Breeding with Jolly: The above average Espeons

November 17, 2006 | Comments Off

In this article I look at the effects of using Pokemon that are “above average” right out of the egg.

After the short exercise with the Zigzagoons I decided to look through my Eevees and try to find some with the same nature and similar starting scores. With the aid of the old man at the Battle Frontier I found two excellent candidates!

The first Pokemon I named “Hippy”

Gentle nature, boy

Abilities: 22/12/9/10/15/10 = 78

The second I named “Speedy”

Gentle Nature, girl

Abilities: 21/10/9/11/14/12 = 77

note: Gentle nature is Sp Def+/Def-

Right from the start we see these two Pokemon are near identical in total ability points but, this is what the old man said about each one:

Hippy – “This one, overall, I would describe as having better-than-average ability. Incidentally, the best aspect of it, I would say, is its ATTACK… That stat is outstanding!”

Speedy – “This one, overall, I would describe as having better-than-average ability. Incidentally, the best aspect of it, I would say, is its HP… That stat is quite impressive”

I started by feeding Hippy 10 vitamins to increase his base HP effort points and I gave Speedy 10 vitamins to increase her base SPEED effort points. I then gave them both 10 of each vitamin to fill up their Special Attack and Special Defense effort points. Next, I went to training them!

This is where I encountered a problem.

Speedy evolved into an Espeon at level 9 while Hippy did not evolve until level 10. This caused Hippy to gain less points for gaining one level.

By the time they reached level 30, this is where they stood:

Hippy: 93/55/40/96/90/72 = 446

Speedy: 87/48/42/100/86/81 = 444

At last check they were on level 41:

Hippy: 123/73/54/129/122/97 = 598

Speedy: 116/64/56/135/116/109 = 596

It looks like the one level evolution slip has cost Speedy a one point drop in total ability score points when compared to Hippy. However, it is also clear that Hippy’s ATTACK score has always been higher than Speedy’s, which is in line with what the old man said.

Speedy has maintained a good 10 point lead over Hippy in the SPEED department and HP has been very close ( +/- 7 point spread) which may be due to Speedy’s “impresive” starting HP ability.

Well, these two have just made it to level 50

Hippy: 149/89/64/157/147/118 = 724

Speedy: 139/77/68/164/140/132 = 720

Interesting. Hippy has widened his two point lead to four points. Speedy now has a 14 point advantage over Hippy in SPEED while Hippy has Speedy by 10 points in HP. I still belive the reason why th HP scores are closer than the SPEED scores is because of what the old man said about Speedy.

The remaining 50 levels that they need to gain *will* take me some time to accomplish. As eveyone knows, the first 50 levels are only 10% of the total experience points your Pokemon must gain before reaching level 100.

PS: I have a problem. One of my newly hatched Eevees was said to be “impresive” in ability by the old man. This puts this Pokemon in a better class than even these two. Any suggestions on how I should evolve it?

These two Pokemon have now reached level 82:

Hippy: 237/142/103/254/238/190 = 1164

Speedy: 222/123/108/266/227/214 = 1160

The “4 point spread” has remained between these two but what you might find most striking is the disparity between their respective ATTACK scores.

Hippy now has a whopping 19 point advantage over Speedy in the ATTACK score! It is important to note that neither Pokemon was given any extra training in regards to ATTACK.

Hippy’s lead on HIT POINTS has still been closely followed by Speedy giving Hippy only a 15 point advantage. In regards to SPEED though, Speedy has a large 24 point advantage. Aside from those three scores the remainder of their scores are more-or-less on par with each other, there are no large imbalances to report on.

The remaining 18 levels to level 100 will take some time to cover, please stay tuned for further updates!

Posted by Jolly | Filed Under Tips 

Breeding with Jolly: The Modest Zigzagoons

October 28, 2006 | Comments Off

This is the second breeding article in the series. This time I am looking at three Zigzagoons who share the same nature and similar starting scores.

I recently hatched three Zigzagoons that all share the same nature; modest.

A Pokemon with the Modest nature is likely to have a higher Special Attack than normal but it comes with a price, Attack suffers.

In an attempt to make up for this I fed one of these three Zigzagoons 10 Proteins (raises Attack) before I began their training.

For their training I went with an unfocused method to simulate the disorganized nature of fighting Pokemon at random in the wild. To do this I gave each of them EXP Shares and ran them through the Elite Four with some stronger Pokemon in front. This way, even though I am not tracking their EV points, they are all getting the same exact points in EV and EXP.

This article only covers their growth up to level 30. All abilities are provided in the following order: HP/AT/DF/SA/SD/SPD.

The first Zigzagoon is named Zaggy. Her starting scores were: 19/8/10/8/10/12.
The second Zigzagoon is named Zirchill. Her starting scores were: 18/7/9/8/10/11.
The third Zigzagoon is named Zipse. She was fed the 10 Proteins and her starting scores were: 20/7/9/8/9/11.

