Vaporeon
• Ability: none
• - Surf
• - Growth
• - Acid Armor
• - Rest

Rapidash gains Hypnosis and Double Kick. This gives Rapidash the unique privilege of being an RBY Fire-type with an actual movepool, as well as all the usual tools that made them remotely function in the first place: Fire Spin, Agility, and a decent Attack stat. This makes Rapidash a good mixed sweeper sometimes, packing anything from an AgiliSpin set to a sleeper set to support a team.

However, Rapidash is slower than Persian, which means it does lose to it in the lead slot. Plus, while Double Kick is nice for 3HKOing Chansey, Rapidash is not really beating Rhydon without burning it with Fire Blast. Starmie and Slowbro continue to exist and counter it. Regardless, it's a fine option to bring on serious teams, which is far more than what can be said for it in standard OU.

Sample Set

• Rapidash
• Ability: none
• - Hypnosis
• - Fire Spin
• - Fire Blast / Body Slam
• - Hyper Beam / Double Kick

Electabuzz rises as a surprise threat with the addition of Rolling Kick, which, with its 30.1% flinch chance and Electabuzz's 20.5% critical hit rate, gives it a solid shot at beating paralyzed Chansey. It also gains the coveted Ice Punch, letting it situationally muscle past Rhydon and Zapdos. If Persian, Tauros, and Gengar have been successfully incapacitated, Electabuzz becomes a big threat, sometimes even closing out the late-game. It can also use Seismic Toss to deal more damage to Zapdos and Jolteon, more consistently winning Electric mirrors. However, its stats are a bit middling offensively, so it's strictly a late-game threat and does require some team support. It's also quite frail, and if paralyzed, is pretty much dead weight. Regardless, this is a massive glow-up for the electric yokai, and it's a serviceable pick on teams that need a bit more offensive coverage.

Sample Set

• Electabuzz
• Ability: none
• - Thunder Wave
• - Thunderbolt
• - Ice Punch
• - Rolling Kick

Old Mainstays

Contrary to popular belief, many Tradebacks Pokémon are virtually the same as normal RBY in how they play, giving an element of familiarity to the world of Tradebacks. Here are some of the more notable cases of the old staples continuing their dominance over the chromatic generation.

A foreign concept to many, it's perfectly viable to drop Tauros in favor of Persian in Tradebacks OU. However, make no mistake: it's still a top threat and is on a wide array of teams, repeating its RBY OU antics. With Surf and Quick Attack also in its arsenal, Tauros is capable of fine-tuning its fourth move to accomplish more as well. Surf is best used alongside Electric-types such as Zapdos, Jolteon, and Electabuzz, as it's a linchpin in Rhydon matchups. Stomp Tauros fans will also be pleased to know it got directly upgraded with the addition of Headbutt, letting it more heavily punish paralyzed Pokémon.

Chansey gains absolutely nothing of value in Tradebacks bar the potential to fish for burns with Flamethrower, but it's still a staple on many teams. Sing, BoltBeam, and Reflect are all excellent sets that continue to see success, and it's not uncommon to see it continue performing its regular roles. The Sing set has become a bit rarer with the increased availability of sleep moves, though, which has also made lead Chansey an exceedingly rare sight.

Cloyster gets a minor new toy in Screech to complement its Explosion, but outside of that, it's pretty much the same Pokémon. The rise of Persian has been a mixed bag for it; it's great at stopping Slash, but Thunderbolt really stings, and that demon can even use Amnesia to secure a 2HKO. Still, Cloyster is more than happy to facilitate partial trapping cores while Exploding on Hypno.

Exeggutor gains Headbutt in Tradebacks, allowing it to run the paraflinch set it's always wanted. However, this is far from the main set: that hasn't changed much at all. Generally, it's still out to put something to sleep and use Explosion later, it's just a case of what its fourth move is going to be unless it's making compromises. While many sleepers have burst onto the scene, forgetting what Exeggutor can do is a fatal mistake, especially when considering that Starmie is quite comfortable with Surf + Thunderbolt as its coverage in this metagame.

Jynx gains the niche Petal Dance in Tradebacks, which gives it the potential to damage Starmie, Slowbro, and Vaporeon. However, this isn't quite standard and Jynx remains largely the same. Jynx remains the fastest user of a 74.6% accurate sleep move in Lovely Kiss, which gives it a solid place as a midground lead that isn't overly fussed about paralysis. However, as is the case with regular RBY OU, it's quite weak after it's put something to sleep, so teams should account for that.

