[DS] How do you get 3,000 pikachus on a bus? POKEMON!

Originally Posted by RABicle

I heard a rumour that Alakazam was still pretty good with plain old Psychic.

He's ok now, not the God he once was. He gets Power Swap (switch your Att, Sp. Attk stats with your opponent) and Guard Swap, among other moves. Shuckle, however has become some what of a fucking freak. If you use a quick Baton Passer and Swords Dance/Double Team/Agility and then pass these boosts onto Shuckle, it's over.

He's got a move called Power Trick which switches his ungodly defense with his low attack, and with the speed boosts plus a move called Trick Room which allows the slower of the two pokemon attack first for 5 turns, he's a monster sweeper.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Reznor

What about Gardevoir? Is 'she' a bigger tank or overall worse in the psychic area?

She's actually much better, but the male Kirlia evolution, Elblade, is just as good.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Synthesis

I was wondering the same thing as well. What exactly makes Gardevoir better in these new games and separates her from similar Psychic-types like Alakazam?

It's mainly just that a lot of the new special-type moves are available to her, ones that benefit the strategy used by many Gardevoir users.

http://serebii.net/pokedex-dp/282.shtml

Same thing applies to Milotic. Now that there's an item that constantly damages the holder (Fire Orb), it triggers Marvel Scale and with the new Water Move called Aqua Ring (works like leftovers once activated) you can go to town.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Synthesis

I see, especially in regards to Milotic. However, do you have any idea exactly how much HP would/could be restored each turn by Aqua Ring as compared to a standard move like Recover?

Aqua Ring functions just like Leftovers. It restores 1/16th of your maximum HP every turn, so if you go with "Tank" milotic, having her hold Leftovers and you activate Aqua Ring, you'll be healing 1/8th of your health every turn.

Recover's half of the maximum, HP, IIRC. There's several new moves that do this now, the most common one being Feather Rest.

Ninetales, is one of the pokemon that receives a real nice improvement to its moveset. Being a fire type, it's weak against Ground, Water and Rock. It gets the new move, Energy Ball (based on special attack stat), to deal with those as it's a grass type attack. Nine also gains the Dark-type move Scheme, which is basically the special attack equivalent Swords Dance.

Couple that with Hypnosis and Flamethrower/Sunny Day/Hypnosis and you have this:

- Hypnosis
- Flamethrower/Fire Blast
- Energy Ball
- Scheme

Put them to sleep, Scheme to boost your Sp. Attack (it boosts it 100% every turn, instead of 50% like Calm Mind) and then lay into them with the appropriate attack (Fire for those weak to it, Energy Ball for your weaknesses).

Or, you could take an alternate bath and get a Sunnybeaming Nine:

- Hypnosis
- Sunny Day
- Solar Beam
- Flamethrower/Fire Blast

If you want to wait a turn while they sleep, just use this:

- Hypnosis
- Scheme
- Solar Beam
- Flamethrower/Fire Blast

I like the first build, however, since it's the most balanced and makes most of Ninetales' stats. Since you have 510 EVs (effort values) to put into your stats, and 1 Att/Sp. Att/Spd/Def/Sp. Def = 4 EVs, you can put a good number of points into whatever stat you like.

Example: 510 total EVs per monster. However, you can't put all 510 into one statistic (though that would be awesome). Since the limit is 255, split this between two stats you want to boost. For Ninetails that would be its Sp. Attack and Speed.

Due to 4 EVs = 1 Stat point, 255/4 = 63.7

So you can put a maximum of 63 points in two stats, something that makes a big difference and the real reason why your team pokemon are stronger than their wild counterparts.

Oops, I rambled.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Synthesis

Ok. It's just that in your last post about it you didn't clarify that Aqua Ring functioned EXACTLY like Leftovers on all terms.

I can see why, the same confusion ran wild when the first bits of information about this move rolled around.

