Get Caught Up on your Training in Viridian City

July 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Once you battle your way through Kanto to Viridian City you will find a Trainer House there where you can battle other top trainers. You can battle the trainers there once every day and for every victory you can earn 1 battle point. You can enter any pokemon that you like and use any hold items you want. Your pokémon can be any level you like, but they are maxed out at level 50. Your items, status and HP will be refreshed and replenished before each battle.

The initial trainer there is Ace trainer Cal. He only has three pokémon, but he shows you the potential of how strong the Johto starters can be be with some proper breeding and training.

Meganium ♀ lvl 50, holding a Sitrus Berry

  • LeechSeed
  • Toxic
  • Protect
  • Energy Ball

This pokémon is built defensively and it takes more than one super-effective attack to bring it down. If you don’t, it will slowly sap away your HP.

Typhlosion ♀ level 50, holding a Salac Berry

  • Eruption
  • Flamethrower
  • Substitute
  • Focus Blast

Typhlosion likes to come in on Fire or Ice attacks against Meganium and replenish its substitutes if Leech Seed is in effect. The Salac Berry allows it to outspeed opposing pokemon once its HP is in the red.

Feraligatr ♀ level 50, holding a Lum Berry

  • Dragon Dance
  • Waterfall
  • Ice Punch
  • Crunch

Feralgatr provides the physical attack and is built sturdy. It often takes two Dragon Dances to outspeed some of the faster pokémon, but if you let it gather up steam it can roll over your entire team.

When you upload a pokémon to your pokéwalker the information of the team you are currently playing is loaded onto the pokéwalker also. When two pokéwalkers are connected, you not only receive a gift in both pokéwalkers, but the information of your team is also exchanged. Gifts, items you find, pokémon that you have caught and watts can be deposited to any game whether or not it matches the pokéwalker. When you receive the gift, the trainers info and team show up in the Viridian Training House where you can battle them every day. You can even battle yourself with the team you had when you exchanged gifts, if their gift is deposited in your game.
You can have as many as ten opposing trainers in the Training Hall. Remember you can only exchange gifts with another trainer’s pokéwalker 10 times, so try to meet as many fellow trainers as you can to rack up extra battle points every day.

Posted by Deneves | Filed Under Tips 

Pokemon VGC Regionals: Nashville

June 15, 2009 | 9 Comments

This past weekend, The Pokemon Company International made a stop in Nashville, Tennessee for their final Regional stop in the Pokemon Video Game Championships. The event was held inside the historic Gaylord Opry in Opryland, just north of Nashville. There, more than 350 players from around the nation signed up for the Senior Division early Saturday morning. Of those who registered only 128 were chosen in each age division so 256 players were chosen and of those 8 will be going to National Championships in St. Louis.

Forum members Taterbud and I(MissingNo.) arrived late Friday night. It was quite a long trip from Northeastern Indiana. Both of us were exhausted, yet excited about being in Nashville. We picked our spot for the night, and then went out for some food and exploring. The area we ended up in revolved completely around the Opryland. Hotels and restaurants were the only places around, besides a few small shops. However, inside the actual Opryland was a mall, movie theater, and of course the large hotel and convention center.

Nashville was also hosting its large Country Music Festival this past weekend. Each hotel was booked, and the city was full of people. Downtown on Saturday, there were multiple tents set up with live music. Many of the streets were closed off, and every parking spot was taken.

Back at the hotel, Taterbud and I were both exhausted. She took a short swim in the hotel pool, then we both packed it in for an early night, knowing we’d have to be across the street at the Gaylord by 8:30 in the morning. That next morning, Taterbud found out that I took no chances of sleeping in. First the hotel alarm clock went off, followed by my DSi alarm clock, followed by a wake-up call, and then my constant nudges. We got a quick breakfast free of charge from the hotel, checked out, then headed on over. I hadn’t realized how big the place actually was until I found myself lost. We spotted a group of people that we suspected were Pokemon fanatics…. the Ash costume was a dead giveaway. Inside, there was a guide standing near the entrance wearing a green Pokemon Staff t-shirt. He directed us to follow the previous crowd around the inside of the Gaylord to the area where Nintendo had set up their event.

