“Keying” in on Rotom’s new forms!
September 30, 2008 | 14 Comments
“Its body is composed of plasma. It is known to infiltrate electronic devices and wreak havoc” – Pokédex
Pokémon Platinum, released in Japan on September 13th, gives new meaning to those faithful words that our pokédex’s once spoke. As many of you may already know Rotom will be getting a whole new bag of tricks when household appliances run aMUK in Shinnoh!
Starting on September 28, 2008 and lasting until November 4, 2008, Nintendo is giving away a secret key to all Pokemon Platinum owners with WIFI access. The secret key unlocks a hidden room in Team Galactic’s hideout in Eterna City and can be downloaded once you have unlocked the mystery gift function.
Obtaining the Secret Key…
To receive the secret key you first have to unlock the mystery gift option. Just like in Diamond & Pearl you simply go to the 3rd floor and tell the news reporter…Everyone / Happy…and then…WI-FI / Connection. This was a little difficult since it’s all in japanese, but I simply checked on my Pearl game to see where the words where located in english and then found them in japanese!
After you have unlocked the mystery gift function, select the Get Via Wireless button and TA-DA!!!
Obtaining Rotom…
Just like in Diamond & Pearl you can only find Rotom inside a TV in the Old Chateau at night. Once you have captured him in platinum or traded him over from Diamond or Pearl you can head to Team Galactic’s hideout.
Taking on new forms…
After you have beaten Team Galactic in Eterna City, go back to the first room. In the upper left hand corner of the room is a hidden entrance that leads to a new room containing 5 household appliances. Simply go up to the wall and press the A button and your secret key will open the hidden entranceway. With Rotom(s) in your party simply stand in front of the appliance that you want Rotom to posses and press the A button. If your Rotom already knows 4 moves then it will ask you if you want to learn a new move depending on which Appliance you pick.
Here is a chart of each of Rotoms’s new forms and the moves it can learn when it posses the appliances…
Additional Facts…
- Rotom will change back to its original form if you select the spot where the appliance it possessing once sat or if you try and trade Rotom while it is possessing an appliance.
- Rotom’s base stats get a boost when it posses the various appliances return to his old stats when it reverts back to its original form.
- All of the Rotom’s transformations are still Electric and Ghost types.
- If you missed out on the secret key event there is still hope!!! Ask a friend who does have the secret key to share the key with you. They can share the key up to 4 times! All they have to do is do is go to the wonder card share the key. All you have to do is go into your Mystery gift function and select the Get From A Friend option. The only draw back is that this is not over WIFI, you have to be close by.
Looking at Pokemon: Chimchar
September 24, 2008 | 2 Comments
Looking at Chimchar
Chimchar is a Fire Pokemon that is one of the three starter Pokemon from the Diamond and Pearl games. Chimchar sits at spot 390 in the National Pokedex and can evolve into Monferno (Lvl 14) and then Infernape (Lvl 36). Many compare Chimchar to Torchic from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald. More specifically they refer to Infernape as the Pokemon Blaziken always wanted to be.
Chimchar (and his higher evolved forms) are unusual in that they can perform equally well as Physical Attackers or Special Attackers. Their base Attack (58/78/104) and Special Attack (58/78/104) scores are equal through each evolution. Similarly their Defense (44/52/71) and Special Defense (44/52/71) scores are also equal across evolutions. This allows Chimchar to work as either a Physical or Special Attack Pokemon.
Chimchar has the ability Blaze (Boosts power of Fire moves 50% when at 1/3 HP or less).
Chimchar can be acquired either as your starter Pokemon or via trading with a friend or over the GTS. Unlike in previous games there is a third trainer you encounter who takes the Pokemon neither you nor your rival took at the beginning of the game. Once you have seen a Chimchar you will be able to get one off of the GTS (provided you have made it far enough into the game to unlock the GTS).
Chimchar has a good mix of moves in its move pool that allow a trainer to easily mold it into the role of Physical or Special Attacker (though its complete move pool sets it up better as a Physical Attacker). Flame Wheel (Lvl 17) is the only Physical Fire move this Pokemon learns while leveling up but it does have access to the moves Fire Punch and Blaze Kick via its pool of Egg moves.
On the Special Attack side Chimchar can learn several Fire moves beginning with Ember (Lvl 7), Fire Spin (Lvl 33) and Flamethrower (Lvl 41). Its Egg move pool only contains Heat Wave for Special Attacks while it’s TM/HM pool contains Flamethrower, Fire Blast and Overheat.
Chimchar in Adventure Mode
Most players will find that Chimchar is a very rewarding Pokemon to pick as a starter. Among the starter selection Chimchar is the one who becomes dual type the fastest (Monferno, Lvl 14, Fire/Fighting). Fire Pokemon are also extremely rare in Sinnoh during the early part of the game. Ponyta is the Fire Pokemon you will first encounter in the wild and it only becomes available after you have defeated the Grass/Poison Gym in Eterna City.
A fresh Chimchar (with no special breeding) will know the moves Scratch and Leer. Not a Fire move on the list but that comes quickly with Ember at level 7.
I realize that most players will want to evolve their Chimchar at the first opportunity but there are those who like to keep their Pokemon from evolving and the rest of this article will be written with that idea in mind.
