A Beginner's Guide to Pokemon Stadium [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2] [HTML-ready!]

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Plague von Karma

Banned deucer.

Art by ausma

Introduction
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Pokemon Stadium is a well-known Pokemon spin-off, being the first time children of the 90s were able to see their little pocket monsters in 3D. This game quickly became a cult classic for many reasons: the unique formats, playing Pokemon games on the big screen, and the Kid's Club. However, among hardcore RBYers, it's become a classic for another reason: the mechanics that make for an entirely different metagame compared to cartridge gameplay, giving it a "Generation 1.5" feel.

Unbeknownst to many, a Japanese Pokemon Stadium game came before the international game, which has been called "Stadium Zero" within the RBY Community, and it is known for being the first instance of "Dexit" in a Pokemon game. This also means there are actually three games! While we won't delve deep into it in this guide, "Stadium Zero" does contain some key differences that got imported over into this game.

Differences to RBY
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For those unfamiliar with RBY, it's recommended to read the RBY Mechanics Guide prior to this to better understand what's going on. Pokemon Stadium makes numerous changes to battle mechanics, removing many controversial glitches to make the game feel much like later generations. Whether it improved the game is arguable, with some players heavily disliking the Substitute change, while others praise it for being less buggy.

Game Mechanics
Accuracy and Evasion

The infamous 1/256 uncertainty was removed, giving attacks their stated accuracy in-game. Secondary effect chances also experienced a similar change; for example, Thunderbolt's paralysis chance is now 10%, rather than 10.2%.

Accuracy and evasion also received changes to their stat stage multipliers, becoming the same as in GSC. This makes accuracy and evasion much less potent.
Stage
-6​
-5​
-4​
-3​
-2​
-1​
0​
+1​
+2​
+3​
+4​
+5​
+6​
Fraction
1/3​
36/100​
43/100​
50/100
66/100​
75/100​
100/100​
133/100​
166/100​
200/100​
233/100​
266/100​
300/100​

Confusion
Confusion will show the move you attempted to use even if you hit yourself in confusion. If a move like Thrash induces self confusion, it will say so once this occurs.

Critical hits, High-crit moves, and Focus Energy
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Critical hits were completely reworked, with the base critical hit ratio becoming (Base Speed + 76) / 1024, rounding down and capping out at 99%. This means Pokemon with base 75 Speed and above will receive worsened critical hit rates, while slower Pokemon will have increased critical hit rates. For example, Snorlax goes from 5.86% to 10%, while Electrode goes from 27.34% to 21%.

High-critical hit rate moves like Slash also received a different equation, that being (Base Speed + 76) / 128. While this doesn't change the result for most Pokemon due to the 99% cap, it does slightly help slower Pokemon with the moves. For example, Parasect's Slash goes from a meager 46.88% critical hit rate to 51%, making it at least work as desired more often than not.

Focus Energy also received a full rework, the new equation being (Base Speed + 236) / 512. For example, Nidoking will go from a 15% base critical hit rate all the way to 62%, making it very threatening. If using both Focus Energy and high-crit moves, the critical hit rate caps out at 99% guaranteed, though this doesn't actually help any Pokemon that learns both moves.

Damage tracking
Whenever a Pokemon is fully paralyzed, uses a two-turn charge move, or switches out, the stored damage is cleared. This makes Counter and Bide less powerful, as they cannot exploit stored damage across turns.

Desync possibility
Due to the nature of Pokemon Stadium not requiring a link cable or any connectivity at all, desyncs are impossible.

Exact HP
Pokemon Stadium will display both Pokemon's current and maximum HP, exposing potential DV combinations and showing if a Pokemon is in KO range.

Partial trapping
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Partial trapping—Bind, Clamp, Fire Spin, and Wrap—was reworked. In the event either Pokemon switches out, the turn instantly ends unless the other Pokemon is also switching, meaning that, while pivoting with partial trapping still exists, it works on both ends. This makes it somewhat difficult to trap Pokemon without a Speed boost with Pokemon like Dragonite, although partial-trapping moves are also harder to PP stall due to the trapper not being forced to use them again.

Additionally, there is no indication when partial trapping has concluded due to the lack of a proper Fight Menu. You do get to pick a move while partial trapped, but this doesn't actually matter; in the event partial trapping continues, the input is ignored. Ergo, neither player knows whether partial trapping will continue.

Recoil
If a Pokemon or Substitute is KOed by a recoil move like Submission or Double-Edge, the attacker takes no damage. This gives valuable counterplay to Substitute, as well as a partial Hyper Beam replacement considering its nerfs. Recoil damage no longer influences stored damage, so it cannot be countered with Counter and does not contribute to Bide's damage building.

Self-KOs
Explosion and Self-Destruct will KO a Pokemon attacking a Substitute. Additionally, Self-KO Clause is run innately, so forcing ties is impossible and results in a loss for the self-KOing Pokemon.

Sleep
Stadium innately runs its own Sleep Clause, which counts Rest. As a result, putting your own Pokemon to sleep with Rest effectively blocks all sleep moves until it wakes up. It should be noted that this does not block putting further Pokemon to sleep using Rest.

Sleep also received a gigantic nerf, going from 0-6 turns to 0-3. This makes sleep very inconsistent, albeit still at least somewhat usable.

Stat handling
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The stat reapplication glitch is removed, meaning that Pokemon like Slowbro can't reapply stat drops from burn or paralysis. Stat drops from major status are now mostly tied to the statuses themselves, meaning that when the major status is removed, the stat drop usually is as well. For example, when Rest or Haze is used, the stat drop from paralysis or burn will be removed alongside the status.

Using a boosting move that affects a stat that has been dropped by burn or paralysis, unlike in RBY or Stadium 2, will not ignore the status's stat drop. Thus, if Agility is used while paralyzed, the stat drop from paralysis will still be factored in.

Rollovers as a result of stats that would be over 1023 in the event of a stat drop do not occur. Boosting moves will also fail if you would go over 999.

Thawing
In the event a Pokemon is thawed out, it will use the command given prior to becoming frozen.

Thrashing about
All accuracy issues involving thrashing-about moves are fixed, including Rage. Additionally, a notice will appear stating the Pokemon has become confused once Thrash or Petal Dance concludes. While most situations that remove player input are fixed in Stadium, such as being frozen during Hyper Beam, if a Pokemon is frozen during a thrashing-about move, both players will not be able to attack or switch out.

Validation
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Pokemon Stadium has its own hackcheck, which will allow participation but flag illegal moves and the player's name in Purple. This includes moves obtainable through Tradebacks, since, at the time, GSC had not been released yet. This also applies to moves obtained at lower levels than what's possible, such as a Magmar with
1622726618626.png
Flamethrower at L30. Curiously, Fly Pikachu, a Japan-only event, is considered legal in the eyes of Pokemon Stadium, despite being impossible to trade to international games. Acid Diglett also validates just fine, despite being impossible to obtain. Because of this hackcheck, Tradeback moves like Thunder Punch on Alakazam can be implied through the purple text.

Move Mechanics
Aurora Beam, Acid, and Bubble Beam

All these moves had their effect chances reduced from 33.2% to 30%.

Bide
Bide no longer ignores accuracy checks and type immunity, becoming a regular perfectly accurate move. Ergo, it cannot hit semi-invulnerable Pokemon or Ghost-types. All damage stacking effects have also been removed due to the changes to damage storage; for example, switching a Pokemon out will not cause the previous turn's damage to stack. Bide allows move selection for its duration, but this has no material effect on gameplay.

Counter
Because of the changes to how damage is tracked, all unusual interactions that occur over the course of turns in RBY are removed. For example, countering a Body Slam from the previous turn as the opponent switches out is impossible and will cause the move to fail. Counter also cannot counter itself.

Dig and Fly
If Dig or Fly is interrupted through means such as confusion and paralysis, it will return to normal as is the case in later games. This removes the semi-invulnerability glitch.

Disable
Disable no longer causes a Pokemon's Rage to build if it misses. Disabled moves don't have their PP replaced with a "Disabled!" message, meaning a player has to select the move to see if it is still disabled. If a Pokemon tries to use a disabled move on the same turn as it gets disabled, the move's name will be displayed in the message.

Haze
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Haze now cures the user's status, making it act like Refresh in later generations. It also removes stat drops from burn or paralysis and resets the Toxic counter.

Hyper Beam
Hyper Beam now forces a recharge upon use regardless of the outcome, even in the event of a miss or KO, drastically reducing its utility.

Mimic
Mimic will not copy a move's maximum PP.

Mirror Move
Mirror Move now always copies two-turn charge moves from the beginning.

Psywave
Psywave will deal one damage at a minimum.

Rage
download (9).png

Rage's accuracy no longer drops to an extremely small number if it misses. In the event Disable is used and misses, the foe's Rage does not build, but Rage will still work if it connects.

Recover and Soft-Boiled
The recovery failure glitch was removed, meaning these moves won't fail on specific HP numbers.

Rest
Rest now counts under the game's innate Sleep Clause and removes the user's stat drops from major status conditions, massively buffing users such as Jolteon. It also resets the Toxic counter.

Substitute
Substitute now blocks status like in modern games. It also blocks draining moves like Mega Drain, matching the Japanese titles.

Struggle
Struggle now affects Ghost-types, preventing infinite battles. Since it's a recoil move, the Struggle user can also "skip" damage upon KOing a Pokemon.

Swift
Swift can no longer hit semi-invulnerable Pokemon.

Transform
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Transform now fails against Ditto, preventing infinite battles. If used by Ditto, it will also fail to transform into any Pokemon with Transform in its moveset. However, if any other Pokemon uses Transform, it can transform into anything else with Transform, allowing two opposing Mew to start an endless battle like in regular RBY.

Metagame Shifts
Pokemon Stadium changes the RBY OU metagame a lot, which has led to the existence of a "Stadium OU" format; while it's by no means a standard, it's still played by members of the RBY community.

The fall of sleep
Sleep is significantly worse in Stadium, with the turns spent sleeping now being generally inconsequential. 0-3 turns makes it generally a coinflip as to whether you're going to get mileage off of sleep: you either get a 0 or 1 turn wake or enough time for momentum. Substitute, Rest, and Sleep Clause's changes are also concerning, with the changes to each making them effective at blocking sleep. Ergo, Pokemon like Jynx see their usage drop off a cliff, and even Exeggutor drops Sleep Powder in favor of the permanence of Stun Spore.

Team Preview
Team Preview is extremely valuable in Stadium, telling you when Pokemon like Gengar and Articuno are in the back. This is a significant hit to their viability, reducing their surprise factor that can normally turn a game on its head. As a result, it becomes easier to play around these Pokemon and make otherwise difficult predictions.

Exeggutor's adaptation and Rest
Early on, players believed that Exeggutor would be much less useful in Stadium due to the nerfs to sleep and Explosion and an uptick in Substitute usage. However, with some adaptation, players began to remember Exeggutor's defensive prowess as well: it's far from just a status guru.

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Exeggutor
- Psychic
- Stun Spore
- Double-Edge / Explosion
- Rest

With the changes to Rest, Exeggutor can be used for much longer periods of time, not having to switch out to remove the Speed drop from paralysis. The longevity provided also makes it excellent at holding back Jolteon, which can be very deadly if it uses Focus Energy. The longevity means it's also much harder to wear Exeggutor down, with its gigantic stats and solid typing allowing it to continually heal off damage with Rest while it paralyzes multiple Pokemon with Stun Spore. Rest is much more difficult to punish in Stadium, as Hyper Beam's massive hit in viability and the nerfing of critical hits from faster Pokemon generally increases every Pokemon's longevity. It's not just a move for Exeggutor either; Jolteon, Rhydon, Slowbro, and Zapdos are also great users of the move that are well worth considering for a team.

