Speed run of Pokémon Gold in 13 segments completed on October 10 2005. Available in three versions: normal, low and 60 fps high quality.

Author's comments:
Recording Notes: This was recorded using the Game Boy Tower on Pokemon Stadium 2.

First, I would like to thank the following people:

mike89 - He gave me his route, which helped me make some changes in my route, and acted as a motivation to keep improving my time.
Ulti_Gamer - He let me borrow his Pokemon Gold cart for this run.
Radix - For accepting the run
Nate - For capturing the run
Forgotten One: By watching his Yellow run, I thought of using items to boost my Pokemon's stats, making battles quicker in the process

The Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal series is often bashed in competitive play for having an abundance of defensive tactics; however, GSC was my favorite series in-game, so I decided to speed run it. GSC is the longest Pokemon series to run; although the Hoenn region that Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald takes place in is larger than Johto and Kanto, GSC has more mandatory battles, eight more Gym Leaders, and a lack of an "uber" Pokemon that's quick to find and capture.

Although this game is harder than Red/Blue/Yellow, GSC isn't that hard to speed run. The controls are easy to use (I just tap A and B monotonously during the entire run), the puzzles are simple, and most of the battles in the run aren't THAT hard.

Some general notes about the run:
-Unless I note otherwise, all of the trainer battles that I get into are mandatory.
-I bought too many healing items, since I wanted to be safe.

Segment 1:
-I intentionally fight almost all of the random battles and all of the trainer battles in this segment to give my Totodile experience; I need Totodile to be at Level 7 before I face my rival so that it knows Rage, and I need it to be at Level 13 by the time I beat Falkner so that it knows Water Gun.
-I check a berry tree a couple of times after I get the berry from it, wasting a few seconds in the process; I do this with a guard in Segment 9 as well. Maybe I shouldn't watch downloaded speed runs while I'm running a game...

Segment 2:
-mike89 recommended that I go to Sprout Tower for experience and the Flash HM; however, as the only place that I need Flash in is Mt. Silver, I don't visit Sprout Tower. To tell the truth, I never timed the difference between my route and going to Sprout Tower; maybe the extra experience and the ability to navigate Rock Tunnel would save time, but from personal experience, I think my method's quicker.
-I fight all of the trainers in Union Cave, since their Pokemon are easy to defeat and yield valuable experience.
-Finding a Sandshrew in Union Cave can be a pain in the ass; I wasted three minutes finding one in a previous run of this game. Fortunately, that doesn't happen here. : )

Segment 3:
-Excluding the first two fights, I think that I'm lucky in this segment. Usually, Bugsy's Scyther uses Fury Cutter to devestate my Croconaw, and Bayleef's Razor Leaf tears it apart. Fortunately, this isn't a problem during this segment.

Segment 4:
-I don't wait until Sunday so that I can get Return during this segment, since my Croconaw doesn't like me enough at this point in the game.
-I HATE trainers that look around randomly. A Firebreather saw me, and I had to engage in battle with him, wasting a minute in the process.
-I don't visit the Ecruteak Pokemon Center so that I can avoid a cutscene involving Bill.

Segment 5:
-No major comments or complaints.

Segment 6:
-Trainers looking around randomly bite me in the ass again. I get into ANOTHER unecessary battle with a swimmer. The people at Game Freak should be shot for programming these trainers.
-The Chuck battle could have gone by faster with Return; however, the length of the battle is acceptable to me.

Segment 7:
-Due to personal experience, it's quicker to go across the booby-trapped floor in the Rocket Hideout instead of disabling the statues.
-Yet ANOTHER unecessary battle in Pryce's gym. : (

Segment 8:
-I stock up on stat-increasing items to make battles go by quicker.
-This is a long segment, and I'm really concerned about conserving Feraligatr's PP with the constant battles. I manage to make it through the Radio Tower quest without visiting a Pokemon Center in-between.

Segment 9:
-The boulder puzzle in the Ice Cave was made a LOT easier thanks to mike's help. : )
-Stupid move near Tohjo Falls. The female Cooltrainer looks around in all of the directions; I forget about this, and panic, jumping off a ledge in the process. I waste about another minute due to this stupidity.
-I ALWAYS forget about the Psychic after the male Cooltrainer. Future runners should Surf to avoid the Psychic.

Segment 10:
-The strategy for the Elite Four is simple; stat-up and sweep. No major problems.
-I should have used my X Accuracy to combat Double Team in the battle against Koga; instead, I decide to risk attacking, and have my attacks miss a few times before they hit.

Segment 11:
-Here's one area where it's debatable if obtaining Flash is beneficial or not. mike89 recommends going through Rock Tunnel to get to the Power Plant; it's difficult to navigate the cave without Flash, but the alternative is to take the route between Cerulean City and Rock Tunnel, battling four trainers along the way. Since I don't have Flash, I decide it's quicker to face the four trainers along the Cerulean-Power Plant route. I think it takes about the same time as navigating the maze without Flash. If going through Rock Tunnel is about a couple minutes quicker, then getting Flash might be important.
-Trainers that look around randomly suck. I get into ANOTHER battle at the Saffron Gym (four if you're counting).

Segment 12:
-Nothing worth noting.

Segment 13:
-I utilize another helpful strategy from mike89 here. I try to freeze Venusaur with Ice Punch, so that I can give two X-Attack to Feraligatr and sweep Red's team with Return. This is harder than it seems, as Ice Punch only has a 10% rate, and Espeon uses Reflect to halve the damage of physical attacks for five turns, and usually 2HKOs Feraligatr with Psychic. To take care of the Espeon problem, I use Dire Hit on my Feraligatr, increasing its chances of getting a critical hit. I don't think future runners need this item, as it doesn't work as well as the X-Items.
-Enjoy the credits a second time!

I hope you enjoy this run that ate up several weeks of my valuable free time.

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