At Level 9 Chimchar will learn the move Taunt and (assuming you have not used any TMs/HMs on him) all further moves learned beyond this point will require replacing an existing move already known.
It is important to understand that Chimchar’s level up moves put him in a better position to be a Special Attacker than they do a Physical Attacker. I say this because the move Nasty Plot becomes available at level 23 while Swords Dance is only available via a TM. These moves do essentially the same thing though one applies to Attack and the other to Special Attack. If you choose not to learn Nasty Plot you can always regain it by going to the Move Maniacs house in Pastoria City but only as long as your Pokemon remains a Chimchar. Nasty Plot is not in the move pool of his later evolutions.
When it comes to Physical moves your first option is to replace Scratch with Fury Swipes at level 15. After that comes Flame Wheel at level 17 and Facade at level 31. Personally I would opt for Fury Swipes at level 15 and replace Ember with Flame Wheel at level 17. If I have not acquired a better Physical move by level 31 Facade will replace Fury Swipes.
When it comes to Special moves Fire Spin at level 33 and Flamethrower at level 41 are your only options. Fire Spin is low power (15) but it also prevents the opponent’s Pokemon from fleeing for 2-5 turns. Fire Spin is also only 70% accurate. Flamethrower is a power house at 95 with a 100% accuracy. It also has a 10% chance of inflicting a Burn condition on your opponent.
Taking a quick look at the Status moves in Chimchar’s move pool we find Nasty Plot (Lvl 23), Torment (Lvl 25) and Slack Off (Lvl 39). We have already discussed Nasty Plot above but what about these other two? Should we drop Taunt (Lvl 9) or Leer to learn these?
Taunt and Torment are similar moves. While Taunt forces the opponent’s Pokemon to only use Attack moves for the next 2-5 turns Torment prevents them from using the same move two turns in a row. Pulling these two off can really annoy an opponent but is it worth setting up? Slack Off is a healing move and restores up to ½ of your max HPs. If you want to go the annoying way then pick Taunt and Torment. If you want to go a little more all-purpose than stick with Nasty Plot and Slack Off.
Adventure Mode Move Breakdown:
Move 1: Scratch -> Fury Swipes -> Facade
Move 2: Leer -> Torment
Move 3: Ember -> Flame Wheel -> Flamethrower
Move 4: Taunt
You might be wondering why I have not bothered to learn Nasty Plot in the above breakdown of moves and why I have instead gone with the Taunt/Torment option. The simple reason is that Nasty Plot is not really useful until you learn Flamethrower. With the low power (15) of Fire Spin it’s simply not worth having Nasty Plot taking up a slot. You could keep Ember until you learn Flamethrower but Flame Wheel has 20 more points of power behind it before boosting with a Nasty Plot/Swords Dance.
Remember, the above breakdown assumes no TM/HM usage during game play.
Competitive Battling Chimchar
As an un-evolved Pokemon Chimchar is not a major player in the competitive battling scene. His fully evolved form Infernape is a major player and it sits in the OU (Over Used) tier. It is at this point that you are likely wondering why anyone would want to field a Chimchar in competitive play.
There are occasions where you will find yourself in a tournament or league with special rules in place. That is where you will find yourself battling with a Chimchar. The un-evolved three stage Pokemon tournament is where you will find Chimchar in use. If the tournament rules allow for non-evolving Pokemon don’t use Chimchar. Pokemon who do not evolve are almost always stronger than un-evolved three stage Pokemon.
All-Purpose Chimchar
This Chimchar does a little bit of everything. It makes good use of its Blaze ability and has a few tricks up its sleeves.
IV: Atk: 252 / SpA: 252 / Spd: 8
Nature: Lonely (Atk+/Def-), Naughty (Atk+/SpD-), Mild (SpA+/Def-), Rash (SpA+/SpD-), Hasty (Spd+/Def-), Naive (Spd+/SpD-)
Move Pool:
Move 1: Heat Wave (Fire 100/90 Egg move)
Move 2: Fire Punch (Fire 75/100 Egg move)
Move 3: Hidden Power (Ice TM10)
Move 4: Thunder Punch (Electric 75/100 Egg move)
Yes, this variant requires proper breading to create but it covers all but one of Chimchar’s weaknesses, Rock. You can swap Brick Break (TM31) in place of Hidden Power (TM10) but then you will still find yourself weak against Ground types and you will no longer have the 50/50 split among Special and Physical moves.
Even though Chimchar has access to Grass Knot (TM86) most Pokemon in his class will be light, thus negating the effectiveness of Grass Knot.
Special Attack Chimchar
This Chimchar focuses entirely on Special Attack and Speed. He hits hard and he hits fast!
IV: HP: 8 / SpA: 252 / Spd: 252
Nature: Modest (SpA+/Atk-), Timid (Spd+/Atk-)
Move Pool:
Move 1: Nasty Plot (Dark Status Lvl 23)
Move 2: Fire Blast (Fire 120/85 TM 3 / Flamethrower (Fire 95/100 Lvl 41/TM 35)
Move 3: Hidden Power (Ice TM 10)
Move 4: Torment (Dark Status Lvl 25)
The option to use Fire Blast or Flamethrower is based on personal preference and risk taking. While Fire Blast is more powerful it is also less accurate. If you have a hold item that increases your Pokemon’s accuracy than feel free to go with Fire Blast. If you find yourself getting “burned” by attacks that miss you can go with flamethrower.