When we got there, we found ourselves at the very back of a long long line of registrants. The line moved quickly, and we were both eventually registered and given a number and a matching wristband with the number and corresponding Pokemon. Inside there were multiple balloon representations of D/P/Pt Pokemon.  We also saw some characters as costumes walking about and taking pictures with children.  There was a snack bar set up, which we avoided.  We wandered a bit observing some of the convention center as we waiting for the selections to be posted.  Around 10am, the group was all called to take a massive picture, followed by a dance competition.  Pikachu was seen getting his groove on.  And then, the selections were posted on the screens scattered about the hall.

Neither Taterbud or I were selected to participate.  It was a very disappointing feeling.  I had spent a couple of months breeding and training for this event.  In fact, as soon as the event was posted on the forums, I gave Taterbud a call and told her that we were going, and I started planning right then and there.  Yet, the trip wasn’t a total waste.  As soon as we found out we weren’t accepted into the competition, we immediately got in line for the main reason on why we went…. Shiny Milotics!  These were given out via a GBA slot device.  This way, no one could pick up more than one.  Once you recieved your Milotic, your wrist band was cut so that they knew not to give you another.  We saw brief glimpses of a couple of battles on the screens while we stood in line.  Immediately the first person was eliminated, and I was just happy it wasn’t me.

We received our Milotics and proceeded out of the Nintendo area and back out into the rest of the Opry.  It was a beautiful place, with shops and restaurants and hotel rooms, with balconies that allowed the residents to observe the people below.  We found our way back to the car after exploring and taking pictures.  It was an awesome experience, and I can’t wait until next year when I can try again.  At least now I have a team already bred and trained.  Plus we both ended up with VGC09 Shiny Milotics, which less than 1500 were estimated to have been given away total at all the events combined.  We started our journy back home, waving goodbye to Nashville, and eventually Tennessee.

More pictures can be seen here: MissingNo.’s Photo Album

Editor’s note: A few minor corrections were required after posting. It was The Pokemon Company International and not Nintendo that held the event and the 128 number applied to each age group and was not a total count. We apologize for the mistake and those who made the mistake have been sentenced to five minutes in a room with a hungry Munchlax whilst covered in Honey and sprinkled with Poffins.

Posted by MissingNo. | Filed Under News 

What’s New in Pokémon Platinum: Pastoria City

May 11, 2009 | 3 Comments

At first glance, Pastoria City looks the same in Platinum as it does in Diamond and Pearl. If you look a little deeper you will find a few new surprises in the land of the Croagunk Festival.

Matchup Checker

The first new thing that you may see after the giant Croagunk billboard is before you enter the Pastoria Great Marsh a cowgirl will offer you a new Pokétech application if you catch five or more pokemon in the Safari Game. The new application is number 23, the matchup checker, that allows you to see how compatible the first two pokemon in your party will be at breeding. Press the heart between the two pokemon avatars and if they are compatible, then the hearts above will light up. One heart being the least likely to produce eggs, three hearts for the most likely. If the pokemon aren’t compatible, the Luvdiscs will turn away from each other and face the opposite direction.

The Safari Game

The Safari Game itself offers pokémon that were unavailable in Diamond and Pearl. Tropius and Tangela can be found commonly in the Great Marsh along with Yanma who was previously only available after you received your national dex. While Drapion and Toxicroak are no longer found in the Great Marsh until you have obtained your national dex, Skopuri and Croagunk are still found there.

Free Shards

As you enter the Great Marsh, to the east of the trams is a man that will offer you a colored shard. The shard color varies and he will offer you one every day and you can use them at any of the move tutors including the one just west of Pastoria City. Shard pieces can also be found in pokéballs throughout the marsh.

The graphics have improved in this area and bogs that were previously covered in swamp grass now have grass lining the outer rims of the bogs where wild pokémon reside and different shades are visible in the dark bogs to show the deeper areas that are hard to walk through.

The Toxic Plate

If you are searching for the Toxic plate that was hidden near the trees in Diamond and Pearl, you will have to get muddy to find it in Platinum. Use your dowsing application in the northeast section of the Great Marsh. While most objects on the dowsing application show as a big dot on your screen, the dot for the Toxic Plate is so small that if you are in the line with it, it will not be visible.

Macho Brace

To get the Macho Brace you won’t need to show the three forms of Burmy as you did in Diamond and Pearl. Instead the men in the house north of Pastoria City’s pokémon mart will ask to see a male and female Combee.