Substitute's rise
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The changes to Substitute resulted in the move becoming very popular, sometimes even argued to be broken and bannable. However, this argument is often overstated and belies the opportunity cost that comes with using it. For example, while Alakazam can run Substitute, it loses a massive amount of attacking PP due to having to drop Seismic Toss, which also comes at the cost of significantly worse Starmie and Exeggutor matchups. Similar issues can be seen with Starmie, where it either has to drop valuable coverage or Thunder Wave, both of which will be sorely missed. Overall, while Substitute provides a short-term reward, its long-term benefits should be approached with question.

However, when it's good, it's excellent. For example, Rhydon can use Substitute without too much concern for Exeggutor, as Exeggutor can't sleep it through the Substitute anymore. Chansey is also a decent user if seeking to fine-tune it for matchups against Psychic-types, but it becomes significantly worse against Snorlax and Rhydon. Kangaskhan can utilize 103-HP Substitutes to guard against Seismic Toss and Thunder Wave at once, giving it free turns to try and KO Chansey. Persian is also a viable user, now being able to beat Tauros one-on-one, as it doesn't run Hyper Beam much anymore, and being able to fish for Body Slam paralysis behind a Substitute can be very helpful. The higher usage of Rest also makes Substitute much easier to set up for almost any Pokemon.

Focus Energy
With the changes to Focus Energy come new setup sweepers. These users help form a strong offensive backbone, making excellent use of the free turns Rest and Substitute users can provide them. While there are quite a few good users, such as Nidoking, Primeape, and Hitmonlee, few come close to Jolteon.

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Jolteon
- Focus Energy
- Thunderbolt
- Double Kick
- Rest

Jolteon's blazing Speed gives it a massive 71% critical hit rate when using Focus Energy, which is more than enough for it to wreak havoc. Two critical hit Double Kicks are enough to KO Chansey, and with its high PP, it can effortlessly outdo Substitute. Rest's changes are another massive boon to the set, letting Jolteon consistently wall Zapdos without losing Speed in the process. Walling Jolteon once it sets up can be very difficult, so seeing one at Team Preview will make you think twice about using a predictable Rest yourself. However, Focus Energy does come with natural inconsistency, and Jolteon still despises taking paralysis and having to use Rest earlier, so it's by no means a top-tier threat.

Hyper Beam's fall from grace
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Hyper Beam now always forces a recharge upon use, which makes it significantly more difficult to justify on sets. Ergo, offense is much weaker in Stadium, making continuous use of Rest harder to punish. Some Pokemon will use Double-Edge instead, though this is by no means a full replacement, as the recoil damage can be concerning if it isn't getting a KO every time. It should also never replace Body Slam, lest your Pokemon get walled by Starmie.

However, Hyper Beam remains a decent option for forcing your way through defensive Pokemon, in part due to a lack of better options. Sometimes, breaking a Pokemon by surprise can be worth the recharge turn, especially if behind a Substitute. Finally, as a "final goodbye" move or in a last Pokemon situation, the recharge is generally inconsequential. Overall, while a shadow of its former self, Hyper Beam is still functional and should not be ignored.

The death of partial trapping
Because merely switching can end a partial trapping chain, moves like Wrap are significantly worse. While still functional against paralyzed teams or with Agility, they generally just make both Pokemon switch out. If the trapper doesn't switch out as the foe does, this can allow free switches to faster Pokemon that can force the trapper out unless they switch themselves as well, making for a mindgame that isn't worth going for in a competitive setting.

Counter's changes
Counter essentially becomes the same as modern Counter, only it's still restricted to Normal- and Fighting-type moves, making it the weakest iteration of the move in the series. However, it's still viable counterplay to Pokemon like Persian and Snorlax; it just can't be used against switching Pokemon anymore.

Conclusion
Overall, Stadium is a stark deviation from traditional RBY and a much more defensive metagame. With many of the glitches gone, this can be considered to be the "final" version of the chromatic generation, and a worthy sendoff before the second generation changed the series forever. Whether it improved the game is up for debate, but there's only one way to find out: get out there and try it out yourself!
 
Last edited:

Plague von Karma

Banned deucer.
While this is a WIP, I am open to critique from anyone. I have yet to write Metagame Shifts or the Conclusion, so feel free to note anything you want added.
 
I'm not knowledgeable enough about Stadium's mechanics to notice minor errors or obscure glitches that might have been missed, but everything checks out from what I can tell.
 

SMB

is a Top Tiering Contributoris a Past SPL Championis a Former Smogon Metagame Tournament Circuit Championis a Former Old Generation Tournament Circuit Champion
World Defender
I was going to mention how team preview can affect to the viability of certain mons (gengar, articuno...) but I see you already have a spot reserved for it

Maybe mentioning something about persian? I don't know if this is worth tho since it's related to the sub and rest topics. Its viability compared to rby ou is way higher, it's able to 1v1 tauros (hyperbeam-less sets), sub being good helps it to fish for paras and the higher use of rest lets it come on the field easier.

Looks fine overall, you covered the most important topics :blobthumbsup:
 
some notes:
- rest is a great move that should be run in mons like lax, eggy, rhydon, slowbro and even zapdos (it can actually stall rhydon if it doesnt run rock slide). with the nerf on hyperbeam and crit-rates from faster mons, along with the reset on the speed drop, punishing the sleep cycle becomes more difficult

- i wouldn't say chansey is a great sub user. sub/toss does well against psychics but it's pretty bad against snorlax and sub users like kanga or rhydon. sub/ib is good if you're going for the freeze, but cant do much outside of that. moves like tbolt, counter or reflect might be better, or at least just as good. generally speaking, substitute works better on sweepers than on more defense-oriented mons

- double-edge isn't a great move and it should never replace body slam. it doesn't give you any advantage in the tauros ditto, makes you lose precious hp and you can get walled by non-paralyzed starmie

- hyperbeam is still somehow viable. due to the stallish nature of the meta, taking down mons and advacing is really hard, and in some situations hyperbeaming and recharging the next turn is worth the trade. if you manage to set up the sub, the recharging can even be free somehow. it can also win games in the last turn, especially if it is a tauros vs tauros situation. missing can be deadly tho
 

Adeleine

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IntroductionView attachment 346471
Pokemon Stadium is a well-known Pokemon spin-off, being the first time children of the 90s were able to see their little pocket monsters in 3D. This game fast became a cult classic for many reasons; the unique formats, playing Pokemon games on the big screen, and the Kid's Club. However, among hardcore RBYers, it's become a classic for another reason: the mechanics that make for an entirely different metagame compared to cartridge gameplay, giving it a "Generation 1.5" feel.

Unbeknownst to many, a Japanese Pokemon Stadium game came before the international game, which has been called "Stadium Zero" among the RBY Community, which and it is known for being the first instance of "Dexit" in a Pokemon game. This also means there are actually three games! While we won't delve deep into it in this guide, it "Stadium Zero" does contain some key differences that got imported over into this game.

Differences to RBYView attachment 346472
For those unfamiliar with RBY, it's recommended to read the RBY Mechanics Guide prior to this to better understand what's going on. Pokemon Stadium makes numerous changes to battle mechanics, removing many controversial glitches to make the game feel much like later generations. Whether it improved the game is arguable, with some players heavily disliking the Substitute change, while others praise it for being less buggy.

Game Mechanics
Accuracy and Evasion
The infamous 1/256 uncertainty was removed, giving attacks their stated accuracy in-game. As a result, 100% accurate moves will remain 100% accurate and so on. (worth also mentioning secondary effect chances actually having stated chances without the small uptick somewhere? up 2 u)

Accuracy and evasion also received changes to their stat stage multipliers, becoming identical to the same as in GSC. This makes accuracy and evasion much less potent.
Stage
-6​
-5​
-4​
-3​
-2​
-1​
0​
+1​
+2​
+3​
+4​
+5​
+6​
Fraction
1/3​
36/100​
43/100​
50/100
66/100​
75/100​
100/100​
133/100​
166/100​
200/100​
233/100​
266/100​
300/100​

Confusion
Confusion will show the move you attempted to use even if you hit yourself in confusion. If a move like Thrash would induce induces self-confusion, it will say so once it this occurs.

Critical hits, High-crit moves, and Focus EnergyView attachment 346473
Critical hits were completely reworked, with the base critical hit ratio becoming (Base Speed + 76) / 1024, rounding down and capping out at 99%. This means Pokemon with 75 Speed and above will receive worsened critical hit rates, while slower Pokemon will have increased critical hit rates. For example, Snorlax goes from 5.86% to 10%, while Electrode goes from 27.34% to 21%.

High-critical hit rate moves like Slash also received a different equation, that being (Base Speed + 76) / 128. While it this doesn't change the result for most Pokemon due to the 99% cap, it does slightly (if other helping is less slight, perhaps you could use it) help slower Pokemon with the moves. For example, Parasect's Slash goes from a meager 46.88% critical hit rate to 51%, making it at least work as desired more often than not.

Focus Energy also received a full rework, the new equation being (Base Speed + 236) / 512. For example, Nidoking will go from a 15% base (so it's totally obvious to new players you dont mean "from a use of old focus energy") critical hit rate all the way to 62%, making it very threatening. If using both Focus Energy and high-crit moves, the critical hit rate caps out at 99% guaranteed, though this doesn't actually help any Pokemon that learn both moves.

Damage tracking
Whenever a Pokemon is fully paralyzed, uses a two-turn charge move, or switches out, the stored damage is cleared. This makes Counter and Bide less powerful, as they cannot exploit stored damage across turns.

Desyncs are impossible possibility
Due to the nature of Pokemon Stadium not requiring a link cable or any connectivity at all, desyncs are impossible.

Exact HP
Pokemon Stadium will display both Pokemon's current and maximum HP, exposing potential DV combinations and showing if a Pokemon is in KO range.

Partial trapping changesView attachment 346475
Partial trapping—Bind, Clamp, Fire Spin, and Wrap—was reworked. In the event either Pokemon switches out, the turn instantly ends unless the other Pokemon is also switching, meaning that, (AC) while pivoting with partial trapping still exists, it works on both ends. It also This makes it somewhat difficult to trap Pokemon without a Speed boost with (could you clarify what about pokemon like dnite gives them difficulty) Pokemon like Dragonite, although it's partial-trapping moves are also harder to PP stall due to the trapper not being forced to use their partial trapping move them again.

Additionally, there is no indication when partial trapping has concluded due to the lack of a proper Fight Menu. You do get to pick a move while partial trapped, but it this doesn't actually matter; in the event partial trapping continues, the input is ignored. Ergo, neither player knows whether partial trapping will continue.

Recoil
If a Pokemon or Substitute is KOed by a recoil move like Submission or Double-Edge, the attacker takes no damage. This gives valuable counterplay to Substitute, as well as a partial Hyper Beam replacement considering its nerfs. Recoil no longer influences stored damage, so it cannot be countered with Counter (if you dont like repeated counter feel free to tinker, or mayb ask me and ill think of smth) and does not contribute to Bide's damage building.

Self-KOs
Explosion and Self-Destruct will KO a Pokemon attacking a Substitute. Additionally, Self-KO Clause is run innately, so forcing ties is impossible and results in a loss for the Exploding Pokemon. attacker. (or "self-KOing Pokemon")

Sleep
Stadium innately runs its own Sleep Clause, which counts Rest. As a result, putting your own Pokemon to sleep with Rest effectively blocks all sleep moves until it wakes up. It should be noted that this does not influence block (I assume this is adequate?) putting further Pokemon to sleep using Rest.

Sleep also received a gigantic nerf, going from 0-6 turns to 0-3. This makes sleep very inconsistent, albeit still at least somewhat usable.