Rhydon took a bonk on the head with the increased availability of elemental punches, now having to watch out for Ice Punch Gengar, Hypno, and Alakazam when going about its business. The addition of Headbutt is a decent buff to old Stomp sets, though those weren't exactly tearing up RBY OU in the first place. Persian tends to drop Bubble Beam to fit Amnesia or Hyper Beam on its sets, which Rhydon is more than happy to exploit. Overall, while some movepool additions to old targets have hurt, Rhydon can still serve as a centerpiece on paralysis-intensive teams and turn incapacitated teams into a bowling alley. It also remains the best Zapdos and Amnesia Snorlax check in the game, quickly stealing their momentum.

While Hypno rudely stole the spotlight as the best Amnesia user in the game, Slowbro remains a solid choice for its much better physical bulk, allowing it to stomach an Explosion and Snorlax assaults. Slowbro also has a miles better defensive typing than Hypno and Vaporeon, though it still has to be afraid of Thunderbolt Starmie and Chansey, so accounting for them when teambuilding is essential. It also gains an interesting new toy in Flamethrower, which it can use to fine-tune its coverage or even fish for burns, so it's a touch more diverse. Just like in RBY OU, expect Slowbro to catch you off-guard and randomly sweep your team.

Starmie hasn't changed at all, still using the same Thunder Wave + Recover + 2 attacks set, and remains an influential Pokémon in the metagame. Because of Hypno's rise to power, Surf + Thunderbolt becomes the more common set, allowing Starmie to 2HKO Hypno with consecutive critical hits. It's also one of the best Vaporeon checks thanks to resisting Surf, and it's also possible to 2HKO it with critical hit Thunderbolt. Blizzard is much rarer because of these qualities, which indirectly allows Exeggutor to check it with relative consistency.

Zapdos is the same as ever, even in movepool, securing endgames with its nuclear Thunderbolt. The faster-paced nature of the metagame is a massive boon to Zapdos, perfectly supporting its playstyle and allowing it to find a place on many successful teams.

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The Lead Triangle

The main leads in Tradebacks OU create a triangle format of sorts, which is very important to understand if one is to be successful in teambuilding and gameplay alike. It's almost completely different from regular RBY OU. Think of it like the popular "Grass/Fire/Water" matchup triangle or Rock/Paper/Scissors.

Lead Lovely Kiss Snorlax is the biggest game-changer, now being a suitable lead rather than a Pokémon you switch in early. Early-game Snorlax is already a well-known monster that often defines how a game will go, and now you've got a good chance of fighting one out of the gate. Paralysis leads will simply lose to Snorlax, so it's often a good option to just get some damage in before you're sent to dreamland. Expect to see this a lot. However, Snorlax is the slowest lead, so any opposing sleep lead will leave it in a difficult spot, usually forcing it out, so it isn't some automatic win button.

Persian is the new fastest sleep lead; this makes it not only a good option against Snorlax but also against all of Persian's other checks should it be faster. Once a foe has been put to sleep, Persian can get to work, forcing high damage from Slash that can be difficult to come back from if Gengar isn't present. The main thing keeping Persian from prominence is that it really hates being paralyzed and is very frail, which can give it problems against paralysis leads. Ergo, if Alakazam or Starmie are what it's faced with, it's often forced out right away while giving the opponent valuable information. Any paralysis user faster than Persian can and will be a problem. There's also the matter of its consistency; Hypnosis will miss sometimes, and it sucks.

Alakazam and Starmie remain solid paralysis leads and are the best ways of dealing with Persian, and Starmie hasn't changed at all. The opposite can be said for Alakazam, now being capable of allocating its second attack slot to Thunder Punch to combat Starmie leads. However, this will cause it to be less effective against opposing Seismic Toss Alakazam, being completely outdamaged. While mowed down by Snorlax, the classic paralysis leads should never be ignored. Outside of these two, other paralysis leads like Jolteon can be effective, though they are definitely less consistent and matchup-dependent.

Midground Options

You don't have to commit to the triangle format either; there are plenty of alternatives that serve as solid midgrounds. Exeggutor remains a good option and a particularly brutal way to stop Snorlax, Gengar makes Snorlax squeal while having a potential dice roll against Persian, Jynx remains the fastest 74.6% accuracy sleep move user, Nidoqueen ignores paralysis leads while putting them to sleep, and Rapidash has the flexibility of Hypnosis and Fire Spin pivoting. The lead metagame has a noticeable amount of depth once you start looking into these and has a lot to offer a player when building teams.

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Conclusion

Do you know what you just did? You just took your first step into learning Tradebacks OU! You're now armed with sufficient information to dive into the format and start mowing down the competition! Tradebacks OU is regularly hosted in the Ruins of Alph room's RBY Monday Tour Nights on Pokémon Showdown, come on down and enjoy the mad world of Lovely Kiss Snorlax!

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