So a couple changes I noticed for Pokemon Yellow:
Coffee guy now stops you and says that he has had his coffee, forces you to watch his tutorial on how to catches a Pokemon, fails to catch it, and runs off never to be seen again. Very funny lol.
There's a couple new trainers in Viridian Forest. There's a girl looking for Pikachu who says there are none there (I guess a hint that Pikachu is no longer a possible encounter for the forest, since Pikachu is meant to be unique as the starter this time). Then another guy who says he's going to be the best, and comments on how Metapod is cool after you beat him (I approve of this trainer!)
The encounters in Viridian Forest have also changed. Weedle is now completely gone, and I guess to match the anime, you can encounter not only Pidgey, but wild
Pidgeotto. This is where Ash caught his Pigeotto (as well as his Caterpie) so I guess it makes sense those are the only two encounters here. Though I think he also encountered quite a few other things while he was in the forest but whatever XD The game just gives us Caterpie, Metapod, Pidgey, and Pidgeotto.
So I had to load up Pokemon Red from the Revenge playthrough and trade over a Weedle. Then I leveled up the two bugs to level 10 to evolve them into their final forms, and caught a Pidgeotto. That gives us a whopping SEVEN new Pokemon just for the forest!

#0010 - Caterpie
Worm PokemonOne of my favorites, Caterpie! I like the Blue sprite the best this time. The RG sprite is very similar, but the Blue looks a little more touched-up. The Yellow sprite makes him more sideways and I think I don't like the "softness" of the Yellow sprites. The RG and Blue sprites have defined, solid edges while the Yellow sprites have lightened parts of their outlines that just don't look right to me.
"Its short feet are tipped with suction pads that enable it to tirelessly climb slopes and walls."
"If you touch the feeler on top of its head, it will release a horrible stink to protect itself."
"It has large, eye-like patterns on its head as protection. They are used to frighten off enemies."Nice! We learn three things about these little guys in the three different entries! I wonder if its feet enable it to climb on ceilings as well, or if it's too heavy (it's a foot long and 6lbs) for its tiny suction feet. I guess it depends on how strong the suction is.
I actually never knew that it could release a smell -- I don't think that ever comes up in the anime, and Caterpie doesn't learn any moves that would indicate it could do that, so it must be a passive thing and not a move.
It says it has eye-like patterns on its head as protection. Does that mean those things are not its eyes...? Where are its eyes...???? At first I thought it was referring to the little yellow rings along its body segments but it specifically says eye-like and on its head so that leads me to believe it's talking about the "eyes" on its face. Does it just not have eyes...? Even the cocoons have eyes so that would be really strange if it had no eyes. Maybe we'll learn more in future games...

#0011 - Metapod
Cocoon PokemonIt's me! I like the RG sprite as it looks like the design artwork. The Blue sprite is kinda messed up; I don't even know what direction it's technically facing... and then I hate the Yellow sprite because it's an angle from the back that makes it look like the front is the back and the eyes look "angry" because they're backward. There's an official artwork of Metapod that looks like this, too, and I hate it lol.
"This Pokémon is vulnerable to attack while its shell is soft, exposing its weak and tender body."
"Hardens its shell to protect itself. However, a large impact may cause it to pop out of its shell."
"When it hardens, only the external shell is transformed. The inside remains tender."This is a strange one indeed. I didn't know that Metapod was initially soft. I guess it makes sense, but since its signature move is Harden I just always assumed it was various levels of hard.
But the strangest part is that a "large impact may cause it to pop out of its shell." Pop out?! What pops out...? A half-transformed Caterpie? Just a regular caterpie? A Butterfree? A mid-metamorphosis blob? Does it depend on what stage of evolution it is it? Would that correlate to level? I have so many questions... the "inside remains tender" so it sounds like it's just some sort of blob. A blob that pops out. And it's an
impact that causes it to pop out, not a rupture. So it just bursts through its shell by being rammed into. Sounds kind of gruesome to be honest.
Well, I learned more about Metapod today...