Stat handlingView attachment 346476
The stat reapplication glitch is removed, meaning that Pokemon like Slowbro can't reapply stat drops from burn or paralysis. Stat drops from major status are now mostly tied to the statuses themselves, meaning that, when the major status is removed, the stat drop usually is as well. For example, when Rest or Haze is used, the stat drop from paralysis or burn will be removed alongside the status.

When Using a boosting move that would affects a stat that has been dropped by burn or paralysis, unlike in RBY or Stadium 2, it will not ignore the status's stat drop. Thus, if Agility is used while paralyzed, the stat drop from paralysis will still be factored in.

Rollovers as a result of stats that would be over 1023 in the event of a stat drop do not occur. Boosting moves will also fail if you would go over 999.

Thawing
In the event a Pokemon thaws out, is thawed out, (minor/subjective but prevents possible "pokemon can thaw themselves now??") it will use the command given prior to becoming frozen.

Thrashing about
All accuracy issues involving thrashing about moves are fixed, including Rage. Additionally, a notice will appear stating the Pokemon has become confused once Thrash or Petal Dance concludes. While most situations that cause player input is removed remove player input are fixed in Stadium, such as being frozen during Hyper Beam, if a Pokemon is frozen during a thrashing about move, both (marginal specification but may as well make clear you dont mean "players using a pokemon frozen in this way". unless you do, in which case you should prob make that claer) players will not be able to attack or switch out.

ValidationView attachment 346490
Pokemon Stadium has its own hackcheck, which will allow participation but flag illegal moves and the player's name in Purple. This includes moves obtainable through Tradebacks, (AC) since, at the time, GSC had not been released yet. This also applies to moves obtained at lower levels than what's possible, such as a Magmar with View attachment 346491Flamethrower at L30. Curiously, Fly Pikachu, a Japan-only event, is considered legal in the eyes of Pokemon Stadium, despite being impossible to trade to international games. Acid Diglett also validates just fine, despite being impossible to obtain. Because of this hackcheck, Tradeback moves can be implied through the purple text.

Move Mechanics
Aurora Beam, Acid, and Bubble Beam
All these moves had their effect chances reduced from 33.2% to 30%.

Bide
Bide no longer ignores accuracy and type immunity, becoming a 100% accurate move. Ergo, it cannot hit semi-invulnerable Pokemon or Ghost-types. All damage stacking effects have also been removed as a result of due to (just slight ease of reading) the changes to damage storage; for example, switching a Pokemon out will not cause the previous turn's damage to stack. Bide allows move selection for its duration, but this has no material effect on gameplay.

Counter
Because of the changes to how damage is tracked, all unusual interactions that occur over the course of turns in RBY are removed. For example, countering a Body Slam from the previous turn as the opponent switches out is impossible and will cause the move to fail. Counter also cannot counter itself.

Dig and Fly
If Dig or Fly are interrupted through means such as confusion or and paralysis, they will return to normal as is the case in later games. This removes the semi-invulnerability glitch.

Disable
Disable no longer causes a Pokemon's Rage to build if it misses. Disabled moves don't have their PP replaced with a "Disabled!" message, meaning a player has to select the move to see if it is still disabled. If a Pokemon tries to use a disabled move on the same turn as it gets disabled, the move's name will be displayed in the message.

HazeView attachment 346477
Haze now cures the user's status, making it act like Refresh in later generations. It also removes stat drops from burn or paralysis and resets the Toxic counter.

Hyper Beam
Hyper Beam now forces a recharge upon use regardless of the outcome, even in the event of a miss or KO, drastically reducing its utility.

Mimic
Mimic will not copy a move's maximum PP.

Mirror Move
Mirror Move now always copies 2-turn two-turn charge moves from the beginning.

Psywave
Psywave will deal 1 damage at a minimum.

RageView attachment 346478
Rage's accuracy no longer drops to an extremely small number if it misses. In the event Disable is used and misses, the foe's Rage does not build, but (Rage or Disable?) will still work if it connects.

Recover & and Soft-Boiled
The recovery failure glitch was removed, meaning they these moves won't fail on specific HP numbers.

Rest
Rest now counts under the game's innate Sleep Clause and removes the user's stat drops from major status conditions, massively buffing users such as Jolteon. It also resets the Toxic counter.

Substitute
Substitute now blocks status like in modern games. It also blocks draining moves like Mega Drain, matching the Japanese titles.

Struggle
Struggle now affects Ghost-types, preventing infinite battles. Since it's a recoil move, the Struggle user can also "skip" damage upon KOing a Pokemon.

Swift
Swift can no longer hit semi-invulnerable Pokemon.

TransformView attachment 346479
Transform now fails against Ditto, preventing infinite battles. If the move is used by Ditto, it will also fail to transform into any Pokemon with Transform in its moveset. However, if any other Pokemon uses Transform, it can transform into anything else with Transform can still be transformed into, allowing two opposing Mew to start an endless battle like in regular RBY.

Metagame Shifts
Pokemon Stadium changes the RBY OU metagame a lot, which has led to the existence of a "Stadium OU" format; while it's by no means a standard, it's still played by members of the RBY community.

The fall of sleep
Sleep is significantly worse in Stadium, with the turns spent sleeping now being generally inconsequential. 0-3 turns makes it generally a 50/50 as to whether you're going to get mileage off of it: sleep: you either get a 0 or 1 turn wake (RC) or enough time for momentum. Substitute, Rest, and Sleep Clause's changes are also concerning, all with both moves (I imagine?) effectively blocking sleep. Ergo, Pokemon like Jynx see their usage drop off a cliff, and even Exeggutor drops Sleep Powder in favor of the permanence of Stun Spore.

Team Preview
Team Preview is extremely valuable in Stadium, telling you when Pokemon like Gengar and Articuno are in the back. This is a significant hit to their viability, reducing their surprise factor that can normally turn a game on its head. As a result, it becomes easier to play around these Pokemon and make otherwise difficult predictions.

Exeggutor's adaptation and Rest
Early on, players believed that Exeggutor would be much less useful in Stadium due to the nerfs to sleep, Explosion, sleep and Explosion and an uptick in Substitute usage. However, with some adaptation, players began to remember Exeggutor's defensive prowess as well: it's far from just a status guru.

View attachment 346808
Exeggutor
- Psychic
- Stun Spore
- Double-Edge / Explosion
- Rest

With the changes to Rest, Exeggutor can be used for much longer periods of time, not having to switch out to remove the Speed drop from paralysis. This (the longevity, the para speed drop removal, or both? pls specify) also makes it excellent at holding back Jolteon, which can be very deadly if it uses Focus Energy. With this, The longevity means (I assume; possibly change depending on how you react to previous comment) it's also much harder to wear Exeggutor down, with its gigantic stats and solid typing allowing it to continually Rest heal off damage with Rest while it paralyzes multiple Pokemon with Stun Spore. Rest is much more difficult to punish in Stadium, as Hyper Beam's massive hit in viability and the nerfing of critical hits from faster Pokemon generally increases every Pokemon's longevity. It's not just a move for Exeggutor either; Jolteon, Rhydon, Slowbro, and Zapdos are also great users of the move that are well worth considering for a team.

Substitute's riseView attachment 346811
The changes to Substitute result in the move becoming very popular, sometimes even argued to be broken and bannable. However, this argument is often overstated and belies the opportunity cost that comes with using it. For example, while Alakazam can run Substitute, it loses a massive amount of attacking PP due to having to drop Seismic Toss, which also comes at the cost of significantly worse Starmie and Exeggutor matchups. Similar issues can be seen with Starmie, where it either has to drop valuable coverage or Thunder Wave, both of which will be sorely missed. Overall, while Substitute provides a short-term reward, its long-term benefits should be approached with question.

However, when it's good, it's excellent. For example, Rhydon can use Substitute without too much concern for Exeggutor, as Exeggutor can't sleep it through the Substitute anymore. Chansey is also a decent user if the intention is seeking to fine-tune it for matchups against Psychic-types, but it becomes significantly worse against Snorlax and Rhydon. Kangaskhan can utilise 103-HP utilize 103 HP Substitutes to guard against Seismic Toss and Thunder Wave at once, giving it free turns to try and KO Chansey. Persian is also a viable user, now being able to beat Tauros one-on-one, (AC) as it doesn't run Hyper Beam much anymore, and being able to fish for Body Slam paralysis behind a Substitute can be very helpful. The higher usage of Rest also makes Substitute much easier to set up for almost any Pokemon.

Focus Energy
With the changes to Focus Energy come new setup sweepers. These users help form a strong offensive backbone, making excellent use of the free turns Rest and Substitute users can provide them. While there are quite a few good users, such as Nidoking, Primeape, and Hitmonlee, few come close to Jolteon.

View attachment 346809
Jolteon
- Focus Energy
- Thunderbolt
- Double Kick
- Rest

Jolteon's blazing Speed gives it a massive 71% critical hit rate when using Focus Energy, which is more than enough for it to wreak havoc. Two critical hit Double Kicks are enough to 2HKO Chansey, and with its high PP, it can effortlessly outdo Substitute. Rest's changes are another massive boon to the set, letting Jolteon consistently wall Zapdos without losing Speed in the process. Walling Jolteon once it sets up can be very difficult, so seeing one in Team Preview will make you think twice about using a predictable Rest yourself. However, Focus Energy does come with natural inconsistency, and Jolteon still despises taking paralysis and having to use Rest earlier, so it's by no means a top tier threat.

Hyper Beam's fall from graceView attachment 347171
Hyper Beam now always forces a recharge upon use, which makes it significantly more difficult to justify on sets. Ergo, offense is much weaker in Stadium, making continuous use of Rest harder to punish. Some Pokemon will use Double-Edge instead, though this is by no means a full (bc "as well as a (partial) Hyper Beam replacement" earlier) replacement, as the recoil damage can be concerning if it isn't getting a KO every time. It should also never replace Body Slam, lest your Pokemon get walled by Starmie.

However, Hyper Beam remains a decent option for forcing your way through defensive Pokemon, in part due to a lack of better options. Sometimes, breaking a Pokemon by surprise can be worth the recharge turn, especially if behind a Substitute. Finally, as a "final goodbye" move or in a last Pokemon situation, Hyper Beam the recharge (I imagine?) is generally inconsequential. Overall, while a shadow of its former self, Hyper Beam is still functional and should never not (subjective/tonal but this move looks not great) be ignored.

The death of partial trapping
Because merely switching can end a partial trapping chain, moves like Wrap are significantly worse. While still functional against paralyzed teams or with AgiliWrap, it Agility, they generally just makes both Pokemon switch out. If the trapper doesn't switch out as the foe does, this (I imagine?) can allow free switch-ins to faster Pokemon that can force the trapper out unless they switch themselves as well, making for a mindgame that isn't worth going for in a competitive setting.

Counter's changes
Counter essentially becomes the same as modern Counter, only it's still restricted to Normal- and Fighting-type moves, making it the weakest iteration of the move in the series. However, it's still viable counterplay to Pokemon like Persian and Snorlax; (colon -> semicolon) it just can't be used against switching Pokemon anymore.

Conclusion
Overall, Stadium is a stark deviation from traditional RBY and a much more defensive metagame. With many of the glitches gone, this can be considered to be the "final" version of the chromatic generation, and a worthy sendoff before the second generation changed the series forever. Whether it improved the game is up for debate, but there's only one way to find out: get out there and try it out yourself!


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Art by ausma

IntroductionView attachment 346471
Pokemon Stadium is a well-known Pokemon spin-off, being the first time children of the 90s were able to see their little pocket monsters in 3D. This game fast quickly became a cult classic for many reasons:(semicolon -> colon) the unique formats, playing Pokemon games on the big screen, and the Kid's Club. However, among hardcore RBYers, it's become a classic for another reason: the mechanics that make for an entirely different metagame compared to cartridge gameplay, giving it a "Generation 1.5" feel.

