Looking at Pokemon: Bidoof

December 26, 2008 | 2 Comments

Bidoof is a Normal type Pokemon who evolves into the Normal/Water type Bibarel at Level 15. Bidoof is Pokemon number 399 in the national dex and is one of the most common Pokemon found in the early parts of Diamond, Pearl and Platinum. It is most often used as an HM slave by players and then tossed back into the box once the player reaches the Elite Four.

Bidoof comes with one of two possible abilities: Simple (The effectiveness of all stat modifications is doubled) and Unaware (Foe’s stat modifications are ignored).

Bidoof can be acquired in the 4th generation Pokemon games rather quickly. Soon after earning your starter Pokemon you will find yourself unable to take ten steps without one of these buck-toothed critters popping out of the tall grass to harass you.

Bidoof does not have any amazing base stats. Its best score is HP that clocks in at a whopping 59 points. Even though you will be hard pressed to field this little guy in a competitive environment it is not without some redeeming features. For one thing this Pokemon has only one real weakness; Fighting type moves. Bidoof suffers x2 damage from Fight moves but only x1 damage from the rest of the typings with the obvious exception for Ghost moves that can do no harm to a Normal type Pokemon.

Some might compare Bidoof to Rattata but it is important to note that while Rattata has high Speed and Attack scores (while everything else suffers) Bidoof has a very even spread of base scores with nothing really high and nothing really low

When used as an HM slave Bidoof will need to be evolved at the earliest possible moment. While Bidoof can only learn HM01 Cut and HM06 Rock Smash the evolved form can learn six out of the eight HM moves.

Bidoof in Adventure Mode

Let’s be honest for a minute here. Most players only use Bidoof because they can catch one early on and it serves admirably as a throw away HM slave. That does not mean this Pokemon has no other purpose.

When you find (or hatch) your Bidoof it will most likely come with the move Tackle and possibly Growl (level 5). Defense Curl comes along at level 9 and Rollout comes along at level 13. (Rollout is very important because Shinx does not learn an offensive Electric move until level 17.)

HM06 Rock Smash will soon be added to your Pokemon and because it is an HM move you will not be able to replace it with anything else until you find the Move Deleter.

At level 17 Headbutt becomes available and even though bidoof’s speed is not likely to allow it to attack first Headbutt does cause more damage than Tackle and is worth taking. This move will be replaced with Hyper Fang at level 21. Super Fang becomes available at level 37 but that move is best used as a first strike and then not used again due to its diminishing returns. It is also very likely that your Bidoof will have evolved long before Super Fang becomes available. It is also very likely that after evolving your pokemon will be sporting four HM moves.

Adventure Mode Move Breakdown:

Move 1: Tackle -> Headbutt -> Hyper Fang -> Super Fang
Move 2: Growl -> Rollout
Move 3: Defense Curl -> Cut
Move 4: Rock Smash

Most likely you will evolve your Bidoof at level 15 and Rollout will be the last move your Pokemon learns on leveling up.

Competitive Battling Bidoof

It is highly unlikely that you will ever find yourself in a situation where you choose to field a Bidoof in a competitive situation. The only time you will have one of these guys on your team is when a tournament restricts you in some manner. With that in mind I offer the following move set.

Annoying Bidoof

Bidoof’s top score is its HP of 59 followed by an Attack score of 45. Nothing to write home about but within its class it’s not so bad.

EV: HP:252 / Atk: 252 / Spd: 8
Nature: Adamant (Atk+/SpA-)
Ability: Unaware

Move Pool:

Move 1: Super Fang (Normal ??/90)
Move 2: Toxic (Poison –/85 TM06)
Move 3: Substitute (Normal –/– TM90)
Move 4: Rest (Normal –/– TM44)

This particular Bidoof is designed to annoy your opponent. A quick Super Fang will knock half of the HP off of the defending Pokemon. Follow this up with Toxic and the Substitute/Rest combo and this little beaver can go for a long time! A Steel or Poison Pokemon will put the breaks on this strategy.

Other Bidoof

Have some ideas for how to use a Bidoof in battle? Post them in the comments and if they look promising I’ll add them to the article.

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under Tips 

Snowball Effect

December 19, 2008 | 10 Comments

Posted by NikolaTesla | Filed Under News 

Pokemon Farming: Snover!

December 17, 2008 | 26 Comments

Snover is an odd looking little pokemon that somewhat resembles a pine tree. It’s typing Grass/Ice is unique only to it and it’s evolution Abomasnow. What’s even more unique is it’s ability Snow Warning, which instantly summons a permanent hail storm. This ability alone makes Snover a must have for Hail teams. At level 40 Snover evolves into the fairly sturdy Abomasnow. Abomasnow can serve multiple purposes for a hail team aside from initiating the hail storm. It’s capable of performing the role of a solid physical, special or mixed attacker. The Snover I’ve bred for you are Sassy(Sp def +, Speed -) and have either a 30 or 31 in special defense. Since the nature i’ve chosen are is neutral to both attack these guys can serve a mixed attackers. Their move set is:

Leech Seed: The user plants seeds on the opponent and that saps the foe’s Hp each turn. An awesome attack for wearing down opponents in conjunction with the Hail chipping away at them each turn. This move is best used with Spikes and Stealth Rock to rack up residual damage.

Protect: A move that evades all attacks. You can use this attack to scout move sets or after the you seeded them to get some Leech seed damage and get a little more leftovers recovery for your frozen plant.

Seed Bomb: I’m sure the recoil of Wood Hammer puts a few of you off. Seed Bomb give you another viable grass STAB option that still does a solid amount of damage.

Blizzard: One of the big attractions to Abomasnow is the 100% accurate STABed Blizzard, thank to Snow Warning. It’s sure to leave your foe shaking.