Hidden Power Ice should help take out those pesky Ground types while Torment lets you annoy those Pokemon who only have one attack that can hurt you.
Attack Chimchar
This Chimchar focuses entirely on Attack and Speed. He hits hard and he hits fast!
IV: HP: 8 / Atk: 252 / Spd: 252
Nature: Adamant (Atk+/SpA-), Jolly (Spd+/SpA-)
Move Pool:
Move 1: Swords Dance (Normal Status TM 75)
Move 2: Fire Punch (Fire 75/100 Egg move)
Move 3: Thunder Punch (Electric 75/100 Egg move)
Move 4: Focus Punch (Fighting 150/100 TM 1)
This Chimchar is very similar to the Special Attack Chimchar except he is a little bit better. By starting off with a Swords Dance you set in motion a nearly unbeatable Chimchar. With his high speed Focus Punch is practically guaranteed to result in a series of OHKOs in battle. The only thing this Chimchar can not defend against is a Ground type who is faster than he is.
Other Chimchar:
There are many options for Chimchar and being in the un-evolved tier most competitive battlers are not familiar with it. Some may consider him to be a smaller version of Infernape but that would be a mistake. Many of the power moves associated with Infernape are not in Chimchar’s move pool.
Pickup
September 20, 2008 | 2 Comments
When Ruby and Sapphire hit the Pokemon scene a new ability came with them. This ability is known as Pickup.
Diamond and Pearl also allow for the Pickup ability and the following Pokemon can have this ability: Aipom, Ambipom, Linoone, Meowth, Munchlax, Pachirusu, Phanpy, Teddiursa and Zigzagoon.
Most players of Ruby and Sapphire made it a point to use their Zigzagoon/Linoone as an HM machine as well as an item finder. Even know I keep a Linoone in my party when training so that I can collect rare stones used for evolution.
If you keep a Pokemon with the Pickup ability in your party there is a 10% chance he will “pick something up” at the end of each battle.
| Lv. | 30% | 10% | 4% | 2% | |||||||
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Be aware that some of the rare items only appear if a Pokemon is within a certain level range. For example TM01 Focus Punch can only be found if your Pokemon is between levels 71 and 90. Once your Pokemon turns level 91 he can no longer Pickup a Focus Punch TM.
What Pokemon Are You? - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Time and Darkness
April 20, 2008 | 102 Comments
When the first set of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games were published we posted a What Pokemon Are You article to help you get the exact Pokemon you wanted. Now that the new games are out (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness) we present to you a new guide!
There are 16 Pokemon that you can get from answering the quiz questions. Unlike the previous game each of these Pokemon can be acquired whether you choose to be male or female. The natures are different for male and female but you can get them all
| Pokemon | Male Nature | Female Nature |
| Bulbasaur | Lonely | Docile |
| Charmander | Docile | Brave |
| Squirtle | Quirky | Bold |
| Pikachu | Brave | Hasty |
| Meowth | Sassy | Relaxed |
| Chikorita | Calm | Quiet |
| Cyndaquil | Timid | Calm |
| Totodile | Jolly | Sassy |
| Treecko | Quiet | Hardy |
| Torchic | Hardy | Rash |
| Mudkip | Rash | Lonely |
| Skitty | Hasty | Naive |
| Turtwig | Bold | Timid |
| Chimchar | Naive | Impish |
| Piplup | Impish | Quirky |
| Munchlax | Relaxed | Jolly |
After you get your starting Pokemon you then select a partner Pokemon from the same list but you can not take one that matches your type. So, if you end up with Piplup you can not select another Water type as your partner.
There are a lot of questions in this game and you don’t always get the questions you want. When faced with questions that lead to natures you are not looking for try to spread out your answers among all of the other natures you do not want. Once the question session is over the nature you have the most points in will be the deciding factor for which Pokemon you get. In the case of a tie it will choose randomly between the natures you have tied in.