Unbeknownst to many, a Japanese Pokemon Stadium game came before the international game, which has been called "Stadium Zero" among within the RBY Community, and it is known for being the first instance of "Dexit" in a Pokemon game. This also means there are actually three games! While we won't delve deep into it in this guide, "Stadium Zero" does contain some key differences that got imported over into this game.

Differences to RBYView attachment 346472
For those unfamiliar with RBY, it's recommended to read the RBY Mechanics Guide prior to this to better understand what's going on. Pokemon Stadium makes numerous changes to battle mechanics, removing many controversial glitches to make the game feel much like later generations. Whether it improved the game is arguable, with some players heavily disliking the Substitute change, while others praise it for being less buggy.

Game Mechanics
Accuracy and Evasion

The infamous 1/256 uncertainty was removed, giving attacks their stated accuracy in-game. As a result, 100% perfectly accurate moves will remain 100% perfectly accurate and so on (unsure what this last bit means? are you just affirming that the stated accuracies of moves are now true? feels a bit unnecessary to me). Secondary effect chances also experienced a similar change, now being as stated; for example, Thunderbolt's paralysis chance is now 10%, rather than 10.2%.

Accuracy and evasion also received changes to their stat stage multipliers, becoming the same as in GSC. This makes accuracy and evasion much less potent.
Stage
-6​
-5​
-4​
-3​
-2​
-1​
0​
+1​
+2​
+3​
+4​
+5​
+6​
Fraction
1/3​
36/100​
43/100​
50/100
66/100​
75/100​
100/100​
133/100​
166/100​
200/100​
233/100​
266/100​
300/100​

Confusion
Confusion will show the move you attempted to use even if you hit yourself in confusion. If a move like Thrash induces self confusion(RH), it will say so once this occurs.

Critical hits, High-crit moves, and Focus EnergyView attachment 346473
Critical hits were completely reworked, with the base critical hit ratio becoming (Base Speed + 76) / 1024, rounding down and capping out at 99%. This means Pokemon with base 75 Speed and above will receive worsened critical hit rates, while slower Pokemon will have increased critical hit rates. For example, Snorlax goes from 5.86% to 10%, while Electrode goes from 27.34% to 21%.

High-critical hit rate moves like Slash also received a different equation, that being (Base Speed + 76) / 128. While this doesn't change the result for most Pokemon due to the 99% cap, it does slightly help slower Pokemon with the moves. For example, Parasect's Slash goes from a meager 46.88% critical hit rate to 51%, making it at least work as desired more often than not.

Focus Energy also received a full rework, the new equation being (Base Speed + 236) / 512. For example, Nidoking will go from a 15% base critical hit rate all the way to 62%, making it very threatening. If using both Focus Energy and high-crit moves, the critical hit rate caps out at 99% guaranteed, though this doesn't actually help any Pokemon that learn learns both moves.

Damage tracking
Whenever a Pokemon is fully paralyzed, uses a two-turn charge move, or switches out, the stored damage is cleared. This makes Counter and Bide less powerful, as they cannot exploit stored damage across turns.

Desync possibility
Due to the nature of Pokemon Stadium not requiring a link cable or any connectivity at all, desyncs are impossible.

Exact HP
Pokemon Stadium will display both Pokemon's current and maximum HP, exposing potential DV combinations and showing if a Pokemon is in KO range.

Partial trapping View attachment 346475
Partial trapping—Bind, Clamp, Fire Spin, and Wrap—was reworked. In the event either Pokemon switches out, the turn instantly ends unless the other Pokemon is also switching, meaning that, while pivoting with partial trapping still exists, it works on both ends. This makes it somewhat difficult to trap Pokemon without a Speed boost with Pokemon like Dragonite, although partial-trapping moves are also harder to PP stall due to the trapper not being forced to use them again.

Additionally, there is no indication when partial trapping has concluded due to the lack of a proper Fight Menu. You do get to pick a move while partial trapped, but this doesn't actually matter; in the event partial trapping continues, the input is ignored. Ergo, neither player knows whether partial trapping will continue.

Recoil
If a Pokemon or Substitute is KOed by a recoil move like Submission or Double-Edge, the attacker takes no damage. This gives valuable counterplay to Substitute, as well as a partial Hyper Beam replacement considering its nerfs. Recoil damage no longer influences stored damage, so it cannot be countered with Counter and does not contribute to Bide's damage building.

Self-KOs
Explosion and Self-Destruct will KO a Pokemon attacking a Substitute. Additionally, Self-KO Clause is run innately, so forcing ties is impossible and results in a loss for the self-KOing Pokemon.

Sleep
Stadium innately runs its own Sleep Clause, which counts Rest. As a result, putting your own Pokemon to sleep with Rest effectively blocks all sleep moves until it wakes up. It should be noted that this does not block putting further Pokemon to sleep using Rest.

Sleep also received a gigantic nerf, going from 0-6 turns to 0-3. This makes sleep very inconsistent, albeit still at least somewhat usable.

Stat handlingView attachment 346476
The stat reapplication glitch is removed, meaning that Pokemon like Slowbro can't reapply stat drops from burn or paralysis. Stat drops from major status are now mostly tied to the statuses themselves, meaning that (RC) when the major status is removed, the stat drop usually is as well. For example, when Rest or Haze is used, the stat drop from paralysis or burn will be removed alongside the status.

Using a boosting move that affects a stat that has been dropped by burn or paralysis, unlike in RBY or Stadium 2, will not ignore the status's stat drop. Thus, if Agility is used while paralyzed, the stat drop from paralysis will still be factored in.

Rollovers as a result of stats that would be over 1023 in the event of a stat drop do not occur. Boosting moves will also fail if you would go over 999.

Thawing
In the event a Pokemon is thawed out, it will use the command given prior to becoming frozen.

Thrashing about
All accuracy issues involving thrashing-about(AH) moves are fixed, including Rage. Additionally, a notice will appear stating the Pokemon has become confused once Thrash or Petal Dance concludes. While most situations that remove player input are fixed in Stadium, such as being frozen during Hyper Beam, if a Pokemon is frozen during a thrashing-about(AH) move, both players will not be able to attack or switch out.

ValidationView attachment 346490
Pokemon Stadium has its own hackcheck, which will allow participation but flag illegal moves and the player's name in Purple. This includes moves obtainable through Tradebacks, since, at the time, GSC had not been released yet. This also applies to moves obtained at lower levels than what's possible, such as a Magmar with View attachment 346491Flamethrower at L30. Curiously, Fly Pikachu, a Japan-only event, is considered legal in the eyes of Pokemon Stadium, despite being impossible to trade to international games. Acid Diglett also validates just fine, despite being impossible to obtain. Because of this hackcheck, Tradeback moves can be implied through the purple text.

Move Mechanics
Aurora Beam, Acid, and Bubble Beam

All these moves had their effect chances reduced from 33.2% to 30%.

Bide
Bide no longer ignores accuracy and type immunity, becoming a 100% perfectly accurate move. Ergo, it cannot hit semi-invulnerable Pokemon or Ghost-types. All damage stacking effects have also been removed due to the changes to damage storage; for example, switching a Pokemon out will not cause the previous turn's damage to stack. Bide allows move selection for its duration, but this has no material effect on gameplay.

Counter
Because of the changes to how damage is tracked, all unusual interactions that occur over the course of turns in RBY are removed. For example, countering a Body Slam from the previous turn as the opponent switches out is impossible and will cause the move to fail. Counter also cannot counter itself.

Dig and Fly
If Dig or Fly are is interrupted through means such as confusion and paralysis, they it will return to normal as is the case in later games. This removes the semi-invulnerability glitch.

Disable
Disable no longer causes a Pokemon's Rage to build if it misses. Disabled moves don't have their PP replaced with a "Disabled!" message, meaning a player has to select the move to see if it is still disabled. If a Pokemon tries to use a disabled move on the same turn as it gets disabled, the move's name will be displayed in the message.

HazeView attachment 346477
Haze now cures the user's status, making it act like Refresh in later generations. It also removes stat drops from burn or paralysis and resets the Toxic counter.

Hyper Beam
Hyper Beam now forces a recharge upon use regardless of the outcome, even in the event of a miss or KO, drastically reducing its utility.

Mimic
Mimic will not copy a move's maximum PP.

Mirror Move
Mirror Move now always copies two-turn charge moves from the beginning.

Psywave
Psywave will deal 1 one damage at a minimum.

RageView attachment 346478
Rage's accuracy no longer drops to an extremely small number if it misses. In the event Disable is used and misses, the foe's Rage does not build, but Rage will still work if it connects.

Recover and Soft-Boiled
The recovery failure glitch was removed, meaning these moves won't fail on specific HP numbers.

Rest
Rest now counts under the game's innate Sleep Clause and removes the user's stat drops from major status conditions, massively buffing users such as Jolteon. It also resets the Toxic counter.

Substitute
Substitute now blocks status like in modern games. It also blocks draining moves like Mega Drain, matching the Japanese titles.

Struggle
Struggle now affects Ghost-types, preventing infinite battles. Since it's a recoil move, the Struggle user can also "skip" damage upon KOing a Pokemon.

Swift
Swift can no longer hit semi-invulnerable Pokemon.

TransformView attachment 346479
Transform now fails against Ditto, preventing infinite battles. If used by Ditto, it will also fail to transform into any Pokemon with Transform in its moveset. However, if any other Pokemon uses Transform, it can transform into anything else with Transform, allowing two opposing Mew to start an endless battle like in regular RBY.

Metagame Shifts
Pokemon Stadium changes the RBY OU metagame a lot, which has led to the existence of a "Stadium OU" format; while it's by no means a standard, it's still played by members of the RBY community.

The fall of sleep
Sleep is significantly worse in Stadium, with the turns spent sleeping now being generally inconsequential. 0-3 turns makes it generally a 50/50 coinflip as to whether you're going to get mileage off of sleep: you either get a 0 or 1 turn wake or enough time for momentum. Substitute, Rest, and Sleep Clause's changes are also concerning, with the changes to each making them effective at blocking sleep. Ergo, Pokemon like Jynx see their usage drop off a cliff, and even Exeggutor drops Sleep Powder in favor of the permanence of Stun Spore.

Team Preview
Team Preview is extremely valuable in Stadium, telling you when Pokemon like Gengar and Articuno are in the back. This is a significant hit to their viability, reducing their surprise factor that can normally turn a game on its head. As a result, it becomes easier to play around these Pokemon and make otherwise difficult predictions.

Exeggutor's adaptation and Rest
Early on, players believed that Exeggutor would be much less useful in Stadium due to the nerfs to sleep and Explosion and an uptick in Substitute usage. However, with some adaptation, players began to remember Exeggutor's defensive prowess as well: it's far from just a status guru.

View attachment 346808
Exeggutor
- Psychic
- Stun Spore
- Double-Edge / Explosion
- Rest

With the changes to Rest, Exeggutor can be used for much longer periods of time, not having to switch out to remove the Speed drop from paralysis. The longevity provided also makes it excellent at holding back Jolteon, which can be very deadly if it uses Focus Energy. The longevity means it's also much harder to wear Exeggutor down, with its gigantic stats and solid typing allowing it to continually heal off damage with Rest while it paralyzes multiple Pokemon with Stun Spore. Rest is much more difficult to punish in Stadium, as Hyper Beam's massive hit in viability and the nerfing of critical hits from faster Pokemon generally increases every Pokemon's longevity. It's not just a move for Exeggutor either; Jolteon, Rhydon, Slowbro, and Zapdos are also great users of the move that are well worth considering for a team.

