Version 1.3

Gameplay

• Numerous fixes to the dialogue not appearing properly
• Glitch items in Lavender Town and Cinnabar Island Pokémarts removed
• After some deliberation, the portable Pokémon PC was removed from the start menu, due to my inability to solve the issue of why it was turning regular locations’ dialogue into that of the Pokémon Center. Sorry to everyone who was excited about this feature, I may attempt to implement it in the future, but don’t want to implement a feature if it will have such issues.
• Starmie’s speed has returned to 110, it was a typo in the code of the first few iterations of the game that Starmie had a lower speed than Staryu
• Surf overworld event now checks to see if a trainer is in the adjacent tile

(Thanks to Reddit users Cathyra and MG2123 for pointing these out!)

Version 1.2

Gameplay

• Fixed the crash when Prof. Oak is beaten
• Fixed a bug where Mew becomes Ditto when caught after using Transform on a party Pokémon (Thanks to Reddit user MG2123 for pointing out these two bugs!)
• Remaining issues: I could not fix three additional glitches. The first two I could not replicate despite using the same emulator as Reddit user MG2123. First, a bug where apparently using the Phone in the Start Menu after talking to the Celadon Dep’t. Store Tradeback NPC causes surrounding NPCs to behave as Nurse Joy in the Pokémon Center. The second is a bug where having Mew in your party and visiting the Safari Zone will cause trainers’ Pokémon to flee, resulting in an instant win. The third I was able to replicate, but could not seem to fix. It is a bug where Kabuto appears as “AREA UNKNOWN” in the Pokédex, despite Kabuto appearing in Cerulean Cave B1F. A future update might fix these bugs if I can manage to solve them.

Version 1.1

Gameplay

• Fixed an oddly specific but pernicious bug where the game would freeze whenever a Gym Trainer would walk one or more tiles to approach the player. Thanks to Caboll on ROMhacking.net for pointing this out!
• Revised several dialogue segments.
• Accounted for a BST increase on Tangela, so now it is only Alakazam, Mew, and Mewtwo who do not feature a BST increase in this ROMhack.

Version 1.0

Pokémon Scientist is a comprehensive reimagining of Pokémon Blue from the perspective of one of Professor Oak’s research aides. Nearly every aspect of the game has been revisited, from battle mechanics and trainer teams to story progression and quality-of-life improvements.

Gameplay

• Complete rebalance of Pokémon learnsets
• Nearly every trainer battle has been redesigned
• Most wild encounter tables have been reworked
• Numerous Pokémon have new typings (including Charizard as Fire/Dragon)
• Complete overhaul of move balance, typing, and functionality
• New type chart
• Revised item availability, TM distribution, Gym Leader rewards, and shop prices
• Revised in-game trades
• The Daycare can now breed a Pokémon if you leave a Pokémon with them for long enough
• Added a Tradeback NPC to the Celadon Department Store
• Unlockable roaming Level 70 Mew encounter
• All other legendary Pokémon are now post-Elite Four encounters
• Legendary birds are now Level 80, while Mewtwo is Level 90
• Challenge Gym Leaders to a rematch post-Elite Four
• Challenge Prof. Oak when you complete the endgame

Battle & Engine Improvements

• Focus Energy bug fixed
• Critical hit mechanics corrected
• Poison and Leech Seed now deal 1/8 maximum HP each turn
• Haze now affects only the user’s side of the field
• OHKO moves no longer fail simply because the user is slower
• Improved Trainer AI
• Several moves now feature new or enhanced secondary effects
• Stat EXP has been removed to create more consistent battle difficulty
• Participating Pokémon each receive the full amount of experience instead of splitting it
• EXP.ALL has been completely redesigned to award experience as though every party member participated in battle
• EXP.ALL no longer interrupts battles with repeated experience messages

Story

• Play as one of Professor Oak’s research aides
• Choose between Grimer, Magnemite, and Koffing as your starter Pokémon
• Your rival now begins with Porygon
• Celadon Mansion has been transformed into a Radio Tower
• A communications outage replaces the original Saffron guard progression
• Over 100 rewritten scripts and dialogue sequences
• NPC dialogue has been rewritten to reflect your role as a scientist
• Gym Leaders and other major characters feature expanded dialogue

Quality of Life

• TMs do not expire upon use
• HM moves can be forgotten
• HM moves can be used directly by interacting with overworld objects
• HM badge restrictions have been removed
• Flash can be used in more locations, but these locations have been made dim instead of completely dark (making overworld use of Flash purely cosmetic)
• Press B to run at double speed
• After obtaining HM02 (Fly), you can travel to nearly every accessible destination
• Pokédex entries are recorded immediately upon seeing a Pokémon; this has the advantage of allowing you to see Pokémon nests after encountering a Pokémon, rather than only after catching it
• A PHONE has been added to the Start Menu, allowing remote access to Pokémon PC functions

Visual Improvements

• Built upon dannye’s Generation 2 graphics branch of pokered
• New title screen
• New splash screen
• Scientist player sprites
• Updated Pokémon palettes
• Improved Super Game Boy palette support and border
• 151 Pokémon icons (credit Blue Emerald, Chamber_, Soloo993, et al.)