| Question | Answer | Score | ||||||||
| You’re in the final mile of a marathon, but the last stretch is exhausting! What will you do? |
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| Would you even consider sticking to a plan to do ten sit-ups a day? |
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| You attend a fine dinner at a friend’s house. How do you behave? |
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| What do you do with your allowance? |
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| You want to reveal that you like someone a whole bunch! What do you do? |
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| You see a cake that is past its expiration date, but only by one day. What do you do? |
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| You’re daydreaming… when your frind sprays you with water! What do you do? |
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| Your friends seem to be having a fun chat out of earshot. What do you do? |
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| You have to move a heavy suitace. What will you do? |
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| You’re on a stroll when a TV crew pounces on you for an interview. What do you do? |
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| If you don’t know something, do you come clean and admit it? |
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| You’re in a play with friends. What kind of role do you prefer? |
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| you’re on a walk when you smell something delicious. What do you do? |
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| You feel a burst of happiness! How about expressing it with a little dance? |
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| A fortune teller says that you have a bad future ahead of you. How do you react? |
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| You see a parade coming down the street. What do you do? |
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| Have you ever wanted to communicate with aliens from another planet? |
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| You hear a rumor that might make you rich! What do you do? |
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| How do you blow up a balloon? |
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| Do you state your opinion even when it’s not what everyone else thinks? |
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| Your friend tells a joke that is horribly corny! How do you react? |
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| Have you ever upset a friend when you were just kidding around? |
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| Can you strike up conversations with new people easily? |
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| Do you get injured a lot? |
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| You see a ball on the ground. What do you do? |
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| The phone’s ringing. What do you do? |
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| What do you think of jungle exploration? |
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| Do you find yourself humming or singing often? |
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| You discover a secret passage in a basement. What do you do? |
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| You’re eating at a restaurant when you abrupty realize that everyone’s gone! What do you do? |
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| Your friend takes a spectacular fall! What do you do? |
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| You’re in class when you realize that you really have to go to the restroom! What do you do? |
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| Do you like being the center of attention? |
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| You’re told to wait in a big, empty room. What do you do? |
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| You have a really important test tomorrow. What do you do? |
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| Have you ever accidentally revealed a personal secret that someone shared with you? |
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| Do you have lots of stuff you bought, thinking it was all cool, but don’t use anymore? |
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| Hey, what’s that? There’s someone behind you! So… did you look just now? |
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| Do you often forget to lock the door when you go out? |
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| Have you had any hobbies for a long time? |
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| Do you often cancel plans to meet others at the last second? |
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| You muster your courage and go to a graveyard at night… and see a woman soaked to the skin just standing there! What do you do? |
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| Do you like to do things according to plan? |
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| Your friend says that your shirt is inside out. What do you do? |
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| Your friend is crying right in front of you! What made that happen? |
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| Do you think that lies are sometimes necessary? |
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| Do you think that anything goes when it comes to winning? |
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| You spot a deserted ship on the high seas! What do you think the ship holds? |
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| You run into a new person that you haven’t talked to very much before. What do you do? |
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| Someone who works at a store suggests an item that isn’t quite what you are looking for. But you like this person. What do you do? |
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| You’ve just stuffed yourself with a good meal when a great dessert arrives. What do you do? |
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| you think you hear someone call your name. But no one’s around… so what was it? |
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| Do you get bothered by noise and ruckus around you? |
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| Do you find yourself jumping to the wrong conclusion a lot of the time? |
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| Do you change the channels often while watching TV? |
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| You’ve spent forever stacking dominoes… one more and you’re done… Oh, No! you’ve knocked them over! What do you do? |
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| Are you a city person or a country person? |
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| You find something at a great bargain. What do you do? |
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| you’re packing your classroom’s snacks for a picnic when you get hungry. What do you do? |
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| You’re about to take the last cookie when your friend wolfs it down! What do you do? |
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| Are you a rebel at heart? |
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| When walking in a group do you tend to be the one at the front? |
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| Do you think that you might be a genius? |
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| Would you feel comfortable stating your opinion to a very important person? |
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All you have to do is look up and find the questions the game is asking you to find out how many points each answers adds to your nature totals. As long as the nature you want gets the most points you will become that Pokemon.
Looking at Pokemon: Heracross
April 16, 2008 | 9 Comments
Looking at Heracross
Heracross is a Bug/Fighting Pokemon that was introduced in the Gold/Silver/Crystal editions of the game. Heracross sits at the 214th position in the National Dex and does not evolve. This Pokemon is often compared to Pinsir (ND:127 Bug-type) as they are both among the strongest Physical Attackers of the Bug group.
Heracross comes with one of two possible abilities: Swarm (Boosts power of Bug moves 50% when at 1/3 HP or less) and Guts (Attack is increased 50% when statused).
Heracross can be acquired in the Diamond and Pearl games via the Honey Tree system. You can also Pal Park it from one of your GBA games after completing the single player mode.
One of the main problems with Heracross is its severe weakness to Flying-type Pokemon. Because it is both a Bug and a Fighting Pokemon Heracross suffers 4X damage from a Flying attack. This quickly becomes 6X if a Flying Pokemon uses a Flying attack! The Bug typing does help in regards to Fighting’s normal weakness to Psychic Pokemon.
Heracross has a very high Base Attack (125) and its Speed (85) and Special Defense (95) are both above average. Sadly its Defense (75) is not so good and its Special Attack (40) is even worse. Heracross does not have any Special moves in its Level-up and Egg move pools. It can learn a few Special moves via TM (Hidden Power, Hyper Beam and Focus Blast). However, because it can already learn Close Combat and Megahorn as level-up moves (and Giga Impact via TM) there is no reason to ever give a Heracross a Special move.
Heracross in Adventure Mode
Using Heracross in your adventuring party can be very rewarding. When it comes to Bug Pokemon in Diamond/Pearl you do not have a lot of good ones to choose from early on. You could use a Wurmple or a Burmy in your group but Heracross is just so much better than them. Wurmple is easier to catch while Burmy also requires some Honey Tree action to acquire. Because Heracross does not evolve it will be stronger at lower levels than its evolving counterparts.
A freshly hatched Heracross (with no special breeding) will know four of the following five moves: Night Slash, Tackle, Leer, Horn Attack, Endure. Night Slash is a much better move than Tackle and Horn Attack so don’t expect to start with it!
As Heracross gains levels more moves will become available and all of them are Physical Attacks. Yes, you read that right. As Heracross levels up it only ever learns new attacks. Sadly the coveted Megahorn move does not become available until Heracross reaches level 55, no moves are learned after that one.