Substitute's riseView attachment 346811
The changes to Substitute result resulted in the move becoming very popular, sometimes even argued to be broken and bannable. However, this argument is often overstated and belies the opportunity cost that comes with using it. For example, while Alakazam can run Substitute, it loses a massive amount of attacking PP due to having to drop Seismic Toss, which also comes at the cost of significantly worse Starmie and Exeggutor matchups. Similar issues can be seen with Starmie, where it either has to drop valuable coverage or Thunder Wave, both of which will be sorely missed. Overall, while Substitute provides a short-term reward, its long-term benefits should be approached with question.

However, when it's good, it's excellent. For example, Rhydon can use Substitute without too much concern for Exeggutor, as Exeggutor can't sleep it through the Substitute anymore. Chansey is also a decent user if seeking to fine-tune it for matchups against Psychic-types, but it becomes significantly worse against Snorlax and Rhydon. Kangaskhan can utilize 103-HP Substitutes to guard against Seismic Toss and Thunder Wave at once, giving it free turns to try and KO Chansey. Persian is also a viable user, now being able to beat Tauros one-on-one, as it doesn't run Hyper Beam much anymore, and being able to fish for Body Slam paralysis behind a Substitute can be very helpful. The higher usage of Rest also makes Substitute much easier to set up for almost any Pokemon.

Focus Energy
With the changes to Focus Energy come new setup sweepers. These users help form a strong offensive backbone, making excellent use of the free turns Rest and Substitute users can provide them. While there are quite a few good users, such as Nidoking, Primeape, and Hitmonlee, few come close to Jolteon.

View attachment 346809
Jolteon
- Focus Energy
- Thunderbolt
- Double Kick
- Rest

Jolteon's blazing Speed gives it a massive 71% critical hit rate when using Focus Energy, which is more than enough for it to wreak havoc. Two critical hit Double Kicks are enough to KO Chansey, and with its high PP, it can effortlessly outdo Substitute. Rest's changes are another massive boon to the set, letting Jolteon consistently wall Zapdos without losing Speed in the process. Walling Jolteon once it sets up can be very difficult, so seeing one in at Team Preview will make you think twice about using a predictable Rest yourself. However, Focus Energy does come with natural inconsistency, and Jolteon still despises taking paralysis and having to use Rest earlier, so it's by no means a top-tier(AH) threat.

Hyper Beam's fall from graceView attachment 347171
Hyper Beam now always forces a recharge upon use, which makes it significantly more difficult to justify on sets. Ergo, offense is much weaker in Stadium, making continuous use of Rest harder to punish. Some Pokemon will use Double-Edge instead, though this is by no means a full replacement, as the recoil damage can be concerning if it isn't getting a KO every time. It should also never replace Body Slam, lest your Pokemon get walled by Starmie.

However, Hyper Beam remains a decent option for forcing your way through defensive Pokemon, in part due to a lack of better options. Sometimes, breaking a Pokemon by surprise can be worth the recharge turn, especially if behind a Substitute. Finally, as a "final goodbye" move or in a last Pokemon situation, the recharge is generally inconsequential. Overall, while a shadow of its former self, Hyper Beam is still functional and should not be ignored.

The death of partial trapping
Because merely switching can end a partial trapping chain, moves like Wrap are significantly worse. While still functional against paralyzed teams or with Agility, they generally just make both Pokemon switch out. If the trapper doesn't switch out as the foe does, this can allow free switch-ins switches to faster Pokemon that can force the trapper out unless they switch themselves as well, making for a mindgame that isn't worth going for in a competitive setting.

Counter's changes
Counter essentially becomes the same as modern Counter, only it's still restricted to Normal- and Fighting-type moves, making it the weakest iteration of the move in the series. However, it's still viable counterplay to Pokemon like Persian and Snorlax; it just can't be used against switching Pokemon anymore.

Conclusion
Overall, Stadium is a stark deviation from traditional RBY and a much more defensive metagame. With many of the glitches gone, this can be considered to be the "final" version of the chromatic generation, and a worthy sendoff before the second generation changed the series forever. Whether it improved the game is up for debate, but there's only one way to find out: get out there and try it out yourself!

gp 2/2 when done
 

Ryota Mitarai

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A Beginner's Guide to Pokémon Stadium

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[page]
<div class="author">By <a href="/forums/members/plague-von-karma.236353/" target="_blank">Plague von Karma</a>. Art by <a href="/forums/members/ausma.360720/" target="_blank">ausma</a>.</div>

<div class="align-center">
    <img src="/rb/articles/pokemon_stadium_guide_art.png" alt="A Beginner's Guide to Pok&eacute;mon Stadium art" />
</div>

<h2>Introduction</h2>

<p>Pok&eacute;mon Stadium is a well-known Pok&eacute;mon spin-off, being the first time children of the 90s were able to see their little pocket monsters in 3D. This game quickly became a cult classic for many reasons: the unique formats, playing Pok&eacute;mon games on the big screen, and the Kid's Club. However, among hardcore RBYers, it's become a classic for another reason: the mechanics that make for an entirely different metagame compared to cartridge gameplay, giving it a "Generation 1.5" feel.</p>

<p>Unbeknownst to many, a Japanese Pok&eacute;mon Stadium game came before the international game, which has been called "Stadium Zero" within the RBY Community, and it is known for being the first instance of "Dexit" in a Pok&eacute;mon game. This also means there are actually three games! While we won't delve deep into it in this guide, "Stadium Zero" does contain some key differences that got imported over into this game.</p>

<div id="toc">
    <h3>Table of Contents</h3>
    <ul class="links">
        <li class="link"><a href="#differences">1. Differences to RBY</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
                <li><a href="#game-mechanics">Game Mechanics</a></li>
                <li><a href="#move-mechanics">Move Mechanics</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li class="link"><a href="#metagame-shifts">2. Metagame Shifts</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
                <li><a href="#fall-of-sleep">The Fall of Sleep</a></li>
                <li><a href="#team-preview">Team Preview</a></li>
                <li><a href="#exeggutor-rest">Exeggutor's Adaption and Rest</a></li>
                <li><a href="#rise-of-substitute">Substitute's Rise</a></li>
                <li><a href="#focus-energy">Focus Energy</a></li>
                <li><a href="#fall-of-hyperbeam">Hyper Beam's Fall from Grace</a></li>
                <li><a href="#death-of-partial-trapping">The Death of Partial Trapping</a></li>
                <li><a href="#counter">Counter's Changes</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
    </ul>
</div>

<hr />

<h2 id="differences">Differences to RBY</h2>

<p>For those unfamiliar with RBY, it's recommended to read <a href="/rb/articles/rby_mechanics_guide" target="_blank">the RBY Mechanics Guide</a> prior to this to better understand what's going on. Pok&eacute;mon Stadium makes numerous changes to battle mechanics, removing many controversial glitches to make the game feel much like later generations. Whether it improved the game is arguable, with some players heavily disliking the Substitute change, while others praise it for being less buggy.</p>

<h3 id="game-mechanics">Game Mechanics</h3>

<h4>Accuracy and Evasion</h4>

<p>The infamous 1/256 uncertainty was removed, giving attacks their stated accuracy in-game. Secondary effect chances also experienced a similar change; for example, Thunderbolt's paralysis chance is now 10%, rather than 10.2%.</p>

<p>Accuracy and evasion also received changes to their stat stage multipliers, becoming the same as in GSC. This makes accuracy and evasion much less potent.</p>

<table class="rby-table">
    <tr>
        <th>Stage</th>
        <td>-6</td>
        <td>-5</td>
        <td>-4</td>
        <td>-3</td>
        <td>-2</td>
        <td>-1</td>
        <td>0</td>
        <td>+1</td>
        <td>+2</td>
        <td>+3</td>
        <td>+4</td>
        <td>+5</td>
        <td>+6</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <th>Fraction</th>
        <td>1/3</td>
        <td>36/100</td>
        <td>43/100</td>
        <td>50/100</td>
        <td>66/100</td>
        <td>75/100</td>
        <td>100/100</td>
        <td>133/100</td>
        <td>166/100</td>
        <td>200/100</td>
        <td>233/100</td>
        <td>266/100</td>
        <td>300/100</td>
    </tr>
</table>

<h4>Confusion</h4>

<p>Confusion will show the move you attempted to use even if you hit yourself in confusion. If a move like Thrash induces self confusion, it will say so once this occurs.</p>

<h4>Critical hits, High-crit moves, and Focus Energy</h4>

<p>Critical hits were completely reworked, with the base critical hit ratio becoming (Base Speed + 76) / 1024, rounding down and capping out at 99%. This means Pok&eacute;mon with base 75 Speed and above will receive worsened critical hit rates, while slower Pok&eacute;mon will have increased critical hit rates. For example, Snorlax goes from 5.86% to 10%, while Electrode goes from 27.34% to 21%.</p>

<p>High-critical hit rate moves like Slash also received a different equation, that being (Base Speed + 76) / 128. While this doesn't change the result for most Pok&eacute;mon due to the 99% cap, it does slightly help slower Pok&eacute;mon with the moves. For example, Parasect's Slash goes from a meager 46.88% critical hit rate to 51%, making it at least work as desired more often than not.</p>

<p>Focus Energy also received a full rework, the new equation being (Base Speed + 236) / 512. For example, Nidoking will go from a 15% base critical hit rate all the way to 62%, making it very threatening. If using both Focus Energy and high-crit moves, the critical hit rate caps out at 99% guaranteed, though this doesn't actually help any Pok&eacute;mon that learns both moves.</p>

<h4>Damage tracking</h4>

<p>Whenever a Pok&eacute;mon is fully paralyzed, uses a two-turn charge move, or switches out, the stored damage is cleared. This makes Counter and Bide less powerful, as they cannot exploit stored damage across turns.</p>

<h4>Desync possibility</h4>

<p>Due to the nature of Pok&eacute;mon Stadium not requiring a link cable or any connectivity at all, desyncs are impossible.</p>

<h4>Exact HP</h4>

<p>Pok&eacute;mon Stadium will display both Pok&eacute;mon's current and maximum HP, exposing potential DV combinations and showing if a Pok&eacute;mon is in KO range.</p>

<h4>Partial trapping</h4>

<p>Partial trapping&mdash;Bind, Clamp, Fire Spin, and Wrap&mdash;was reworked. In the event either Pok&eacute;mon switches out, the turn instantly ends unless the other Pok&eacute;mon is also switching, meaning that, while pivoting with partial trapping still exists, it works on both ends. This makes it somewhat difficult to trap Pok&eacute;mon without a Speed boost with Pok&eacute;mon like Dragonite, although partial-trapping moves are also harder to PP stall due to the trapper not being forced to use them again.</p>

<p>Additionally, there is no indication when partial trapping has concluded due to the lack of a proper Fight Menu. You do get to pick a move while partial trapped, but this doesn't actually matter; in the event partial trapping continues, the input is ignored. Ergo, neither player knows whether partial trapping will continue.</p>

<h4>Recoil</h4>

<p>If a Pok&eacute;mon or Substitute is KOed by a recoil move like Submission or Double-Edge, the attacker takes no damage. This gives valuable counterplay to Substitute, as well as a partial Hyper Beam replacement considering its nerfs. Recoil damage no longer influences stored damage, so it cannot be countered with Counter and does not contribute to Bide's damage building.</p>

<h4>Self-KOs</h4>

<p>Explosion and Self-Destruct will KO a Pok&eacute;mon attacking a Substitute. Additionally, Self-KO Clause is run innately, so forcing ties is impossible and results in a loss for the self-KOing Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h4>Sleep</h4>

