Ok, I'm honestly beginning to think that this is just an awful prank on me. Some 300 eggs* later and still no shiny Charmander.
*This may be an exaggeration
For those who don't know; the Masuda method is a means of increasing the chance that any hatched egg will be a shiny pokemon. Normally, any given pokemon (unless some other coding precludes this, such as pokemon downloaded from WiFi, Zekrom, Reshiram, and Victini) has a 1:8,192 chance of being shiny. This obviously does not apply to me, as I have encountered 3 so far in the course of White (some 2,000 encounters into the game).
To use the Masuda method, you need to (obviously) have 2 pokemon; neither pokemon may have come from the same language version of the game (so German/French on an English cart will work; however, Japanese/Japanese on an English cart will not work). When breeding these two pokemon, the chance that the offspring will be shiny is increased to 1:2,048 in Generation IV, and 1:1,366 in Generation V.
Why do I say this is a terrible prank (other than seeing more while wandering around)? Eggs take a lot of time to hatch, and you can only hatch 5 at a time. A pokemon with Flame Body or Magma Armor ability will cut this time in half, so Slugma may actually have a use (although I prefer Volcarona for this).
Over time, I have encountered/obtained the following shinies; and I have hatched a good number of eggs using Masuda's method:
Shinx: Chaining in Generation IV (more on that some other time)
Ekans: Random encounter
Paras: Masuda Method (not trying for it)
Claydol: Trade from Japan
Petilil: Random encounter
Krabby: Random encounter
Drifblim: Random double battle (Exploded on the first turn, no chance to catch)
Rapidash: Trade from Japan
Fearow: Trade from America
So 5/9 were encountered; 3/9 were traded; and 1/9 was obtained via Masuda. Clearly I need to wander around in tall grass more.
Anyone have any painful or happy hatching stories? Feel free to share them.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Cheese: Darkrai
There is a reason that many tournaments ban Legendary pokemon, and ban the use of multiples of the same pokemon; Darkrai is a prime example of that.
While it is less effective in a one on one battle; when you have double or triple battles; and your opponent uses 2 or 3 Darkrai, it leaves you in a world of hurt.
Why is that? While it is not as big of a threat in one on one; in a double/triple battle, its abilities, as well as its attacks, can completely destroy an entire team.
Problem 1) Dark Void. This is the bane of everyone; it hits all of its opponents pokemon with the 'Sleep' status. With an 80% hit rate, this is bad enough; but then, tack on...
Problem 2) Bad Dreams. This ability hits all sleeping opponents at the end of each turn for 1/8 of their maximum HP. With two or three on the field at once, this causes a lot of damage; but is further compounded by...
Problem 3) Nightmare. This does 1/4 of the maximum HP each turn. With 2 Darkrai, this adds up to 1/2 of a HP bar per turn.
Overall, between Dark Void and Nightmare, Darkrai's can defeat opponents in two to three turns.
But you may ask yourself "self, how do I counter this?" Well, it can happen, but it must be prepared for.
Any fighting pokemon with Mach Punch will make quick work of Darkrai. Be sure to focus on one Darkrai at a time, as people who do try this Cheese will use Focus Sashes specifically to handle Mach Punch; and then the entire thing will be for naught. But this only works if you specifically prepare for it, which leaves you weak to other types.
Overall, I would rate this Cheese as limburger; as it really stinks.
While it is less effective in a one on one battle; when you have double or triple battles; and your opponent uses 2 or 3 Darkrai, it leaves you in a world of hurt.
Why is that? While it is not as big of a threat in one on one; in a double/triple battle, its abilities, as well as its attacks, can completely destroy an entire team.
Problem 1) Dark Void. This is the bane of everyone; it hits all of its opponents pokemon with the 'Sleep' status. With an 80% hit rate, this is bad enough; but then, tack on...
Problem 2) Bad Dreams. This ability hits all sleeping opponents at the end of each turn for 1/8 of their maximum HP. With two or three on the field at once, this causes a lot of damage; but is further compounded by...