As Heracross begins to gain levels you will be forced to pick which attacks to keep and which ones to replace. If you are lucky enough to gain Night Slash right from the start keep it. That is the only Dark move Heracross learns without the aid of a TM.
Be sure to learn Aerial Ace at level 13 and Brick Break at level 19. Aerial Ace is a very nice Flying move for Heracross to learn and it never misses. Its Power of 60 is on par with the other “never miss” moves but Heracross gains no type bonus for using it. Brick Break is a great Fighting move that also destroys some defensive moves. Its Power of 75 is very respectable given Heracross gains the STAB. You will keep Brick Break until level 37 when you replace it with Close Combat.
Close Combat is a very good move but you need to be fast to use it. It is a Power 120 Fighting move that also reduces your Defense and Special Defense after use. Heracross is not known for high Defense numbers so don’t use this move if you don’t have a Speed advantage. Close Combat also suffers with a very low number of Power Points. Like most high power moves it only has a base of five power points which can be increased to eight by way of the PP Up potions.
Adventure Mode Move Breakdown:
Move 1: Tackle -> Aerial Ace
Move 2: Leer -> Brick Break -> Close Combat
Move 3: Horn Attack -> Counter -> Reversal
Move 4: Endure
Odds are that you will not reach level 55 (Megahorn) before beating the Elite Four. Endure followed by Counter is a great combination if you are fast enough to pull it off. If you are lucky enough to get a Heracross with a maxed out Speed you might consider keeping those two moves and replacing Aerial Ace with Megahorn when the time comes.
Competitve Battling Heracross
Heracross is very popular in the competitive battling circuit and finds itself in the Over-Used tier. Its Base Attack puts it in the top Ten for its tier and among those it places fourth in terms of speed. The only Pokemon that are faster and have a higher Base Attack in its tier are Azelf, Salamence and Garchomp. When equiped with the right items and moves it is a very formidable opponent able to knock out even legendary Pokemon in one hit. (Most legendary Pokemon are Psychic.)
When it comes to battling with Heracross you will find two types of opponents; Those who understand the threat he posses and those who do not. If you are battling against inexperienced opponents many of them will ignore your Heracross thinking he is not much of a threat. When you face an experienced battler they will target your Heracross for quick destruction.
All-Purpose Heracross
A while back I farmed what I consider to be the all-purpose Heracross. This particular mixture of moves is designed to allow Heracross to lay waste to the inexperienced battlers out there. Rather than specialize in one strategy this Heracross is designed to take on all attackers with OHKO (One Hit Knock Out) moves.
IV: Atk:252 / Spd: 252 / Def: 8
Nature: Adamant (Atk+/SpA-), Jolly (Spd+/SpA-)
Move Pool:
Move 1: Night Slash (Dark 70/100)
Move 2: Close Combat (Fighting 120/100)
Move 3: Megahorn (Bug 120/85)
Move 4: Stone Edge (Rock 100/80 TM71)
Two of the moves are 100% accurate while the other two can miss on occasion. Both Close Combat and Megahorn are STAB moves. Rock Slide is another TM move that you can use on Heracross but it is less powerful than Stone Edge and only slightly more accurate. It is better in a Double Battle as it hits both enemy Pokemon.
Other Heracross:
You can also try and capitalize on the Endure/Reversal strategy but you need to be sure your Pokemon holds a Salac Berry (Raises Speed in a pinch). As long as your opponent hits you hard on the first hit Endure should knock you down to one HP. Heracross will then eat the Salac Berry and gain enough Speed (hopefully) to launch Reversal before your opponent can strike you down.
I always keep a Heracross in my main line of battle Pokemon. I find Heracross to be very versatile in filling holes in my team. The fact that many battlers underestimate it makes it even better!
Looking at Pokemon: Absol
March 20, 2008 | 17 Comments
Absol, the disaster Pokemon, was introduced in the Ruby and Sapphire series of GBA games. Absol is a single type Pokemon (Dark) and does not evolve. Absol sits at the 359th spot on the National Pokedex.
Absol has a very good Attack score (Max 394 which puts it in the top 10 if you ignore legendary Pokemon, spot 13 if you don’t) and above average Special Attack and Speed. Its other three scores are only average. This Pokemon comes in both genders and has either the ability Pressure (When this Pokémon is hit by a move, the opponent’s PP lowers by 2 rather than 1/ If the Pokémon is in the lead spot, chance of encountering wild Pokemon increases) or Super Luck (Raises the critical-hit ratio of moves; allows simultaneous use of Dire Hit and Focus Energy) .Both abilities can prove very helpful in battle.
Absol is able to use a wide variety of TMs and HMs. Its egg moves are mostly of the Dark type. None of which fall in the Special category. Its level up moves are heavy on Normal (9) and Dark (5). There is also one Fighting move on the list and two Psychic moves.
Absol is catchable in both Diamond and Pearl games (Mass Outbreaks on route 213) as well as being transferable from the previous GBA games via the Pal Park.
Now that the basics are out of the way I’m going to tell you a little bit about how to effectively use this Pokemon in your game. Right off the bat you are probably thinking that the only use you will ever have for this Pokemon is in the arena of battling, this is not so. It is quite possible to have someone trade an Absol to you when you first begin your Pokemon journey. Due to the wonders of Wi-Fi it is very easy to avoid the built-in Pokemon restrictions of Diamond and Pearl.