<p>Stadium innately runs its own Sleep Clause, which counts Rest. As a result, putting your own Pok&eacute;mon to sleep with Rest effectively blocks all sleep moves until it wakes up. It should be noted that this does not block putting further Pok&eacute;mon to sleep using Rest.</p>

<p>Sleep also received a gigantic nerf, going from 0-6 turns to 0-3. This makes sleep very inconsistent, albeit still at least somewhat usable.</p>

<h4>Stat handling</h4>

<p>The stat reapplication glitch is removed, meaning that Pok&eacute;mon like Slowbro can't reapply stat drops from burn or paralysis. Stat drops from major status are now mostly tied to the statuses themselves, meaning that when the major status is removed, the stat drop usually is as well. For example, when Rest or Haze is used, the stat drop from paralysis or burn will be removed alongside the status.</p>

<p>Using a boosting move that affects a stat that has been dropped by burn or paralysis, unlike in RBY or Stadium 2, will not ignore the status's stat drop. Thus, if Agility is used while paralyzed, the stat drop from paralysis will still be factored in.</p>

<p>Rollovers as a result of stats that would be over 1023 in the event of a stat drop do not occur. Boosting moves will also fail if you would go over 999.</p>

<h4>Thawing</h4>

<p>In the event a Pok&eacute;mon is thawed out, it will use the command given prior to becoming frozen.</p>

<h4>Thrashing about</h4>

<p>All accuracy issues involving thrashing-about moves are fixed, including Rage. Additionally, a notice will appear stating the Pok&eacute;mon has become confused once Thrash or Petal Dance concludes. While most situations that remove player input are fixed in Stadium, such as being frozen during Hyper Beam, if a Pok&eacute;mon is frozen during a thrashing-about move, both players will not be able to attack or switch out.</p>

<h4>Validation</h4>

<p>Pok&eacute;mon Stadium has its own hackcheck, which will allow participation but flag illegal moves and the player's name in <span style="color:#9365b8; font-weight: bold;">Purple</span>. This includes moves obtainable through Tradebacks, since, at the time, GSC had not been released yet. This also applies to moves obtained at lower levels than what's possible, such as a Magmar with Flamethrower at L30. Curiously, Fly Pikachu, a Japan-only event, is considered legal in the eyes of Pok&eacute;mon Stadium, despite being impossible to trade to international games. Acid Diglett also validates just fine, despite being impossible to obtain. Because of this hackcheck, Tradeback moves like Thunder Punch on Alakazam can be implied through the purple text.</p>

<h3 id="move-mechanics">Move Mechanics</h3>

<h4>Aurora Beam, Acid, and Bubble Beam</h4>

<p>All these moves had their effect chances reduced from 33.2% to 30%.</p>

<h4>Bide</h4>

<p>Bide no longer ignores accuracy checks and type immunity, becoming a regular perfectly accurate move. Ergo, it cannot hit semi-invulnerable Pok&eacute;mon or Ghost-types. All damage stacking effects have also been removed due to the changes to damage storage; for example, switching a Pok&eacute;mon out will not cause the previous turn's damage to stack. Bide allows move selection for its duration, but this has no material effect on gameplay.</p>

<h4>Counter</h4>

<p>Because of the changes to how damage is tracked, all unusual interactions that occur over the course of turns in RBY are removed. For example, countering a Body Slam from the previous turn as the opponent switches out is impossible and will cause the move to fail. Counter also cannot counter itself.</p>

<h4>Dig and Fly</h4>

<p>If Dig or Fly is interrupted through means such as confusion and paralysis, it will return to normal as is the case in later games. This removes the semi-invulnerability glitch.</p>

<h4>Disable</h4>

<p>Disable no longer causes a Pok&eacute;mon's Rage to build if it misses. Disabled moves don't have their PP replaced with a "Disabled!" message, meaning a player has to select the move to see if it is still disabled. If a Pok&eacute;mon tries to use a disabled move on the same turn as it gets disabled, the move's name will be displayed in the message.</p>

<h4>Haze</h4>

<p>Haze now cures the user's status, making it act like Refresh in later generations. It also removes stat drops from burn or paralysis and resets the Toxic counter.</p>

<h4>Hyper Beam</h4>

<p>Hyper Beam now forces a recharge upon use regardless of the outcome, even in the event of a miss or KO, drastically reducing its utility.</p>

<h4>Mimic</h4>

<p>Mimic will not copy a move's maximum PP.</p>

<h4>Mirror Move</h4>

<p>Mirror Move now always copies two-turn charge moves from the beginning.</p>

<h4>Psywave</h4>

<p>Psywave will deal one damage at a minimum.</p>

<h4>Rage</h4>

<p>Rage's accuracy no longer drops to an extremely small number if it misses. In the event Disable is used and misses, the foe's Rage does not build, but Rage will still work if it connects.</p>

<h4>Recover and Soft-Boiled</h4>

<p>The recovery failure glitch was removed, meaning these moves won't fail on specific HP numbers.</p>

<h4>Rest</h4>

<p>Rest now counts under the game's innate Sleep Clause and removes the user's stat drops from major status conditions, massively buffing users such as Jolteon. It also resets the Toxic counter.</p>

<h4>Substitute</h4>

<p>Substitute now blocks status like in modern games. It also blocks draining moves like Mega Drain, matching the Japanese titles.</p>

<h4>Struggle</h4>

<p>Struggle now affects Ghost-types, preventing infinite battles. Since it's a recoil move, the Struggle user can also "skip" damage upon KOing a Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h4>Swift</h4>

<p>Swift can no longer hit semi-invulnerable Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h4>Transform</h4>

<p>Transform now fails against Ditto, preventing infinite battles. If used by Ditto, it will also fail to transform into any Pok&eacute;mon with Transform in its moveset. However, if any other Pok&eacute;mon uses Transform, it can transform into anything else with Transform, allowing two opposing Mew to start an endless battle like in regular RBY.</p>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to table of contents!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2 id="metagame-shifts">Metagame Shifts</h2>

<p>Pok&eacute;mon Stadium changes the RBY OU metagame a lot, which has led to the existence of a "Stadium OU" format; while it's by no means a standard, it's still played by members of the RBY community.</p>

<h3 id="fall-of-sleep">The Fall of Sleep</h3>

<p>Sleep is significantly worse in Stadium, with the turns spent sleeping now being generally inconsequential. 0-3 turns makes it generally a coinflip as to whether you're going to get mileage off of sleep: you either get a 0 or 1 turn wake or enough time for momentum. Substitute, Rest, and Sleep Clause's changes are also concerning, with the changes to each making them effective at blocking sleep. Ergo, Pok&eacute;mon like Jynx see their usage drop off a cliff, and even Exeggutor drops Sleep Powder in favor of the permanence of Stun Spore.</p>

<h3 id="team-preview">Team Preview</h3>

<p>Team Preview is extremely valuable in Stadium, telling you when Pok&eacute;mon like Gengar and Articuno are in the back. This is a significant hit to their viability, reducing their surprise factor that can normally turn a game on its head. As a result, it becomes easier to play around these Pok&eacute;mon and make otherwise difficult predictions.</p>

<h3 id="exeggutor-rest">Exeggutor's Adaptation and Rest</h3>

<p>Early on, players believed that Exeggutor would be much less useful in Stadium due to the nerfs to sleep and Explosion and an uptick in Substitute usage. However, with some adaptation, players began to remember Exeggutor's defensive prowess as well: it's far from just a status guru.</p>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Exeggutor</li>
    <li>- Psychic</li>
    <li>- Stun Spore</li>
    <li>- Double-Edge / Explosion</li>
    <li>- Rest</li>
</ul>

<p>With the changes to Rest, Exeggutor can be used for much longer periods of time, not having to switch out to remove the Speed drop from paralysis. The longevity provided also makes it excellent at holding back Jolteon, which can be very deadly if it uses Focus Energy. The longevity means it's also much harder to wear Exeggutor down, with its gigantic stats and solid typing allowing it to continually heal off damage with Rest while it paralyzes multiple Pok&eacute;mon with Stun Spore. Rest is much more difficult to punish in Stadium, as Hyper Beam's massive hit in viability and the nerfing of critical hits from faster Pok&eacute;mon generally increases every Pok&eacute;mon's longevity. It's not just a move for Exeggutor either; Jolteon, Rhydon, Slowbro, and Zapdos are also great users of the move that are well worth considering for a team.</p>

<h3 id="rise-of-substitute">Substitute's Rise</h3>

<p>The changes to Substitute resulted in the move becoming very popular, sometimes even argued to be broken and bannable. However, this argument is often overstated and belies the opportunity cost that comes with using it. For example, while Alakazam can run Substitute, it loses a massive amount of attacking PP due to having to drop Seismic Toss, which also comes at the cost of significantly worse Starmie and Exeggutor matchups. Similar issues can be seen with Starmie, where it either has to drop valuable coverage or Thunder Wave, both of which will be sorely missed. Overall, while Substitute provides a short-term reward, its long-term benefits should be approached with question.</p>

<p>However, when it's good, it's excellent. For example, Rhydon can use Substitute without too much concern for Exeggutor, as Exeggutor can't sleep it through the Substitute anymore. Chansey is also a decent user if seeking to fine-tune it for matchups against Psychic-types, but it becomes significantly worse against Snorlax and Rhydon. Kangaskhan can utilize 103-HP Substitutes to guard against Seismic Toss and Thunder Wave at once, giving it free turns to try and KO Chansey. Persian is also a viable user, now being able to beat Tauros one-on-one, as it doesn't run Hyper Beam much anymore, and being able to fish for Body Slam paralysis behind a Substitute can be very helpful. The higher usage of Rest also makes Substitute much easier to set up for almost any Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h3 id="focus-energy">Focus Energy</h3>

<p>With the changes to Focus Energy come new setup sweepers. These users help form a strong offensive backbone, making excellent use of the free turns Rest and Substitute users can provide them. While there are quite a few good users, such as Nidoking, Primeape, and Hitmonlee, few come close to Jolteon.</p>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Jolteon</li>
    <li>- Focus Energy</li>
    <li>- Thunderbolt</li>
    <li>- Double Kick</li>
    <li>- Rest</li>
</ul>
<p>Jolteon's blazing Speed gives it a massive 71% critical hit rate when using Focus Energy, which is more than enough for it to wreak havoc. Two critical hit Double Kicks are enough to KO Chansey, and with its high PP, it can effortlessly outdo Substitute. Rest's changes are another massive boon to the set, letting Jolteon consistently wall Zapdos without losing Speed in the process. Walling Jolteon once it sets up can be very difficult, so seeing one at Team Preview will make you think twice about using a predictable Rest yourself. However, Focus Energy does come with natural inconsistency, and Jolteon still despises taking paralysis and having to use Rest earlier, so it's by no means a top-tier threat.</p>

<h3 id="fall-of-hyperbeam">Hyper Beam's Fall from Grace</h3>

<p>Hyper Beam now always forces a recharge upon use, which makes it significantly more difficult to justify on sets. Ergo, offense is much weaker in Stadium, making continuous use of Rest harder to punish. Some Pok&eacute;mon will use Double-Edge instead, though this is by no means a full replacement, as the recoil damage can be concerning if it isn't getting a KO every time. It should also never replace Body Slam, lest your Pok&eacute;mon get walled by Starmie.</p>

<p>However, Hyper Beam remains a decent option for forcing your way through defensive Pok&eacute;mon, in part due to a lack of better options. Sometimes, breaking a Pok&eacute;mon by surprise can be worth the recharge turn, especially if behind a Substitute. Finally, as a "final goodbye" move or in a last Pok&eacute;mon situation, the recharge is generally inconsequential. Overall, while a shadow of its former self, Hyper Beam is still functional and should not be ignored.</p>

<h3 id="death-of-partial-trapping">The Death of Partial Trapping</h3>

<p>Because merely switching can end a partial trapping chain, moves like Wrap are significantly worse. While still functional against paralyzed teams or with Agility, they generally just make both Pok&eacute;mon switch out. If the trapper doesn't switch out as the foe does, this can allow free switches to faster Pok&eacute;mon that can force the trapper out unless they switch themselves as well, making for a mindgame that isn't worth going for in a competitive setting.</p>

<h3 id="counter">Counter's Changes</h3>

<p>Counter essentially becomes the same as modern Counter, only it's still restricted to Normal- and Fighting-type moves, making it the weakest iteration of the move in the series. However, it's still viable counterplay to Pok&eacute;mon like Persian and Snorlax; it just can't be used against switching Pok&eacute;mon anymore.</p>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to table of contents!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2>Conclusion</h2>

<p>Overall, Stadium is a stark deviation from traditional RBY and a much more defensive metagame. With many of the glitches gone, this can be considered to be the "final" version of the chromatic generation, and a worthy sendoff before the second generation changed the series forever. Whether it improved the game is up for debate, but there's only one way to find out: get out there and try it out yourself!</p>
Live preview

so I haven't featured the images, because I checked Bulbagarden (where they are hosted, source) and while they were provided by the same person, some of them were made transparent by other people (per the changelog) and I am not sure whenever I am supposed to credit those as well or not (and whenever I am supposed to use those on first place), so I'd like some clarification on what to do. If using those is not a viable option, I will look into some alternatives so that the article can be less bland.