Problem 3) Nightmare. This does 1/4 of the maximum HP each turn. With 2 Darkrai, this adds up to 1/2 of a HP bar per turn.
Overall, between Dark Void and Nightmare, Darkrai's can defeat opponents in two to three turns.
But you may ask yourself "self, how do I counter this?" Well, it can happen, but it must be prepared for.
Any fighting pokemon with Mach Punch will make quick work of Darkrai. Be sure to focus on one Darkrai at a time, as people who do try this Cheese will use Focus Sashes specifically to handle Mach Punch; and then the entire thing will be for naught. But this only works if you specifically prepare for it, which leaves you weak to other types.
Overall, I would rate this Cheese as limburger; as it really stinks.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Competitive Battling with Ditto
Yes, yes; I know that the notion of battling against other trainers with Ditto is rather absurd. In modern Pokemon, Ditto is primarily used as a breeding tool; especially with male versions of pokemon. The trouble in the breeding game is obtaining a high enough Individual Value in the stat(s) you desire; now that you can pass IV's to an egg.
But we're not talking about pokemon breeding here; we are talking about battling. Ditto is really not much more than a gimmick pokemon when it comes to battling, since it can only ever learn Transform, and then Ditto is limited to whatever pokemon is on the field. Also, Ditto has no way of affecting a Zoura/Zoroark under effect of Illusion; as Transform does fail against these two until the Illusion breaks.
However, Ditto does become a copy of its target, at the time of transformation, right down to having the exact same moveset, Individual Values (except for HP), Effort Values, and shiny status. But having to use the move Transform does cost a turn, and it allows the opponent to set up an appropriate counter-attack. A fast fighting pokemon would also make quick work of it, as Ditto's base stats of 48 in everything don't help it much.
Anyways, there are a couple ways to train a Ditto for battle:
The One True Way:
Moves: Transform
Ability: Limber (prevents paralysis)
EV's: 252HP/252 Speed/4 Defense
Nature: Naive, Timid, Hasty, Jolly*
Held Item: Focus Sash, Quick Powder, or Leftovers (Metal Powder is [probably] not going to save your Ditto in competitive battling)
*Ultimately, this is irrelevant. Ditto indirectly adopts the nature of the opponent's pokemon once it transforms. but these natures will give it a speed advantage.
The goal here is to try and ensure that your Ditto attacks first. Quick powder may be better, depending on if your opponent is boosting stats (Dragon Dance comes to mind). But if your opponent switches out to something less than favorable, you may be forced to switch it back out, since it can not transform again until it has been returned to its ball.
Ok, the Real One True Way:
Moves: Transform
Ability: Imposter (Dream World ability)
EV's: 252HP
Nature: Nature is Irrelevant
Held Item: Life Orb or Leftovers
This version of Ditto does not exist yet, as it has not yet appeared in the Dream World. This version of Ditto would be great for switching in against anything that has been stat-buffed, as a sort of punisher. You also have more control over what it transforms into. Items other than the Life Orb can be used; just be sure to choose an item which is not elemental-based.
If you have any other ideas, comments, bashing, etc, feel free to comment.
If you want to see an analysis of a specific pokemon, please feel free to message me or comment, and I will get on it. Otherwise, you will be subjected to more rants.
But we're not talking about pokemon breeding here; we are talking about battling. Ditto is really not much more than a gimmick pokemon when it comes to battling, since it can only ever learn Transform, and then Ditto is limited to whatever pokemon is on the field. Also, Ditto has no way of affecting a Zoura/Zoroark under effect of Illusion; as Transform does fail against these two until the Illusion breaks.
However, Ditto does become a copy of its target, at the time of transformation, right down to having the exact same moveset, Individual Values (except for HP), Effort Values, and shiny status. But having to use the move Transform does cost a turn, and it allows the opponent to set up an appropriate counter-attack. A fast fighting pokemon would also make quick work of it, as Ditto's base stats of 48 in everything don't help it much.
