I'm doing this comparison because I got a much lower time on my first Squirtle run than I thought (beat WR by 6 seconds with tons of mistakes), and then 2 days later I found a new route that saves 20+ seconds.

(Only comparing manipless, because consistent god Nido is kinda unbeatable)

NIDORAN MAJOR TIME LOSSES									TIME
- Inconsistent and slow Route 22 grind						+1:24
- Slower/riskier Brock fight								+0:29
- Nugget Bridge/Route 25 (animations, turns and Hiker)		+1:28
- Getting Rock Slide (slow and risky)						+0:22
- Getting Earthquake										+1:12
- Swapping out on Lorelei									+0:11
															TOTAL: 5:06
 
SQUIRTLE MAJOR TIME LOSSES
- Route 3 (poison and many 4-turns)							+0:13
- Goldeen and Misty fights									+0:42
- Cerulean Center 2											+0:19
- Many extra turns on Fly split								+1:02	
- Less Surge/Fly/Poke Flute red bar							+0:27
- Extra turns on Poke Flute split							+0:21
- Silph Rival												+0:19
- Fuchsia Gym												+0:23
- Sabrina													+0:16
- Lance														+0:14
- Champion													+0:41
- Inconsistent late-game red bar							+0:24
															TOTAL: 5:21

Nidoran backsprite + cry time: 192
Squirtle backsprite + cry time: 213 (0.35s slower; +2.1s total)
(Nidoran/Squirtle does 6 fights; does not consider Moon encounters or red bar)

Nidoking backsprite + cry time: 233
Wartortle backsprite + cry time: 216 (0.28s faster; -10.2s total)
(Nidoking/Wartortle does 36 fights; does not consider Sand-Attack, Route 6 encounters, or red bar)

Nidoking backsprite + cry time: 233
Blastoise backsprite + cry time: 219 (0.23s faster; -5.1s total)
(Nidoking/Wartortle does 22 fights; does not consider red bar)

The new Squirtle route is:
- Get 207 experience from wild Pokemon in Route 1, Route 3, and Mt. Moon
- Fight the Mt. Moon Hiker
- Get the Mt. Moon candy
- Candy from L19-->20 for Misty
- Fight top Hiker on Route 25 (this is easily faster overall if you are in red bar, which you always are)
- Skip Mega Kick
- Candy from L31-->32 for Lavender Rival
- Candy from L35-->37 for Silph Co.
- Skip Lapras, and teach Strength to Blastoise
- Try to red bar Silph Rival, Silph Rocket, Silph Giovanni, Juggler 1, Juggler 2 and Koga (inconsistent but doable)
- Get low HP off Koga or die to Selfdestruct (doesn't affect exp. route)
- Skip Blizzard
- Get mansion candies, and use them immediately from L42-->L44 (and Potion if died to boom)
- Red bar Blaine, Sabrina, Erika and all of Viridian Gym with low risk
- Red bar Viridian Rival, Lorelei and Bruno (can Super Potion for Viridian Rival for safety)