When totaled we have; Zaggy=67, Zirchill=63, Zipse=64.

Just prior to evolving (level 20) their scores were as follows:

Zaggy 49/20/25/19/25/35 = 173
Zirchill 46/18/22/19/25/31 = 161
Zipse 50/22/24/19/23/30 = 168

After evolving (same level):

Zaggy 65/35/33/28/33/50 = 244
Zirchill 62/32/30/28/33/47 = 232
Zipse 66/36/32/28/31/46 = 239

Notice how, upon evolving, each one gained a total of 71 points. Each score went up roughly the same amount.

I saw no major benefit from using the Protein at this point. Zaggy (who had no Protein) was barely behind Zipse (who was fed the Protein) in the Attack score.

I went as far as level 30 and this is where their scores ended up:

Zaggy 94/54/49/40/50/74 = 361
Zirchill 89/49/44/40/50/69 = 341
Zipse 97/57/46/41/46/68 = 355

You might have noticed a trend here. At every level, Zaggy was always in the lead in regards to total ability points and Zirchill was always last with Zipse in the middle. Further, Zipse’s lead over Zaggy in the Attack score is lower than the lead Zaggy has over Zirchill!

One might begin to think that vitamins are a waste of money, we will not know until these Pokemon reach level 100 and see where the scores end up. What we do know is that at the lower levels the effect of vitamins is not obvious. One thing we do know is that Pokemon who start strong, stay strong!
These three Pokemon have now reached level 50, let’s see where they stand:

Zaggy 159/99/83/68/87/124 = 620
Zirchill 151/91/74/68/87/115 = 586
Zipse 161/101/77/68/79/113 = 599

Notice how the trend has stayed nearly constant? Zaggy still has the highest point total. She is 21 points over Zipse who is 13 points over Zirchill. Not only that but, Zipse’s lead in the Attack statistic is a negligable 2 points over Zaggy!

It is very clear, in this case, that at level 50 the Pokemon who started strong has remained strong.

So, what did we learn from this small exercise? We learned that though viatamins can help a superior Pokemon will be superior no matter what! So check your Pokemon when they hatch, look at their scores and find the strong ones from the average ones.

TIP: In the Battle Frontier is an old man who can tell you where your Pokemon stands in regards to abilities. For reference, Zipse and Zirchill were both told to be of “average” ability while Zaggy was “above average” ability.

Posted by Jolly | Filed Under Tips 

Breeding with Jolly: The Sassy Vaporeons

October 23, 2006 | Comments Off

My first article is going to cover the raising of two Vaporeons.

These two Vaporeons were hatched from eggs and evolved with Water Stones before gaining a single experience point. Both of their natures are Sassy and they were hatched with nearly identical scores.

Vaporean #2 was fed 8 Zinc and 8 Calcium to boost his Special Attack and Special Defense EVs.

This is a work in progress but, in the table below, you can see the Effort Points each Vaporeon has earned and what abilities go up when it levels.

I have it worked out so that after each battle they each gain 57exp and 6 effort points for the two given abilities I am focusing on (Special Attack and Special Defense.)

Once the Vaporeons have maxed out their EV levels and earned their Effort Ribbons I will focus on increasing their EXP gains so as to get them to level 50. Once you get beyond level 50 it can take a long time of gameplay to make it to level 100, that is why I am focusing on level 50 as an ending level.

I will also be providing graphs to show how each one progressed in each ability vs. the number of effort points it had earned at that time.

Please understand that this is only the first article in the series and proper breeding strategies will be further expanded on in future articles.

Numbers in red are effort points.