One of the problems with adventuring in Sinnoh is the lack of certain types of Pokemon until you defeat the Elite Four and complete your Sinnoh Pokedex. When it comes to Dark Pokemon you will be limited to Murkrow, Stunky, Spiritomb, Drapion and Sneasel.
Murkrow can be encountered early on but Stunky only appears in Diamond. Spiritomb is near impossible to get unless you have a lot of friends. Drapion requires evolving its earlier form and Sneasel does not appear until you have acquired several badges and head towards Snowpoint. Having access to a strong Dark-type Pokemon early in the game can change the single-player game experience for you.
Adventure Mode Absol
If you get a freshly hatched Absol with no special breeding you can expect it to only know the move Scratch. This is a rather weak Physical move but it is on par with what you will encounter in the early part of the game. At level 12 it will learn the much better move Quick Attack. This move is just as effective as Scratch but it is faster.
The first damage-inducing Dark move Absol learns is Pursuit at level 20. Pursuit gives you a STAB attack with the added benefit that it can damage a foe when they try to switch out. Because of its low power you will be replacing it with bite upon attaining level 28.
Sucker Punch is also a Dark-type attack that Absol can learn upon reaching level 44. Even though Sucker Punch has a higher power rating than Bite it only works if your foe uses a Physical Attack against you. This is a nice back-up move but you need to keep Bite as your main Dark-type attack.
You will continue on with Bite until Absol gets the chance to learn Night Slash at level 52. Odds are you will have already defeated the Elite Four by this point and unless your Absol has the Super Luck ability I would have to advise that you stick with Bite.
What about the non-Dark moves in Absol’s level-up move pool? Most of them are Status moves. I generally avoid Special Attack moves on an Absol due to their high Attack score. Still, having a Special Attack waiting in the wings can prove beneficial. Future Sight and Razor Wind are the only Special Attacks that Absol learns while leveling up.
Razor Wind pops up at level 17 and should be learned. Even though Razor Wind is a two-turn move it will hit both opponents in a Double Battle. Its Base Power of 80 makes it the most powerful Attack you will learn until Sucker Punch at level 44. Future Sight is also a Power 80 Attack but it hits several turns later and is not 100% accurate the way Razor Wind is.
In the Status department Absol has several good moves for the adventure mode of the game. Between Swords Dance and Double Team you can either knock out your foes faster or make yourself last longer in battle.
My preferred order of moves in adventure mode are as follows:
Move 1: Scratch -> Razor Wind
Move 2: Leer -> Swords Dance
Move 3: Taunt -> Pursuit -> Bite
move 4: Quick Attack -> Slash
After this point I have usually defeated the Elite Four, transferred my Pokemon out of the game and reset the game for a new go with a new team.
Battle Mode Absol
Using Absol in adventure mode is far different from breeding an Absol for competitive battling. When battling competitively Absol falls in the Under Used Tier. This grouping is based off of Absol’s Base Points (465) and Move Pool. Some tournaments also exist where you will be forced to only use Pokemon of a certain evolutionary type. In Absol’s case it fits in the “non-evolving category”.
Even though Absol falls into the Under Used tier the only other Pokemon with a Base Attack of 130 are Kingler and Flareon, both of which are “evolving” Pokemon. This means Absol has the highest Attack score for the non-evolving Under Used tier Pokemon. When it comes to Speed, Absol is just about in the middle with a Base Speed of 75.
Absol 1: Baton Passer
Some people over look Absol as a Baton Passer because it does not have an ability that leads to passing on heightened stats. Absol is not one of the best Baton Passers out there but it can learn the move and if it has Pressure it can lay some hurt on the opponent’s Pokemon if they use high Power low Power Point moves.
IVs: HP:252, Def:8, Spd:252
Nature: Jolly (Spd+/SpA-)
Move 1: Baton Pass (Egg Move)
Move 2: Double Team
Move 3: Psych Up (TM)
Move 4: Swords Dance / Calm Mind (TM)
The choice between Swords Dance and Calm Mind depends on what Pokemon you are setting up for. If the next Pokemon is a Physical Attacker go with Swords Dance. If they are a Special Attacker go with Calm Mind.
Absol is far from the best Baton Passer around but when a tournament restricts the better Baton Passers it is good to know that an Absol is an option.
Absol 2: Speed Kills
Absol has a very nice Attack score and its Speed is not that far behind. Absol is faster than many Pokemon in its class and with the Super Luck ability you can make short work of your opponent’s Pokemon by landing a few Critical Hits before they even get a chance to attack you.
IVs: Atk: 252, Def:8, Spd:252
Nature: Adamant (Atk+/SpA-), Jolly (Spd+/SpA-)
Move 1: Stone Edge (TM)
Move 2: Night Slash
Move 3: Assurance (TM)
Move 4: Psycho Cut Thanks Jhamin!
Yes, I know some of these moves are not very powerful and others are not 100% accurate. What they all have in common is that they are Physical moves. They will all use Absol’s high Attack score to their advantage.
Absol is weak against Fighting and Bug-type moves. Psycho Cut (Psychic 70/100) is a good hedge against those pesky Fighting-type Pokemon. Stone Edge (Rock 100/80) is effective against the Bug-type Pokemon you will face.
Other Absol Uses
There are many other uses for an Absol in your party. For one thing the Ability Pressure causes wild Pokemon to appear more often. Couple this with teaching Absol False Swipe and you can do some Pokemon hunting.