Coupoundeyes

If you like to collect items like I do, the Great Marsh gives you an opportunity to capture a pokémon with the ability of Compoundeyes. If the pokémon in the first position of your party has this ability, then wild pokemon are more likely to be holding items. This holds true even if that pokemon has fainted. Yanma not only can have that ability, but also can be holding a Wide Lens that boosts the holders accuracy by 10%.

Posted by Deneves | Filed Under Tips 

Looking at Pokemon: Elekid

February 14, 2009 | 3 Comments

Elekid

Elekid is an Electric-type Pokemon from the second generation Pokemon games. Introduced in the Crystal, Silver and Gold games Elekid sits at number 239 of the National Dex and falls into the Baby Pokemon group. This Pokemon can be captured in Pearl and Diamond by having a copy of Fire Red in the GBA slot while visiting Route 204-South Valley Windworks. If you are lucky the Elekid may even be holding an Electirizer!

Elekid comes with the ability Static: 30% chance of opponent becoming Paralyzed after using a direct attack.

Unless you have planned to use Elekid in your starting party you are not likely to get one in the early part of the game because the GBA trick only works after you defeat the Elite Four. The only way to get one prior to completing the single player portion of the game is through trading.

Because Elekid is a baby Pokemon you can not use it for breeding. It can evolve into an Electabuzz at level 30 and an Electivire at any point thereafter. Believe it or not its scores as actually quite good. Its base scores are even better than those of a Pikachu!

With Attack and Special Attack scores in the 60’s and a Speed of 95 Elekid can be a very good pick for your Pokemon team.

Elekid in Adventure Mode

Because Elekid is a baby Pokemon and the base stage for a third stage Pokemon a little bit of planning can go a long way in making this Pokemon a permanent addition to your battle roster.

A base Elekid will come with the moves Leer and Quick Attack. Even though you can’t catch one (and you are likely to breed better moves for it) for the purpose of this article we are going to assume you started with a base Elekid.

Because Elekid’s Attack and Special Attack are very close it pays to keep a mixture of attacks on this guy.

Thundershock (level 7) and Low Kick (level 10) will quickly become two of your main moves. Swift (level 19) is a very nice replacement for Quick Attack. With Elekid being one of the fastest Pokemon around at this point in the game it is more useful to have a move that can hit both opposing Pokemon in a double battle than having a weaker move that always strikes first but only hits one opposing Pokemon.

Shockwave (level 19) will replace Thundershock and Light Screen (level 25) can replace Leer. At level 28 we begin to enter the realm of hard choices.

When Thunderpunch (level 28) becomes available we find ourselves at the first crossroads. Up to now all of our electric attacks have been Special Attacks. Thunderpunch is the first physical Electric move that becomes available. It is more powerful than Shockwave but Shockwave is an automatic hit move. Thunderpunch is also the only physical Electric move in Elekids level-up move pool. I usually hold on to Shockwave at this point.

Discharge (level 34) is another hard choice. More powerful than Shockwave and also has the added effect of hitting all other combatants on the field, that includes your other Pokemon! If you normally have Elekid partner up with a Volt Absorb or a Ground-type Pokemon then Discharge is a good choice. If you don’t take Discharge (or even if you do) Thunderbolt (level 37) soon becomes available. This is followed by Screech (level 43) and the ever powerful (but not always accurate) Thunder (level 46).

Adventure Mode Move Breakdown:

Move 1: Leer -> Light Screen -> Screech
Move 2: Quick Attack -> Swift
Move 3: Thundershock -> Shockwave -> Thunderbolt
Move 4: Low Kick

Competitive Battling Elekid

Elekid is legal for the Little Battle format.

It is highly unlikely that you will ever find yourself in a situation where you choose to field a Elekid 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.

Punched-Up Elekid

EV: Atk:252 / Spd: 252 / Def: 8
Nature: Adamant (Atk+/SpA-)

Move Pool:

Move 1: ThunderPunch (Electric 75/100)
Move 2: Ice Punch (Ice 75/100)
Move 3: Fire Punch (Fire 75/100)
Move 4: Brick Break (Fighting 75/100)

All of the moves on this guy are Physical and they are all 100% accurate with a base damage of 75. Thunderpunch is the only one that gets STAB. Ice Punch is there to take out those pesky Ground-type Pokemon who can do Elekid in quite quickly.