#0012 - Butterfree
Butterfly PokemonAll three sprites of Butterfree are pretty good. I like the original for looking like it's mid-fight, but the Blue sprite with the kicked up legs looks really cute, too. The one-leg-up Yellow sprite is the least appealing, but it's not bad by any means.
It's interesting to note that while Caterpie is only 1 foot long, Metapod was 2'7", and then Butterfree is 3'7"! How does that whole thing fit in little Metapod shell? And why does Metapod take up an entire foot and a half more than Caterpie?
"In battle, it flaps its wings at high speed to release highly toxic dust into the air."
"Its wings, covered with poisonous powders, repel water. This allows it to fly in the rain."
"Its wings are covered with poisonous dust. If you see one flapping its wings, be careful not to inhale any of the dust."It's interesting that all three entries mention its poisonous wings, something that never really came up in the anime. Game Butterfree sounds pretty dangerous! You even shouldn't breathe when you're near one that is flying! It's also a cool little touch that it has hydrophobic wings. You'd think being constantly pelted by heavy rain would make it hard to fly even if your wings repelled the water, but hey, it works! Definitely an interesting tidbit about Butterfree.

#0013 - Weedle
Hairy Bug PokemonClassified as the "Hairy Bug" Pokemon, it seems Weedle and Caterpie may be less related to each other than Rattata and Pikachu are to one another. As for sprites, they're all pretty ugly, to be honest. The Blue sprite probably looks the best, with the Yellow sprite being absolutely horrendous.
"Often found in forests, eating leaves. It has a sharp venomous stinger on its head."
"Beware of the sharp stinger on its head. It hides in grass and bushes where it eats leaves."
"A common sight in forests and grassy areas. Has a poison stinger on its head that may be used if you step on it."Not nearly as interesting as Caterpie, Weedle's main "point" (heehee) is its stinger, and the fact that it eats leaves, I guess. I would assume Caterpie eats leaves, too, but we didn't get any insight into its diet in its entries. One thing I noticed is a common theme throughout these entries is that most of them caution about the danger to humans. Of course, the lore is that going into grass alone is quite dangerous, and we did learn that a Zubat bit that one Hiker in Red, and he even had Pokemon with him. So it seems that the Pokemon world is actually quite dangerous, with every little monster almost posing some kind of threat to your safety or even life.

#0014 - Kakuna
Cocoon PokemonAnother Cocoon Pokemon, Kakuna! I actually like the look of Kakuna more than Metapod sometimes (don't tell anyone, though!) because of its sharper shapes and menacing design. Metapod is good for your laid-back look, though, which suits me better as a namesake.
The eyes look a little "off" in the Yellow sprite, like a little too small. The Blue sprite is interesting because it shows that it actually has arm-like things, and those aren't just the shape of a rigid shell.
"Almost incapable of moving, this Pokémon can only harden its shell to protect itself from predators."
"Able to move only slightly. When endangered, it may stick out its stinger and poison its enemy."
"Because it is virtually motionless, it may appear dead. Inside, however, a new body is being made."So we learn that it doesn't move much. Not too surprising since it's a cocoon... but one interesting thing mentioned is that it can "stick out its stinger" to poison the enemy. I wonder where this stinger is on its body...? Maybe those arm-like appendages from the Blue sprite are stingers? Or maybe it has a stinger out of its sharp "bottom." Metapod's entry didn't say anything about being motionless or "appearing dead" so is it possible that Metapod actually moves more than Kakuna? Caterpie appears in many modern games, and Metapod's 3D model tends to rock back and forth. So it's quite possible that Metapod actually moves a lot. Maybe we're learning more about Metapod than we are Kakuna right now... (well, the stinger thing was pretty cool).
Also, because they retain their moves when they evolve, Metapod is capable of using Tackle, while Kakuna can use Poison Sting. Tackle certainly would require more movement than a sting, which could be done, as said, near motionlessly.