Quote:

Another thing you mentioned about it was the fact that Milotic could hold an item like Flame Orb that would activate her Marvel Scale abilty. If you are using both Flame Orb and Aqua Ring would the damage done and health recovered cancel each other out and leave you with a net gain of always having Marvel Scale activated?

=)

That's the whole point of Flame Orb + Aqua Ring. You negate the health loss, and gain by activating your ability.

How ya doing, buddy?

Wow, I just checked Serebii.net and apparently Ninetails learns a Special-type grass move called Energy Ball. That pretty much covers him against most of the types he's weak against, and with that new move Nasty Plot and Hypnosis, you could bump his Sp. Att substantially.

Some folks recommended grass rope, and I could see that being a valid option too, except that it's a Physical attack type. In order for the above setup to work, he'd need a nature that's improving Sp. Att.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Duminas

Pachirisu can be found in the field right next to the Valley Windworks building. I got mine during the day, though it can have one of two abilities, much like Ponyta.

It'll either have Pickup or Run Away. The latter of which sucks.

Also, are there any decent Psychic or Fire types before the National Dex? I want my Ralts and Abra, but I need to wait for Pal Park to get those. Got the water starter, but I can't really find a fire or psychic pogey yet. =\

IIRC, the only fire type before National Dex (or at the very least, for a long time) is Chimchar.

BTW, the starters are lame due to their early movesets (except Turtwig, that line has the lowest speed of ANY starter to date). Just looking at Infernape, for example, you can see the sucker comes into his own real quick. Unfortunately, you have to wait a long ass time for that.

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Originally Posted by nabhan

It was a rhetorical question, but fair enough.

I'm glad that EV's and IV's finally have some purpose now. I spent at least 10 hours raising a perfect Zangoose on Sapphire, but then I realized that there was no point. Now annoyers and tanks and whatnot have actual purpose.

I'm excited

Well, the new Physical/Special split definitely makes a lot more pokemon useful so people can use their favorites without getting owned in-game. Things like Hitmonlee, for example, which used to be little more than shit/fail back in the day definitely benefit from this new change. Hell, any pokemon with stats sitting largely in their attack/def stats got a much needed lift.

Oh and Freelance, it doesn't make you a bad person at all. IVs are just those the pokemon has once hatched/caught and they can either be rather low, somewhere in the average rage or pretty good. EVs is just a nice way of getting a few more stat points (63 each for 2 stats) into the right areas, if you have the time/patience. Macho Brace doubles earned EVs, so you can go through the 510 with ease.

Some folks distribute them so they shore up a pokemon's defenses, like a few guys are doing with Luxray.

Edit: Ooh, btw nabhan, if you teach the right male pokemon the TM, you could easily breed it over to another kind. But otherwise, yeah, keep your TMs for your bred/EV-trained team.

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Originally Posted by Lacerta

You can also use EXP Share to train EVs if you are fighting significantly harder pokemon for a certain EV, I think?

I really didn't bother with it ever since Red/Blue because even if I EV trained the pokemon I wanted to, due to the way moves functioned it still wouldn't be enough to help them.

Now though, I might just fiddle with it :E

Also wow just found a female Combee. <3 Honey Trees.

Yeah, the pokemon with the EXP Share will earvn EVs along with the pokemon that are actually battling, though they only get half that value. For example, beating a Magneton nets you 2 Sp. Att EVs. With that setup, the fighter gets 2 and the one sharing gets 1 EV. If the one doing the brawling has a Macho Brace on, he gains 4 EVs from Magneton (earning him 1 Sp. Att point per Magneton) and the other gets 2 EVs.

Though I agree with you all, that this kind of training really didn't have much of a point before. Now though, you have a means of easily going online and taking on other folks and the above would give you an edge. Congrats on the Combee, though. Vespiquen (sp?) has some nice exclusive moves (the Order line).

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Shonos

I just got Pearl today so I only have a level 14 Piplup and a level 4 Shinx..

It's great fun though. I've been wanting to get this for so long. I had enough of Emerald.