Lumari
 

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
so I went ahead and made an alternative code with Yellow sprites:

HTML:
[title]
A Beginner's Guide to Pokémon Stadium

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<meta name="description" content="An introduction to Pokemon Stadium, describing the changes from RBY and their impact on the new metagame." />

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[page]
<div class="author">By <a href="/forums/members/plague-von-karma.236353/" target="_blank">Plague von Karma</a>. Art by <a href="/forums/members/ausma.360720/" target="_blank">ausma</a>.</div>

<div class="align-center">
    <img src="/rb/articles/pokemon_stadium_guide_art.png" alt="A Beginner's Guide to Pok&eacute;mon Stadium art" />
</div>

<h2>Introduction</h2>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/blastoise.png" alt="Blastoise" class="right" />

<p>Pok&eacute;mon Stadium is a well-known Pok&eacute;mon spin-off, being the first time children of the 90s were able to see their little pocket monsters in 3D. This game quickly became a cult classic for many reasons: the unique formats, playing Pok&eacute;mon games on the big screen, and the Kid's Club. However, among hardcore RBYers, it's become a classic for another reason: the mechanics that make for an entirely different metagame compared to cartridge gameplay, giving it a "Generation 1.5" feel.</p>

<p>Unbeknownst to many, a Japanese Pok&eacute;mon Stadium game came before the international game, which has been called "Stadium Zero" within the RBY Community, and it is known for being the first instance of "Dexit" in a Pok&eacute;mon game. This also means there are actually three games! While we won't delve deep into it in this guide, "Stadium Zero" does contain some key differences that got imported over into this game.</p>

<div id="toc">
    <h3>Table of Contents</h3>
    <ul class="links">
        <li class="link"><a href="#differences">1. Differences to RBY</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
                <li><a href="#game-mechanics">Game Mechanics</a></li>
                <li><a href="#move-mechanics">Move Mechanics</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li class="link"><a href="#metagame-shifts">2. Metagame Shifts</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
                <li><a href="#fall-of-sleep">The Fall of Sleep</a></li>
                <li><a href="#team-preview">Team Preview</a></li>
                <li><a href="#exeggutor-rest">Exeggutor's Adaption and Rest</a></li>
                <li><a href="#rise-of-substitute">Substitute's Rise</a></li>
                <li><a href="#focus-energy">Focus Energy</a></li>
                <li><a href="#fall-of-hyperbeam">Hyper Beam's Fall from Grace</a></li>
                <li><a href="#death-of-partial-trapping">The Death of Partial Trapping</a></li>
                <li><a href="#counter">Counter's Changes</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
    </ul>
</div>

<hr />

<h2 id="differences">Differences to RBY</h2>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/porygon.png" alt="Porygon" class="left" style="margin-top: -2em;" />
<p>For those unfamiliar with RBY, it's recommended to read <a href="/rb/articles/rby_mechanics_guide" target="_blank">the RBY Mechanics Guide</a> prior to this to better understand what's going on. Pok&eacute;mon Stadium makes numerous changes to battle mechanics, removing many controversial glitches to make the game feel much like later generations. Whether it improved the game is arguable, with some players heavily disliking the Substitute change, while others praise it for being less buggy.</p>

<h3 id="game-mechanics">Game Mechanics</h3>

<h4>Accuracy and Evasion</h4>

<p>The infamous 1/256 uncertainty was removed, giving attacks their stated accuracy in-game. Secondary effect chances also experienced a similar change; for example, Thunderbolt's paralysis chance is now 10%, rather than 10.2%.</p>

<p>Accuracy and evasion also received changes to their stat stage multipliers, becoming the same as in GSC. This makes accuracy and evasion much less potent.</p>

<table class="rby-table">
    <tr>
        <th>Stage</th>
        <td>-6</td>
        <td>-5</td>
        <td>-4</td>
        <td>-3</td>
        <td>-2</td>
        <td>-1</td>
        <td>0</td>
        <td>+1</td>
        <td>+2</td>
        <td>+3</td>
        <td>+4</td>
        <td>+5</td>
        <td>+6</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <th>Fraction</th>
        <td>1/3</td>
        <td>36/100</td>
        <td>43/100</td>
        <td>50/100</td>
        <td>66/100</td>
        <td>75/100</td>
        <td>100/100</td>
        <td>133/100</td>
        <td>166/100</td>
        <td>200/100</td>
        <td>233/100</td>
        <td>266/100</td>
        <td>300/100</td>
    </tr>
</table>

<h4>Confusion</h4>

<p>Confusion will show the move you attempted to use even if you hit yourself in confusion. If a move like Thrash induces self confusion, it will say so once this occurs.</p>

<h4>Critical hits, High-crit moves, and Focus Energy</h4>
<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/kingler.png" alt="Kingler" class="right" />
<p>Critical hits were completely reworked, with the base critical hit ratio becoming (Base Speed + 76) / 1024, rounding down and capping out at 99%. This means Pok&eacute;mon with base 75 Speed and above will receive worsened critical hit rates, while slower Pok&eacute;mon will have increased critical hit rates. For example, Snorlax goes from 5.86% to 10%, while Electrode goes from 27.34% to 21%.</p>

<p>High-critical hit rate moves like Slash also received a different equation, that being (Base Speed + 76) / 128. While this doesn't change the result for most Pok&eacute;mon due to the 99% cap, it does slightly help slower Pok&eacute;mon with the moves. For example, Parasect's Slash goes from a meager 46.88% critical hit rate to 51%, making it at least work as desired more often than not.</p>

<p>Focus Energy also received a full rework, the new equation being (Base Speed + 236) / 512. For example, Nidoking will go from a 15% base critical hit rate all the way to 62%, making it very threatening. If using both Focus Energy and high-crit moves, the critical hit rate caps out at 99% guaranteed, though this doesn't actually help any Pok&eacute;mon that learns both moves.</p>

<h4>Damage tracking</h4>

<p>Whenever a Pok&eacute;mon is fully paralyzed, uses a two-turn charge move, or switches out, the stored damage is cleared. This makes Counter and Bide less powerful, as they cannot exploit stored damage across turns.</p>

<h4>Desync possibility</h4>

<p>Due to the nature of Pok&eacute;mon Stadium not requiring a link cable or any connectivity at all, desyncs are impossible.</p>

<h4>Exact HP</h4>

<p>Pok&eacute;mon Stadium will display both Pok&eacute;mon's current and maximum HP, exposing potential DV combinations and showing if a Pok&eacute;mon is in KO range.</p>

<h4>Partial trapping</h4>
<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/victreebel.png" alt="Victreebel" class="left" />
<p>Partial trapping&mdash;Bind, Clamp, Fire Spin, and Wrap&mdash;was reworked. In the event either Pok&eacute;mon switches out, the turn instantly ends unless the other Pok&eacute;mon is also switching, meaning that, while pivoting with partial trapping still exists, it works on both ends. This makes it somewhat difficult to trap Pok&eacute;mon without a Speed boost with Pok&eacute;mon like Dragonite, although partial-trapping moves are also harder to PP stall due to the trapper not being forced to use them again.</p>

<p>Additionally, there is no indication when partial trapping has concluded due to the lack of a proper Fight Menu. You do get to pick a move while partial trapped, but this doesn't actually matter; in the event partial trapping continues, the input is ignored. Ergo, neither player knows whether partial trapping will continue.</p>

<h4>Recoil</h4>

<p>If a Pok&eacute;mon or Substitute is KOed by a recoil move like Submission or Double-Edge, the attacker takes no damage. This gives valuable counterplay to Substitute, as well as a partial Hyper Beam replacement considering its nerfs. Recoil damage no longer influences stored damage, so it cannot be countered with Counter and does not contribute to Bide's damage building.</p>

<h4>Self-KOs</h4>

<p>Explosion and Self-Destruct will KO a Pok&eacute;mon attacking a Substitute. Additionally, Self-KO Clause is run innately, so forcing ties is impossible and results in a loss for the self-KOing Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h4>Sleep</h4>

<p>Stadium innately runs its own Sleep Clause, which counts Rest. As a result, putting your own Pok&eacute;mon to sleep with Rest effectively blocks all sleep moves until it wakes up. It should be noted that this does not block putting further Pok&eacute;mon to sleep using Rest.</p>

<p>Sleep also received a gigantic nerf, going from 0-6 turns to 0-3. This makes sleep very inconsistent, albeit still at least somewhat usable.</p>

<h4>Stat handling</h4>
<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/lickitung.png" alt="Lickitung" class="right" />
<p>The stat reapplication glitch is removed, meaning that Pok&eacute;mon like Slowbro can't reapply stat drops from burn or paralysis. Stat drops from major status are now mostly tied to the statuses themselves, meaning that when the major status is removed, the stat drop usually is as well. For example, when Rest or Haze is used, the stat drop from paralysis or burn will be removed alongside the status.</p>

<p>Using a boosting move that affects a stat that has been dropped by burn or paralysis, unlike in RBY or Stadium 2, will not ignore the status's stat drop. Thus, if Agility is used while paralyzed, the stat drop from paralysis will still be factored in.</p>

<p>Rollovers as a result of stats that would be over 1023 in the event of a stat drop do not occur. Boosting moves will also fail if you would go over 999.</p>

<h4>Thawing</h4>

<p>In the event a Pok&eacute;mon is thawed out, it will use the command given prior to becoming frozen.</p>

<h4>Thrashing about</h4>

<p>All accuracy issues involving thrashing-about moves are fixed, including Rage. Additionally, a notice will appear stating the Pok&eacute;mon has become confused once Thrash or Petal Dance concludes. While most situations that remove player input are fixed in Stadium, such as being frozen during Hyper Beam, if a Pok&eacute;mon is frozen during a thrashing-about move, both players will not be able to attack or switch out.</p>

<h4>Validation</h4>

<p>Pok&eacute;mon Stadium has its own hackcheck, which will allow participation but flag illegal moves and the player's name in <span style="color:#9365b8; font-weight: bold;">Purple</span>. This includes moves obtainable through Tradebacks, since, at the time, GSC had not been released yet. This also applies to moves obtained at lower levels than what's possible, such as a Magmar with Flamethrower at L30. Curiously, Fly Pikachu, a Japan-only event, is considered legal in the eyes of Pok&eacute;mon Stadium, despite being impossible to trade to international games. Acid Diglett also validates just fine, despite being impossible to obtain. Because of this hackcheck, Tradeback moves like Thunder Punch on Alakazam can be implied through the purple text.</p>