Other types of Elekid

I request that if you have any other ideas for an Elekid move pool to please leave them in the comments below. As good move pools are suggested I will update this article accordingly.

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under Tips 

Pokemon Battle Revolution: Little Battles

February 2, 2009 | 3 Comments

Pokemon Battle Revolution

Sunny Park Colosseum is a special place in Pokemon Battle Revolution. While it is a normal battle spot the first time through it becomes something far more interesting afterwards. Why do I say this? Because Sunny Park Colosseum becomes the place to battle with Little Pokemon.

Little Pokemon are defined as unevolved Pokemon that are level 5 or lower. This means those big basic Pokemon such as Skarmory and Heracross can not compete. Nor can any Pokemon that evolves with a stone such the evolved forms of Eevee.

Most competitive Pokemon Battlers never even look at the unevolved Pokemon. They only look at the Uber and Over Used tiers. Here at the farm we like to be different. One way we are different is that we encourage the use of Pokemon that many battlers would shy away from.

In the past we have held tournaments where participants could only use level 1 Pokemon. This sort of battle is very different from the high powered battles most players are familiar with. For one thing set damage moves are banned (they would be OHKO moves in this format) and their is less of an emphasis on EVs and IVs. In fact a Pokemon may have terrible IVs but if their starting scores are higher than a Pokemon with better IVs then they will see battle before their better does.

    Basic Rules

  • Any unevolved Pokemon that can evolve can be used in this format. This includes Pokemon that have gained an evolution in 4th gen.
  • Pokemon must be level 5 or lower. This is due to early generations hatching Pokemon at level 5.
  • No set damage moves allowed. Most set damage moves would be an instant kill in this format.

Creating a team for this format is not much different than building a team for the normal formats. The only big difference is that it is all about the breeding skills of the trainer. Though you could burn a ton of TMs on your low level Pokemon it is much better to breed the moves into your Pokemon. There are numerous articles on the site about breeding and you can also check out out the forum.

When choosing Pokemon to use in your Little Battle team it is important to note that most Pokemon that fit into this tier will not be dual-type. There are some dual-types but they are few and far between. Available move pools is also something that you need to take into consideration. Some Pokemon you might never think of using become very desirable in this format.

Let’s take Munchlax for example. If you can get one with the Thick Fat ability you have already gained a huge advantage in that your Pokemon will only suffer 50% damage from Fire and Ice type moves.

Unlike the sleepier Snorlax Munchlax is a real hustler. He also has a wide variety of moves available (even more when Platinum comes out). Why not breed your Munchlax to have: Focus Punch (150 Fighting), Earthquake (100 Ground), Zen Headbutt (80 Psychic) and Rock Slide (75 Rock)? All of those moves are Physical due to Munchlax having a high base Attack score.

Why not give Little Battles a chance? It’s not that hard to make a team of Legendary Pokemon and kick butt in the competitive battle scene with them. It’s a lot harder to take a bunch of unevolved Pokemon and forge a competitive team out of them.

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under Tips 

Looking at Pokemon: Chimchar

September 24, 2008 | 5 Comments

Chimchar

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.

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under Tips 

Looking at Pokemon: Heracross

April 16, 2008 | 13 Comments

Heracross

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!

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under Tips 

Pokemon Farming: Shroomish

March 30, 2008 | 52 Comments

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This time in Pokemon farming: Shroomish, the Mushroom Pokemon!

And the Shroomish for this event are bred ready to grow up to be a nasty Breloom, a Grass and Fighting Pokemon. Breloom is an interesting Poke, it has a nice attack stat, and has a fun move set where you can use Spore (puts your opponent asleep for sure) and Focus Punch (two turn hit, where your opponent cannot hit you first or it flinches). Breloom can do a wide array of mess up your foe!

What stinks about breeding a whole bunch of baby Shroomish is that they lack the ability to learn handy moves like Focus Punch or Stone Edge (to take care of those flyers!), those mean little moves can only occur in the more vicious Breloom. Well, what do you get from these babies if you can’t get those moves? How about these?