My friendcode is 3780 5516 8329. Maybe I'll meet one of you on there.. Just bear with me, I'm still new ;D

Btw, do you seriously have to beat the game to transfer pokemon from the GBA games? I was hoping to use some pokemon from there to start off. Like a ralts.. :/

Yup, you have to beat the Elite Four and see all of the Sinnoh pokemon. Serebii.net's got it explained pretty clearly here.

Originally Posted by Lacerta

Actually according to Serebii the pokemon w/ EXP Share will not get half EVs >_>

You're right, looks like my understanding of it was wrong. In fact, it's even more effective as it doesn't halve the earned EV for the weaker pokemon at all.

Originally Posted by Serebii.net

Any experience you get through the EXP. Share is divided in half, so you'd think it would be the same for the Effort Values, right? Actually, you get the same amount of Effort Values for the battle as the pokemon fighting did.

So the Macho Brace/Pokerus effect isn't transferred via the EXP Share, but you don't even need it knowing the above. You could simply prioritize who you want to gain certain EVs faster. In this case, the one holding the brace would gain 4 EVs from a Magneton, while the other would only get the standard rate.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Shonos

Well that just sucks.. So much for the idea of using my old favorite pokemon.

Simply ask for an egg or a starter from one of the other games, as folks over on GamingAge's forums are doing.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Shonos

Ask for an egg? Could you explain that to me more? I don't really understand, sorry.

If I can ask for an egg of a ralts or something then cool. ;D

Yeah, for a better explanation just take a gander at NeoGAF's Diamond/Pearl thread. They have folks breeding/trading starters and their eggs (one guy was supposed to get a Gible but ended up with a Bulbasaur egg, for example).

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Synthesis

At the risk of sounding absentminded, How does one go about asking for an egg through GTS? I don't remember seeing that option.

NeoGAF Diamond/Pearl thread

You can see just browsing through the thread that they're simply trading the eggs as if they were fully hatched pokemon, so there probably isn't a trick to it or anything. Can't test it at the moment (no wireless router).

Edit: Goddamn, this thread moves fast. But yeah, Lacerta's got it. They're just trading 1st, 2nd, 3rd gen starters or whatever the hell else people are wanting. Ii won't be too difficult for you to pick up a Ralts egg.

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Originally Posted by Synthesis

Well, if anyone wants to test it out I'd be willing to.

Go ahead, you'll probably come out of it with an ear-to-ear grin like the guy on the second last page of that thread who got a Piplup for an Onix or this guy.

Leafeon's easily the best looking Eevolution, IMO.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Lukage

And to get Pokemon from Gold/Silver I need to trade them to Fire/Leaf? :\ 'cause if you've actually read what I posted, I also said I don't have those two.

Gold and Silver are Game Boy Color games and you can trade anything from those onto R/S/Fr/Lg. 2nd gen pokemon are scattered throughout all four of those games. Check Serebii.net's pokedex to figure out which ones are in what versions.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

I've begun to entertain a theory. I think GameFreaks may have revamped the combat system without making the change too obvious.

Now it doesn't seem so simple. I get the idea that each typing is no longer clearly divided between (regular) Attack and Special Attack. Now it seems that each damaging attack, no matter what is, is assigned a "category", either "Physical" or "Special", as if to denote that the Pokemon could either use it from afar or that the attack required contact for to be successful.

However, I've no proof that I'm right. Maybe I'm reading into things too deeply. Has anyone else come across data that supports or disproves my notion? I hope I explained it clearly enough.

Here it is, right from Serebii.net.

Originally Posted by Serebii.net

Bringing 107 New Pokémon into the mix, bringing us to a total of 493 Pokémon, including many evolutions of old Pokémon, Diamond & Pearl completely overhauls the battling system. No longer are move's stats based on its type , but rather each move is individually allocated being Physical or Special.