<h3 id="move-mechanics">Move Mechanics</h3>

<h4>Aurora Beam, Acid, and Bubble Beam</h4>

<p>All these moves had their effect chances reduced from 33.2% to 30%.</p>

<h4>Bide</h4>

<p>Bide no longer ignores accuracy checks and type immunity, becoming a regular perfectly accurate move. Ergo, it cannot hit semi-invulnerable Pok&eacute;mon or Ghost-types. All damage stacking effects have also been removed due to the changes to damage storage; for example, switching a Pok&eacute;mon out will not cause the previous turn's damage to stack. Bide allows move selection for its duration, but this has no material effect on gameplay.</p>

<h4>Counter</h4>

<p>Because of the changes to how damage is tracked, all unusual interactions that occur over the course of turns in RBY are removed. For example, countering a Body Slam from the previous turn as the opponent switches out is impossible and will cause the move to fail. Counter also cannot counter itself.</p>

<h4>Dig and Fly</h4>

<p>If Dig or Fly is interrupted through means such as confusion and paralysis, it will return to normal as is the case in later games. This removes the semi-invulnerability glitch.</p>

<h4>Disable</h4>

<p>Disable no longer causes a Pok&eacute;mon's Rage to build if it misses. Disabled moves don't have their PP replaced with a "Disabled!" message, meaning a player has to select the move to see if it is still disabled. If a Pok&eacute;mon tries to use a disabled move on the same turn as it gets disabled, the move's name will be displayed in the message.</p>

<h4>Haze</h4>
<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/vaporeon.png" alt="Vaporeon" class="left" />
<p>Haze now cures the user's status, making it act like Refresh in later generations. It also removes stat drops from burn or paralysis and resets the Toxic counter.</p>

<h4>Hyper Beam</h4>

<p>Hyper Beam now forces a recharge upon use regardless of the outcome, even in the event of a miss or KO, drastically reducing its utility.</p>

<h4>Mimic</h4>

<p>Mimic will not copy a move's maximum PP.</p>

<h4>Mirror Move</h4>

<p>Mirror Move now always copies two-turn charge moves from the beginning.</p>

<h4>Psywave</h4>

<p>Psywave will deal one damage at a minimum.</p>

<h4>Rage</h4>
<p>Rage's accuracy no longer drops to an extremely small number if it misses. In the event Disable is used and misses, the foe's Rage does not build, but Rage will still work if it connects.</p>

<h4>Recover and Soft-Boiled</h4>

<p>The recovery failure glitch was removed, meaning these moves won't fail on specific HP numbers.</p>

<h4>Rest</h4>

<p>Rest now counts under the game's innate Sleep Clause and removes the user's stat drops from major status conditions, massively buffing users such as Jolteon. It also resets the Toxic counter.</p>

<h4>Substitute</h4>

<p>Substitute now blocks status like in modern games. It also blocks draining moves like Mega Drain, matching the Japanese titles.</p>

<h4>Struggle</h4>

<p>Struggle now affects Ghost-types, preventing infinite battles. Since it's a recoil move, the Struggle user can also "skip" damage upon KOing a Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h4>Swift</h4>

<p>Swift can no longer hit semi-invulnerable Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h4>Transform</h4>
<p>Transform now fails against Ditto, preventing infinite battles. If used by Ditto, it will also fail to transform into any Pok&eacute;mon with Transform in its moveset. However, if any other Pok&eacute;mon uses Transform, it can transform into anything else with Transform, allowing two opposing Mew to start an endless battle like in regular RBY.</p>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to table of contents!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2 id="metagame-shifts">Metagame Shifts</h2>

<p>Pok&eacute;mon Stadium changes the RBY OU metagame a lot, which has led to the existence of a "Stadium OU" format; while it's by no means a standard, it's still played by members of the RBY community.</p>

<h3 id="fall-of-sleep">The Fall of Sleep</h3>

<p>Sleep is significantly worse in Stadium, with the turns spent sleeping now being generally inconsequential. 0-3 turns makes it generally a coinflip as to whether you're going to get mileage off of sleep: you either get a 0 or 1 turn wake or enough time for momentum. Substitute, Rest, and Sleep Clause's changes are also concerning, with the changes to each making them effective at blocking sleep. Ergo, Pok&eacute;mon like Jynx see their usage drop off a cliff, and even Exeggutor drops Sleep Powder in favor of the permanence of Stun Spore.</p>

<h3 id="team-preview">Team Preview</h3>

<p>Team Preview is extremely valuable in Stadium, telling you when Pok&eacute;mon like Gengar and Articuno are in the back. This is a significant hit to their viability, reducing their surprise factor that can normally turn a game on its head. As a result, it becomes easier to play around these Pok&eacute;mon and make otherwise difficult predictions.</p>

<h3 id="exeggutor-rest">Exeggutor's Adaptation and Rest</h3>

<p>Early on, players believed that Exeggutor would be much less useful in Stadium due to the nerfs to sleep and Explosion and an uptick in Substitute usage. However, with some adaptation, players began to remember Exeggutor's defensive prowess as well: it's far from just a status guru.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/exeggutor.png" alt="Exeggutor" style="display: block; margin: 0 auto;" />
<ul class="set">
    <li>Exeggutor</li>
    <li>- Psychic</li>
    <li>- Stun Spore</li>
    <li>- Double-Edge / Explosion</li>
    <li>- Rest</li>
</ul>

<p>With the changes to Rest, Exeggutor can be used for much longer periods of time, not having to switch out to remove the Speed drop from paralysis. The longevity provided also makes it excellent at holding back Jolteon, which can be very deadly if it uses Focus Energy. The longevity means it's also much harder to wear Exeggutor down, with its gigantic stats and solid typing allowing it to continually heal off damage with Rest while it paralyzes multiple Pok&eacute;mon with Stun Spore. Rest is much more difficult to punish in Stadium, as Hyper Beam's massive hit in viability and the nerfing of critical hits from faster Pok&eacute;mon generally increases every Pok&eacute;mon's longevity. It's not just a move for Exeggutor either; Jolteon, Rhydon, Slowbro, and Zapdos are also great users of the move that are well worth considering for a team.</p>

<h3 id="rise-of-substitute">Substitute's Rise</h3>
<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/kangaskhan.png" alt="Kangaskhan" class="right" />
<p>The changes to Substitute resulted in the move becoming very popular, sometimes even argued to be broken and bannable. However, this argument is often overstated and belies the opportunity cost that comes with using it. For example, while Alakazam can run Substitute, it loses a massive amount of attacking PP due to having to drop Seismic Toss, which also comes at the cost of significantly worse Starmie and Exeggutor matchups. Similar issues can be seen with Starmie, where it either has to drop valuable coverage or Thunder Wave, both of which will be sorely missed. Overall, while Substitute provides a short-term reward, its long-term benefits should be approached with question.</p>

<p>However, when it's good, it's excellent. For example, Rhydon can use Substitute without too much concern for Exeggutor, as Exeggutor can't sleep it through the Substitute anymore. Chansey is also a decent user if seeking to fine-tune it for matchups against Psychic-types, but it becomes significantly worse against Snorlax and Rhydon. Kangaskhan can utilize 103-HP Substitutes to guard against Seismic Toss and Thunder Wave at once, giving it free turns to try and KO Chansey. Persian is also a viable user, now being able to beat Tauros one-on-one, as it doesn't run Hyper Beam much anymore, and being able to fish for Body Slam paralysis behind a Substitute can be very helpful. The higher usage of Rest also makes Substitute much easier to set up for almost any Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h3 id="focus-energy">Focus Energy</h3>

<p>With the changes to Focus Energy come new setup sweepers. These users help form a strong offensive backbone, making excellent use of the free turns Rest and Substitute users can provide them. While there are quite a few good users, such as Nidoking, Primeape, and Hitmonlee, few come close to Jolteon.</p>
<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/jolteon.png" alt="Jolteon" style="display: block; margin: 0 auto;" />
<ul class="set">
    <li>Jolteon</li>
    <li>- Focus Energy</li>
    <li>- Thunderbolt</li>
    <li>- Double Kick</li>
    <li>- Rest</li>
</ul>
<p>Jolteon's blazing Speed gives it a massive 71% critical hit rate when using Focus Energy, which is more than enough for it to wreak havoc. Two critical hit Double Kicks are enough to KO Chansey, and with its high PP, it can effortlessly outdo Substitute. Rest's changes are another massive boon to the set, letting Jolteon consistently wall Zapdos without losing Speed in the process. Walling Jolteon once it sets up can be very difficult, so seeing one at Team Preview will make you think twice about using a predictable Rest yourself. However, Focus Energy does come with natural inconsistency, and Jolteon still despises taking paralysis and having to use Rest earlier, so it's by no means a top-tier threat.</p>

<h3 id="fall-of-hyperbeam">Hyper Beam's Fall from Grace</h3>
<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/dragonite.png" alt="Dragonite" class="left" />
<p>Hyper Beam now always forces a recharge upon use, which makes it significantly more difficult to justify on sets. Ergo, offense is much weaker in Stadium, making continuous use of Rest harder to punish. Some Pok&eacute;mon will use Double-Edge instead, though this is by no means a full replacement, as the recoil damage can be concerning if it isn't getting a KO every time. It should also never replace Body Slam, lest your Pok&eacute;mon get walled by Starmie.</p>

<p>However, Hyper Beam remains a decent option for forcing your way through defensive Pok&eacute;mon, in part due to a lack of better options. Sometimes, breaking a Pok&eacute;mon by surprise can be worth the recharge turn, especially if behind a Substitute. Finally, as a "final goodbye" move or in a last Pok&eacute;mon situation, the recharge is generally inconsequential. Overall, while a shadow of its former self, Hyper Beam is still functional and should not be ignored.</p>

<h3 id="death-of-partial-trapping">The Death of Partial Trapping</h3>

<p>Because merely switching can end a partial trapping chain, moves like Wrap are significantly worse. While still functional against paralyzed teams or with Agility, they generally just make both Pok&eacute;mon switch out. If the trapper doesn't switch out as the foe does, this can allow free switches to faster Pok&eacute;mon that can force the trapper out unless they switch themselves as well, making for a mindgame that isn't worth going for in a competitive setting.</p>

<h3 id="counter">Counter's Changes</h3>

<p>Counter essentially becomes the same as modern Counter, only it's still restricted to Normal- and Fighting-type moves, making it the weakest iteration of the move in the series. However, it's still viable counterplay to Pok&eacute;mon like Persian and Snorlax; it just can't be used against switching Pok&eacute;mon anymore.</p>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to table of contents!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2>Conclusion</h2>

<p>Overall, Stadium is a stark deviation from traditional RBY and a much more defensive metagame. With many of the glitches gone, this can be considered to be the "final" version of the chromatic generation, and a worthy sendoff before the second generation changed the series forever. Whether it improved the game is up for debate, but there's only one way to find out: get out there and try it out yourself!</p>
Live preview

I wanted to get to this earlier, but my laptop was lagging as hell and had to figure out that first, not to mention I got a vaccine and my left arm is slightly weaker right now, so apologies for that. I used exclusively Yellow sprites (mostly not to overwork myself and my arm), but I can change some of them, if needed. Also, I removed Tauros and Ditto, as they didn't look well with the one-sentence paragraphs.

I don't mind any of those codes being used, I am only providing this as an alternative, so it's just a matter of preference

(note: code validation checks out)
 
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