  • Spore (never fails to put your opponent to sleep!)
  • False Swipe (egg move, 40 Attack, always leaves your opponent with 1 HP)
  • Seed Bomb (STAB 80 Attack)
  • Leech Seed (Plants seeds that sap HP from your opponent every time)

Spore is the handy move I’ve bred in there for all of you! Both parents need to know Spore for it to be passed down and they both learn it, in their unevolved, Shroomish forms, at level 45! Spore and False Swipe is also useful for catching Pokes, like in chaining for shinies. Just evolve these Shroomish to Breloom at Level 23, and teach him some really cool moves.

Shroomish have 2 abilities: Poison Heal, restores HP while being poisoned, and Effect Spore, when contact with Shroomish may cause Paralysis, Poisoning or Sleep. They will all be Adamant nature, which raises Attack, while lowering Sp. Attack.

Want one of these can’t-wait-to-grow-up Shroomish? Here’s what you can do:

  • Comment with your Name and Friend Code
    • Even if we have traded before, I need your information again!
  • Get a Pokemon to trade (preferably non-Sinnoh, though I will take anything, items like Rare Candies and TMs are always appreciated!)
  • Be in the Wi-Fi zone at 7pm ET (New York Time) on April 2 (Wednesday)
  • Make yourself available to Trade (Invite–>Trade) I will come to you when I’m ready.
  • 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:

Trainer name: God

Friend Code: 5369 6895 7194

See you all Wednesday!

Posted by TheTaterTot | Filed Under Farming 

Looking at Pokemon: Absol

March 20, 2008 | 24 Comments

Absol

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.

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under Tips 

Pokemon Farming: Forum Special: Chikorita

March 10, 2008 | 67 Comments

Todays pokemon offering is Chikorita, a great starting pokemon from the Johto region. This little weed will eventually evolve into a very formidable "Red Ring of Terror" known as Maganium.

Chikorita/Bayleaf/Maganium have very good defensive stats but only slightly decent attack stats. For this reason, I stuck with producing all with the nature Bold which allows 10% to the Defense stat and reduces the max Attack value by 10%. The below move set is aimed at utilizing the Special Attack so the loss of those extra points will not hinder his effectiveness.

All chikoritas and the subsequent evolutions have the ability Overgrowth. Overgrowth causes a 50% raise in damage caused by Grass moves when the users HP falls to or below 1/3 its max.

Move set

Leech Seed – accuracy 90% 10PP – seeds a fow and then drains 1/16 of their max life every turn.

Protect – accuracy 100% 10PP – Goes first, completely protects from any damage this turn. Accuracy is halved each time this move is used in succession.
Grass Knot – SpA -accuracy 100% 20PP- Hits heavier opponents for more damage, with a max of 120 power.
Ancient Power – SpA – power 60, accuracy 100% 5PP – Rock attack with a 10% chance of raising all stats.

This set will work great as a staller as well as on great big walls. Leech seed the high HP walls and steal 1/16 their life to help revive yourself. Along with leftovers attached which also recovers 1/16, you will be drawing double HP recovery for a total of 1/8+ per turn. Using protect as your second move allows your poke to recover a whopping 1/4+ of its life for free, hopefully replenishing the hit you took to dispense your leech seed.

Once you are set up, the use of Grass Knot will help with the destruction of large walls and help to prevent the switching in of larger pokemon. Grass Knot has a gradient of damage based on the weight of the opponent pokemon, shown below

Below 10 kg: 20 power
10.1 kg – 25 kg: 40 power
25.1 kg – 50 kg: 60 power
50.1 kg – 100 kg: 80 power
100.1 kg – 200 kg: 100 power
200.1 kg and up: 120 power

The final move is to help protect against the weakness of chikorita. The rock move Ancient Power will hit four of its five 2x weakness (Ice, Bug, Flying and Fire) for 2x damage, helping to keep your chikorita/bayleaf/manganium up and running longer.

How to get one:

1. Comment with your Name and Friend Code
2. Get a Pokemon to trade, preferably holding an item. Heartscales and rare candies are much appreciated for future breeding projects.
3. Be in the Wi-Fi zone at 6pm CST (Chicago Time) on March 14th (Friday)
4. Make yourself available to Trade (Invite–>Trade) I will come to you when I’m ready.

My Information

Trainer Name: Narnad

Friend Code: 3823 7154 4296

Excelsior!

Narnad is not only an excellent breeder but also a Gym Leader on the forum. You can challenge Narnad for the Relic Gym Badge as well as visit the Farmer on the Dell forum farm to see more of these amazing Pokemon

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under Farming, Forum, Grass 

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