So your hunch is correct, Crash. This development was alternately welcomed and trashed since it meant that countless monsters were raised above the level of worthless to something decent, while other staples got nerfed. Of course, then you have things like the dragons which got even more uber thanks to this.

All in all, it's actually a positive improvement, since now we can get more moves, each with a physical/special version. For example, the physical version of Hyper Beam is Giga Impact.

Serebii's Attackdex reflects this change, where you can see the physical/special/other split down at the bottom, so you can find out all the moves that are based on either attack stat or none at all (support moves).

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Hopefully someone can help me out here, especially after I saw that advanced moveset discussion a while back. I was thinking about putting one of my favorite pokemon on my team, Kingdra, but I've never actually used it in battle before (mainly because of the whole trading requirement). This isn't for serious battling mind you, just want something that can cream the elite four and get the monsters I like in the hall of fame.

Brine
Dragon Pulse
Ice Beam
Toxic

Anything I should watch out for/glaring holes in this moveset? Ah forgot to mention, I found out these moves for it from this site if you're curious.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Ah, about the ability, Sniper is better right? Swift Swim looks like I'd need to put rain dance on there to take advantage of it, or at least have it on another team member. I'd rather not give the computer a free turn to wail on me.

You're right about the steel problem, but I don't think it'll be too bad. Looks like water at least hits for regular damage. Also, there's several other team members that can help out.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Generic Badass

If you want to get into the nitty gritty when comparing Kingdra to other dragon-types, I recommend using Psypoke's Comparer tool.

I'd eat this up if that other site didn't have the same thing and if I had any other favorite dragons aside from Dragonite. A little easier to read than the veekun one though.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Hey, this is probably the first time using the whole wi-fi thing in the game, but I was wondering if someone could help me evolve my Haunter by trading and back again. I'll be glad to help someone evolve something like that too.

Here's my friend code and name: Luis 4854-3804-5821

I won't be going anywhere any time soon, so you won't be left hanging.

FELIPE NO

Not working? Sounds like the situation I was in where anything short of turning off the router's wireless security features would give me a connection error.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Shinny Smalls

If you still need a hand with this later, I could do with upgrading my Kadabra.

Yeah, I still have to evolve Haunter, amongst other things. I posted my friend code info a few posts up, so once I get yours we should be good to go.

Ah, almost forgot. You want some adamant Meditite with Psycho Cut, Psychic and Shadow Ball on them?
Also, which ability is better for Croagunk? Dry Skin sounds like ass, giving it yet another weakness even if it makes water attacks restorative.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Generic Badass

Anticipation isn't exactly fantastic, either.

Also, Dry Skin just heals its HP. It doesn't affect Water-type moves used against it. Fire-type is also stronger, so it isn't that good unless you're running a Rain Dance team.

Gah, then Anticipation it is. Seems like the better one of those two, even though I can kind of imagine what pokemon I'd put in a team that took advantage of Rain Dance.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Kairyu

You're both right =o.
Toxicroak's Dry Skin ability allows it to absorb water attacks but gains a 2x weakness to fire attacks. If sunny day is in effect Toxicroak will lose some HP per turn (1/16th I'm guessing.) Opposite goes for rain dance, of course.

Wow, that definitely sounds much better than I imagined it. Anticipation isn't too bad now that I think about it, since if the computer has a pokemon with a psychic or ground type move, I can just switch to my Honchkrow or something.

Would leftovers stack with the healing from Dry Skin?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Kairyu

Yeah, of course! I think using Leftovers is the recommended choice if you're planning to have him run around during a rain dance. Life Orb can work too if you intend on having a more offensive Toxicroak.

Oh damn, that's nice. Kind of like having a pokemon with leftovers using Aqua Ring.

Originally Posted by Shin

My friend code is 3608-8403-4654.

Got it. Want a modest Feebas? Don't know much about IVs, but it's got Water Pulse and Rain Dance. It'll have to do until I go and level Kingdra to 57 for Dragon Pulse.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?