You can also teach an Absol Perish Song, Baton Pass, Substitute and Mean Look. Start with Mean Look, drop a Perish Song down and Substitute until you need to pull off a Baton Pass to get your Absol out of danger. This tactic can be very deadly in a Double Battle situation.
Daily Doings in Sinnoh
December 13, 2007 | 12 Comments
After beating Diamond and Pearl there is a vast amount of end-game content available to you. Part of that involves a series of “once a day” events. We have listed them in alphabetical order below:
Celestic Town - In the PokéCenter in Celestic is a man who likes happy Pokemon. show him a happy Pokemon and he will reward you with a Great Ball.
Fight Area - On Saturday and Sunday your rival will appear for a battle. This a great high level battle.
Floaroma Town - In the flower shop there is a girl who will give you a berry. These will all be common berries.
Jubilife City - The Lottery Corner is located at the main desk on the bottom floor of the TV station. You can get one ticket a day and possible prizes (if the ticket matches a Pokemon’s ID) includes:
- All Numbers match = MasterBall
- Four Numbers match = Max Revive
- Three Numbers match = EXP Share
- Two Numbers match = PP Up
- One Number matches = Contest Backdrop
Jubilife City - To the left of the Lottery Corner (inside the TV station) is a trainer that you can battle. The trainer will ask you to battle and you can accept or decline the offer. If you accept the battle will be covered on TV. The trainers battled here change daily and sometimes it will be a double battle.
Pal Park - Once the Pal PArk opens you can transfer 6 Pokemon every day per GBA cartridge.
Pastoria City - The house furthest to the West in Pastoria City has a kindly woman that will give you a random berry every day. These berries are often very rare.
Resort Area - Once you acquire enough ribbons the special club opens up to you. Inside you can buy some very expensive ribbons as well as get a massage for one of your Pokemon every day.
Route 208 - The Berry Master lives just West of Hearthome City. He will give you a random berry every day.
Route 221 - There is a man who asks to see any Pokemon of a given level. If you bring him one of the given level he will reward you with an item. Items are; Black Belt, Expert Belt and Focus Sash. Items repeat in a loop.
Sandgem Town - See Dawn/Lucas’ sister for the swarm of the day news. She will tell you which Pokemon is swarming and where they are.
Snowpoint Town 0 In the North East house is a man who will tell you a new word every day.
Solaceon Town - Right next to the PokéCenter in Solaceon Town is a house with a news reporter inside. He will give you a daily task to bring him a Pokemon. If you do he will reward you with three Pokeballs of a random type (not MasterBall, PremiumBall or CherishBall).
Sunyshore City - In the North East of the city is a girl who wants you to tell her a story using your vocabulary words (visit Snowpoint Town). If you satisfy her she will reward you with a special ribbon that varies by day. Ribbon goes on the Pokemon in front.
Sunyshore Market - The Seal Sellers change their seals every day.
Trophy Garden - In the mansion on route 214 you can catch rare Pokemon. After acquiring the National Dex be sure to talk to Mr. Backlot each day to find out what rare Pokemon is hanging out in his Trophy Garden,
Valley Windworks - Friday is Drifloon day! Once you defeat Team Galactic a level 20 Drifloon will be found outside the Valley windworks every Friday.
Valor Lakefront - During regular business hours at the Grand Hotel (9AM - 11PM) you can fight a multitude of trainers in double battles inside the restaurant.
Veilstone City - Near the Gym is a lady who will happily give one of your Pokemon a massage. Not only will this increase their happiness but she will also find a cool contest item while massaging the Pokemon.
Game Corner Tips
November 16, 2007 | 7 Comments
So you want to be a Pro Gambler? Here is a guide on how to reap the rewards of the Game Corner!
You got yourself some coins? Good you can begin!
First thing first, find a machine your comfortable with. Certain machines have different odds, experiment and find one that suites you.
When you load up the screen, you’ll see that there are three reels, and six lights. Always insert the maximum amount of coins possible, so as to improve you chances. Then start to play.
The first thing you want to do is try to line up the moonstones. They give a decent payout for the effort required. When you feel confident, move onto trying to get 777 and the Galactic Symbols.
Now, you may have noticed a wobbling Pokeball at the bottom of the screen. That Pokeball contains Clefairy. You really want to get Clefairy out of that Pokeball, as this activates the Bonus Round. A good way to do this is to follow the steps in the previous paragraph.
When Clefairy comes out of the Pokeball, play a few more reels. Keep your eyes on the touch screen. When Clefairy starts pointing in different directions, that means the bonus round has started.
The bonus round lasts 15 Games. During that time, Replays become worth 15 Coins if they are lined up in a row. Difficult you think? Nah! Remember Clefairy Pointing? If you stop the reels in that order, it will always be a replay, gaining you another 15 Coins. Simple!
Even Better, Bonus Rounds can happen over and over, (I managed 8 in a row) so you can repeatedly get the 15 coin replay. Want to increase your chances? Heres how:
1. There are 3 different Clefairies that can come out of the Pokeball. A regular Clefairy, which has a 50/50 chance of continuing a bonus round. Next up is a Ditto pretending to be a Clefairy, which as a reduced chance of repeating the bonus. And finally, a Shiny Clefairy which has an extremely high chance of repeating the bonus.