Rules:
Please leave your name and FC, even if we traded before I will need it again.
Only 1 Pokémon per person
If you prefer a particular gender or ability tell me, this is on the first come first serve basis.
Please do not trade me eggs
Be in the Wi-Fi zone at 2pm(PST), on December 20th.
Make yourself available to Trade (Invite–>Trade) I will come to you when I’m ready.
Iitems(rare candies or water stones) are very appreciated but not required.
If you are new to our site, your first comment will be moderated. Don’t worry if your post doesn’t show, we will get to it in time, and you will not miss out!

My Information:
Glacier/ 1160 6656 0190

For ease of trading here are the time conversions for 2pm Pacific Standard Time(courtesy of Trombones13)
2pm PST
4pm CST
5pm EST
10pm London
9am Sydney (on 12/21 locally)

If you cannot make the event in time please visit this thread and post requesting a leftover Snover.

Posted by Babael | Filed Under Farming 

Holiday Nightmare

December 12, 2008 | 9 Comments

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under News 

Small But Mighty Dunsparce

December 10, 2008 | 16 Comments


Many pokemon fall through the cracks when building teams due to the rigors of every day battling but this doesn’t necessarily mean they’d make a poor team member. Today’s pokemon is a prime example of this. At first glance, it looks to be a very slow, weak and uninteresting normal type poke but after glancing into it’s heart, I think you will see just how useful this little UU tier pokemon, known as Dunsparce, can be.

All the Dunsparce provided in this event will have an adamant nature to help in its fight to supremacy. The ability of this pokemon is only seen on a very small handful of pokemon and really is the key to its success. Serene Grace, allows the chance of a stat or status effect occurring from a move to be double. This allows very nasty and annoying moves to become even more so when included in Dunsparces move set.

The move set was chosen to best utilize the ability of serene grace. Headbutt provides a great STABbed power 70 move with a 60% chance to flinch the foe, due to serene grace, with very few pokemon resisting a normal type attack. Rock Slide is a great power 75 rock type move with a very annoying 60% flinch rate, to help you battle any of those pesky Ghost types who swing in. Rock Smash may be a weaker Fighting type with only a power 40 but when combined with serene grace ability, Dunsparce now provides a whopping 100% (!!!) chance to lower the targets defense a stage, making further attacks a bit more damaging. The final move, Glare, provides a way to paralyze your opponent, thus slowing them down so Dunsparce can take advantage of its serene graced ability moves first.

To get one of these little buggers:

Please leave your name and friend code down below.  Due to the high demand of a main site event, I will not be able to fulfill any requests for particular genders or names and a limit of one per person will be imposed.  The pokemon that you trade to me is the one I am keeping so please do not attempt to evolve a pokemon through trade.  Along the same lines, please do not trade any eggs since this will impair my ability to trade quickly during the event.

When to show up: Friday December 12, 2008 at 8pm CST                                                                                          Please make yourself available to trade and I will come to you when I am ready with a poke.

Enjoy and I look forward to trading with all of you!

Name: Narnad

FC: 3823 7154 4296

Posted by Narnad | Filed Under Farming 

Thanksgiving Aftermath

December 5, 2008 | 3 Comments

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under News 

Pokemon Farming: Togepi!

December 2, 2008 | 50 Comments


Togepi’s a joyful little pokemon of the normal typing. One of the traits that sets this little egg apart from the myrads of other normal types is the ability “Serene Grace.” Serene Grace is an ability unique to only Dunsparce, Togepi(and Evolutions), Jirachi, Shaymin-Sky forme and Happiny(and evolutions). It increases the chances of secondary effects appearing. Meaning it doubles the seconday effects of moves. For example, Air Slash has has a 20% chance to make your opponent flinch, when serene grace is in effect the flinch rate is doubled, so instead of the flinch rate being 20% it’s now 40%. As Togepi’s bond grows with it’s trainer it will evolve into Togetic and then into Togekiss via shiny stone. Togekiss is a very sturdy pokemon, with a base special defense of 115 and special attack of 120, togekiss can easily assume the role of a special sweeper or special wall. The Togepi I have today are Timid(attack-, speed+), to assist it in sweeping, passing stat boosts, and give you some extra speed if you choose to put a choice scarf on it. All of today’s togepi will come with a Shiny Stone. It move set is the following:

Nasty Plot: A move that doubles Togepi’s special attack. With this move you can either set up a sweep, or pass the boost to another team member.

Baton Pass: This moves passes stat boosts and drops. You can use this move to pass the nasty plot boosts to another team member, or escape Mean Look.

Wish: A self-healing move that restore up to half of it’s maximum HP in the next turn.

Hidden Power: An attack that varies in intensity and type depending on the users IVs. To find out the type and power of this attack you will have to check the IVs of your Togepi.

Rules:
Please leave your name and FC, even if we traded before I will need it again.
Only 1 Pokémon per person
If you prefer a particular gender or ability tell me, this is on the first come first serve basis.
Please do not trade me eggs
Be in the Wi-Fi zone at 2pm(PST), on December 5th.
Make yourself available to Trade (Invite–>Trade) I will come to you when I’m ready.
Iitems(rare candies or water stones) are very appreciated but not required.
If you are new to our site, your first comment will be moderated. Don’t worry if your post doesn’t show, we will get to it in time, and you will not miss out!

My Information:
Glacier/ 1160 6656 0190

For ease of trading here are the time conversions for 2pm Pacific Standard Time(courtesy of Trombones13)
2pm PST
4pm CST
5pm EST
10pm London
9am Sydney (on 12/6 locally)

If you cannot make the event in time please visit this thread and post requesting a leftover Togepi.

Posted by Babael | Filed Under Farming