Vaporeon #1 Vaporeon #2
Level HP Att Def Sp Att Sp Def Spd HP Att Def Sp Att Sp Def Spd
Hatched 21 12 11 10 13 9 21 10 11 10 13 9
Water Stone 29 13 12 17 16 9 29 11 12 16 16 10
vitamins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 80/17 80/17 10
6 +4 +1 +2 12/+2 +2 +2 +3 +2 +1 92/+3 80/+2 +1
7 +4 +2 +1 24/+3 +2 +1 +4 +1 +2 104/+3 80/+3 +1
8 +3 +1 +2 36/+3 6/+3 +1 +4 +2 +1 116/+3 86/+3 +2
9 +4 +2 +1 36/+2 30/+2 +2 +4 +1 +1 116/+2 110/+2 +1
10 +4 +2 +2 60/+4 36/+3 +1 +4 +1 +2 140/+3 116/+3 +2
11 +4 +1 +1 72/+3 60/+3 +2 +4 +2 +1 152/+3 140/+4 +1
12 +4 +2 +2 102/+3 72/+3 +0 +4 +1 +2 182/+4 152/+3 +0
13 +4 +1 +1 114/+3 108/+4 +1 +4 +2 +1 194/+3 188/+3 +2
14 +4 +2 +2 144/+4 132/+3 +2 +4 +1 +2 224/+4 212/+5 +1
15 +3 +2 +1 168/+4 180/+5 +1 +4 +1 +1 248/+4 max/+4 +2
16 +4 +1 +2 216/+5 204/+3 +1 +3 +2 +2 max/+3 max/+3 +1
17 +4 +2 +1 252/+4 252/+5 +2 +4 +1 +1 max/+3 max/+3 +1
18 +4 +1 +2 max/+3 max/+3 +1 +4 +2 +1 max/+3 max/+3 +2
19 +4 +2 +1 +3 +2 +1 +4 +1 +2 +3 +3 +0
20 +4 +2 +2 +3 +3 +1 +4 +1 +1 +3 +2 +2
21 +4 +1 +1 +3 +4 +1 +4 +2 +2 +3 +4 +1
22 +3 +2 +2 +3 +2 +2 +3 +1 +1 +3 +3 +2
23 +4 +1 +1 +4 +3 +1 +4 +1 +2 +3 +2 +1
24 +4 +2 +2 +3 +3 +1 +4 +2 +1 +3 +3 +1
25 +4 +2 +1 +3 +3 +2 +4 +1 +2 +3 +4 +2
26 +4 +1 +2 +3 +3 +1 +4 +2 +1 +3 +2 +0
27 +4 +2 +1 +3 +3 +0 +3 +1 +1 +3 +3 +2
28 +4 +1 +2 +3 +2 +2 +4 +1 +2 +3 +4 +1
29 +3 +2 +1 +3 +4 +1 +4 +2 +1 +3 +3 +1
30 +4 +2 +2 +3 +3 +2 +4 +1 +2 +3 +2 +2
31 +4 +1 +1 +3 +2 +1 +4 +2 +1 +3 +3 +1
Current 129 54 51 100 95 42 128 48 49 97 96 43

Posted by Jolly | Filed Under Tips 

Another Use for Bug Pokemon

September 9, 2006 | 7 Comments

As a long time fan of the GBA Pokemon games I’ve learned a few tricks in regards to raising Pokemon. One of those tricks I’m going to reveal to you right here.

All Pokemon, when you beat them, give your Pokemon a certain amount of experience points. What they also give you is effort points. Effort points can also be gained by feeding vitamins to your Pokemon.

· Calcium – Raises Special Attack
· Carbos – Raises Speed
· HP Up – Raises Hit Points
· Iron – Raises Special Defense
· Protein – Raises Attack
· Zinc – Raises Defense

The vitamins give you a flat 10 effort points to the statistic when given to a Pokemon. However, once your Pokemon’s statistic passes 100 effort points you can’t feed it any more vitamins of that type. There is also a limit of 510 effort points a Pokemon can accumulate before no more can be gained.

If you use the EXP Share the Pokemon will also receive the full effort points for the battle. Using the Macho Brace will double the effort points gained.

When a Pokemon gains a level, through battling, they get a statistic increase of 1 point for every 4 effort points they have earned in that statistic!

Now, you are probably looking at the title of this article and wondering where the bug Pokemon comes in. Well, I’ll tell you.

In Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald GBA games you have the ability to make a “secret base” and then trade that secret base to your friend’s game. If you, like me, have several copies of the games (or at least one of each) you can use the secret base feature as a “training base” feature.

The idea behind the training base is to make a series of secret bases with Pokemon that give you a high number of effort points but a low number of experience points when battling them. Now, what sort of Pokemon fits this bill? Why bug Pokemon of course!

Bug Pokemon are the only Pokemon that can reach their highest evolved form at level 10.

The bug Pokemon I favor are:

· Beautifly – 3 EP to Special Attack
· Dustox – 3 EP to Special Defense
· Butterfree – 2 EP to Special Attack and 1 EP to Defense
· Beedrill – 2 EP Attack to and 1 EP to Special Defense

All of the above Pokemon make their final evolution upon reaching level 10 and give 3 effort points when battled. Most non-bug Pokemon that give 3 effort points are in the level 36+ range.

What I have done is create two training bases. Training base one has 6 Beautifly in it and the other has 6 Dustox in it. Each Pokemon has had all but the String Shot move removed so there is no danger to my freshly hatched Pokemon. They typically give about 510 experience points when beaten so I suggest you give your Pokemon a few vitamins before going to the training base.

The training bases give my Pokemon a minimum of 18 effort points after beating the base and it can be bumped up to 36 effort points by using the Macho Brace!

Using this technique I have seen my Pokemon gain six points in a single statistic when going up a level. This has proven to be a tremendous boom for me in creating very tough low level Pokemon.

I have not populated all of the secret base spots on my games yet, but I am working towards it.

For more information on Effort Points and proper Breeding of Pokemon I suggest you visit serebii.net.

Your comments are always welcome.

Posted by Jolly | Filed Under Tips