2. While in the Bonus Round, above Clefairy is a moon. If the moon is normal, just keep going. If the moon is much brighter, make sure you do what Clefairy says, as it will increase the chance of an extra bonus. If the moon is red, ignore Clefairy. If you don’t Clefairy will get tired, and you hopes of another bonus round are reduced by a lot.
Well, thats all there is to it! And remember, if you get 10 or more bonus rounds in a row, make sure to ask the receptionist for a prize!
Thanks to The Last of Angels for writing this up!
Where to find those EV’s
October 14, 2007 | 11 Comments
Hello everyone!
I have seen a lot of information floating around the PokeFarm forum on the subject of EV’s or Effort Values. I took some time and wrote up a few pages on my web space about where you can find the EV’s you need for Pokemon training. If you are like me, you want EV training over and down with as quickly as possible. So what makes it go quickly? Well you can always go and find a Pokemon that gives the most EV’s for the stat you want. What if it is a low spawning Pokemon? Maybe a Pokemon that gives less EV’s, but spawns more frequently is the answer.
What is the best Pokemon to battle for this? Well I hope this guide will help.
| HP EV Pokemon | ATTACK EV Pokemon | ||||
| Pokemon | EV’s Given | Location | Pokemon | EV’s Given | Location |
| Chansey | 2 | Route 209 | Bibarel | 2 | Rt. 208-210 |
| Clefairy | 2 | Mt. Coronet | Kricketune | 2 | Rt. 206 |
| Lanturn | 2 | Rt. 220 - Super Rod | Luxio | 2 | Feugo Ironworks |
| Lapras | 2 | Victory Road | Crawdaunt | 2 | Celestic Town - Super Rod |
| Gastrodon | 2 | Rt. 213 | Corphish | 1 | Celestic Town - Super Rod |
| Skuntank | 2 | Rt. 222 Diamond Only | Shinx | 1 | Rt. 202-204 |
| Bidoof | 1 | Rt. 201 - 205 | Chatot | 1 | Rt. 222 & 224 |
| Shellos | 1 | Rt. 205 | Gible | 1 | Wayward Cave |
| DEFENSE EV Pokemon | SPECIAL ATTACK EV Pokemon | ||||
| Pokemon | EV’s Given | Location | Pokemon | EV’s Given | Location |
| Hippowdon | 2 | Rt. 228 | Beautifly | 3 | Eterma Forest Diamond Only |
| Cascoon | 2 | Eterna Forest Pearl Only | Gloom | 2 | Rt. 224 |
| Graveler | 2 | Rt. 211 E & 214 | Golduck | 2 | Surf Anywhere |
| Geodude | 1 | Oreburgh Gate | Kadabra | 2 | Rt. 215 |
| Hippopotas | 1 | Ruin Maniac’s Cave | Girafarig | 2 | Rt. 214 |
| Kricketot | 1 | Rt. 202 - 204 | Budew | 1 | Rt. 204 |
| Bronzor | 1 | Rt. 206, Mt. Coronet | Gastly | 1 | Old Chateau |
| Bonsly | 1 | Rt. 209 & 210 S | Abra | 1 | Rt. 203 |
| SPECIAL DEFENSE EV Pokemon | SPEED EV Pokemon | ||||
| Pokemon | EV’s Given | Location | Pokemon | EV’s Given | Location |
| Dustox | 3 | Eterna Forest Pearl | Staravia | 2 | Rt. 209 |
| Ledian | 2 | Rt. 229 | Floatzel | 2 | Rt. 213 |
| Mr. Mime | 2 | Rt. 218 Diamond Only | Lumineon | 2 | Rt. 205 S - Good Rod |
| Tentacruel | 2 | Surf Anywhere | Purugly | 2 | Rt. 222 Pearl Only |
| Tentacool | 1 | Surf Anywhere | Glameow | 1 | Rt. 218 Pearl Only |
| Mantyke | 1 | Rt. 223 - Surf | Buneary | 1 | Eterna Forest |
| Cleffa | 1 | Mt. Coronet | Pachirisu | 1 | Valley Windworks |
| Spoink | 1 | Rt. 214 Swarm | Starly | 1 | Rt. 201 - 203 |
These small guides are just the tip of what can be found throughout Sinnoh. You can find most of these Pokemon very early in the game. EV training early could also speed up your game play. These guides will also help pick the right Pokemon to EV against. If you are training an Electric Type in Defense you will not want to go battle Geodude, so this guide helps you find something weak to your Electric Type. I have all Pokemon and their EV’s listed on my site. It is separated by Stats just like the guides here.. The site is still a work in progress. I also used Excel to make the charts, so sometimes all the lines don’t show up, but if you refresh the page it should work. Here is a link to my site with the entire Pokemon listing charts.
C.W.A. Stables Presents: An EV Guide
The guides seem very long, when you consider half of the Pokemon are not found in the game and can only be obtained by evolution. I put all Pokemon and their EV’s just in case Nintendo and Game Freaks add away in another version to EV train like you could in Emerald. I have used this guide since I wrote it back when I played Ruby and Sapphire. New Pokemon have been added and some old Pokemon have had their EV’s change, but this guide is up to date with Diamond/Pearl and should be 100% accurate. If you find any inaccuracies please let me know. Drop a comment or even send me an e-mail.