#0015 - Beedrill
Poison Bee PokemonBeedrill has great sprites. The RG sprite has the stingers out of the way to expose its sexy hymenopteran body, while the other two look perfectly cool as well. The Blue sprite makes it look ready to strike, very cool. The Yellow sprite did a nice job on adding detail to the wings, but overall it looks so "poor-resolution" because of all the fuzzy edges.
Also interesting to note is that Beedrill is four inches
shorter than Butterfree.
"Flies at high speed and attacks using its large venomous stingers on its forelegs and tail."
"It has 3 poisonous stingers on its forelegs and its tail. They are used to jab its enemy repeatedly."
"Flies at high speeds and attacks with three stingers: one on its rear and one on each of its two forelegs. May appear in swarms."Sadly we don't learn too much from Beedrill's Pokedex entries. Basically we learn that it has three stingers -- two on its forelegs and one on its "tail." But you can tell that just by looking at it... I guess it's nice to know that all three are poisonous stingers. I actually didn't know that before. "Flies at high speed" is an interesting detail, as you wouldn't assume a bee to be particularly fast. But it looks like it could be fast from its slender body art. Also we learn it can appear in swarms. Ah, I'd love to be swarmed by a bunch of Beedrill~~
While Caterpie and Metapod are my bugs of choice for the first two evolutions of the Viridian Forest Pokemon, I vastly prefer Beedrill to Butterfree. Maybe because I have a crush on Beedrill, but it's just super cool looking, and I'm much more a fan of bees than butterflies. It's also theorized that Venomoth was originally going to be the evolution of Metapod, with Butterfree being the evolution of Venonat, but the designs were swapped to give a more "friendly" face to a bug early in the game. Personally I like Venomoth way more than Butterfree, so it's a little bit of a shame. I'd love to have a Venomoth from the beginning fo the game.

#0017 - Pidgeotto
Bird PokemonBird Pokemon. Well, I guess that's the next step up from "Tiny Bird" Pokemon. Is Pidgeot going to be the "Big Bird" Pokemon? Hahaha. Anyway, Pidgeotto is a really cool-looking Pokemon. As for disturbingly crushing on animal-like monsters, the birds are probably my favorite after the bugs. Pidgeotto is one of my favorites, while it's not as majestic and elegant looking as its evolution Pidgeot, there's something about it that just looks extra cool.
It looks kinda tubby in its RG and Blue sprites, and slims down for Yellow, but it also gets a haircut. Feathercut? I like the long headfeathers on Pidgeotto, so the Yellow sprite not showcasing them as much is a bit of a let-down. All three sprites are decent, though, and I don't have a clear favorite. Maybe the RG one for the open beak looking a little more "active" than the other two who are just sitting there.
"Very protective of its sprawling territorial area, this Pokémon will fiercely peck at any intruder."
"This Pokémon is full of vitality. It constantly flies around its large territory in search of prey."
"It builds its nest in the center of its large territory. It uses its powerfully-developed talons to swiftly snatch prey."A couple nice little tidbits here, we learn that it has a very large area of territory, being much more aggressively protective of it than the docile and shy Pidgey. We also learn that it catches prey with its talons -- interestingly, we don't learn what
kind of prey it feeds on, so it's possible that it may not only eat bugs, but also the Mouse Pokemon, Pikachu and Rattata...? It sounds like it would be dangerous for a flying type to try to feed on an electric type, but it could be that Pidgeotto is quite intelligent, and can tell if a Pikachu has stored up enough electricity to attack back with that type of power. After all, Pikachu's initial reaction to attacks/danger is to bite, not electrocute, so if Pidgeotto could snatch one up in its talons, it would be pretty defenseless. Same to Rattata's big bite if it can pick it up the right way.
Pidgeotto is 3'7", as big as a Butterfree, so it's unlikely that it feeds on anything as big as that or a Beedrill. Rattata and Pikachu are about 1 foot, so it's not
impossible that Pidgeotto could catch them as prey. After all, they're about the same size as a Caterpie or Weedle, and since it seems Pidgeotto is a fairly aggressive predator, it's unlikely it would be adapted like that just to feed on the less mobile Metapod and Kakuna.
In the original RGB games, and later in Yellow, Pidgeotto shares habitat with possible-prey Venonat and Oddish (and I guess, possible, Ditto and Gloom, but I can't imagine Pidgeotto eating something as vile and large as Gloom, nor can I imagine anything eating a Ditto at all lol).
Pidgeotto actually shares habitat with a wide variety of monsters in Yellow, surprisingly, as it's quite common across the region. Possible prey based on shared habitat in Yellow include Abra, Rattata, Jigglypuff (!), Bellsprout, Oddish, and Venonat. And more disturbingly, I guess, is Pidgey as possibility, but I would hope it least refrains from eating its own kin, especially when it would want them to evolve into more Pidgeottos. Or maybe it's so territorial it doesn't even want to share its turf with its own kind... It's also possible that near water it could scoop up a splashing Magikarp or something...? Who knows.
And that's it for this entry. Next time we're going to be going to Pewter City and fighting Brock, and then it will be on to Route 3 to see what new Pokemon we can encounter there!