Anyways, there are a couple ways to train a Ditto for battle:
The One True Way:
Moves: Transform
Ability: Limber (prevents paralysis)
EV's: 252HP/252 Speed/4 Defense
Nature: Naive, Timid, Hasty, Jolly*
Held Item: Focus Sash, Quick Powder, or Leftovers (Metal Powder is [probably] not going to save your Ditto in competitive battling)
*Ultimately, this is irrelevant. Ditto indirectly adopts the nature of the opponent's pokemon once it transforms. but these natures will give it a speed advantage.
The goal here is to try and ensure that your Ditto attacks first. Quick powder may be better, depending on if your opponent is boosting stats (Dragon Dance comes to mind). But if your opponent switches out to something less than favorable, you may be forced to switch it back out, since it can not transform again until it has been returned to its ball.
Ok, the Real One True Way:
Moves: Transform
Ability: Imposter (Dream World ability)
EV's: 252HP
Nature: Nature is Irrelevant
Held Item: Life Orb or Leftovers
This version of Ditto does not exist yet, as it has not yet appeared in the Dream World. This version of Ditto would be great for switching in against anything that has been stat-buffed, as a sort of punisher. You also have more control over what it transforms into. Items other than the Life Orb can be used; just be sure to choose an item which is not elemental-based.
If you have any other ideas, comments, bashing, etc, feel free to comment.
If you want to see an analysis of a specific pokemon, please feel free to message me or comment, and I will get on it. Otherwise, you will be subjected to more rants.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Cheese: FEAR
There aren't too many ways to cheese other players in Pokemon; usually because tournaments don't allow the use of such devious tactics, specific Pokemon, or other nuisances.
Today's quasi-appropriately named cheese will be the FEAR tactic, which has existed since the existence of the Focus Sash.
Fear is an acronym, which stands for:
Focus Sash
Endeavor
Attack
Rattata
Attack should actually be Quick Attack, but FEQR doesn't have the same flavor to it.
This particular setup allows a Lv1 Pokemon to be able to knock out a Lv100 Pokemon, with a fair degree of certainty. A typical FEAR battle goes as follows:
Quick attack can be replaces with other increased priority abilities; such as Ice Shard, ExtremeSpeed, or Vacuum Wave. Likewise, the pokemon can be any one which can learn endeavor and one of the increased priority moves.
The tactic has become more prevalent in Generation V, as the ability Sturdy (which has been all but useless up until this point, as One Hit Knock Out attacks are generally banned) now functions as a Focus Sash; allowing a greater number of pokemon to use this ability.
Of course, any cheese has a counter; and this one has quite a few:
Today's quasi-appropriately named cheese will be the FEAR tactic, which has existed since the existence of the Focus Sash.
Fear is an acronym, which stands for:
Focus Sash
Endeavor
Attack
Rattata
Attack should actually be Quick Attack, but FEQR doesn't have the same flavor to it.
This particular setup allows a Lv1 Pokemon to be able to knock out a Lv100 Pokemon, with a fair degree of certainty. A typical FEAR battle goes as follows:
- Higher level pokemon, who is almost certainly faster, attacks first.
- Assuming that the attack does direct damage, Focus Sash on the Rattata kicks in, leaves Rattata at 1 HP.
- Rattata uses Endeavor, which drops the opponents HP to match the users.
- Rattata follows up with Quick Attack, which (normally) has priority over the other attack, will knocks the opponent out.
Quick attack can be replaces with other increased priority abilities; such as Ice Shard, ExtremeSpeed, or Vacuum Wave. Likewise, the pokemon can be any one which can learn endeavor and one of the increased priority moves.
The tactic has become more prevalent in Generation V, as the ability Sturdy (which has been all but useless up until this point, as One Hit Knock Out attacks are generally banned) now functions as a Focus Sash; allowing a greater number of pokemon to use this ability.
Of course, any cheese has a counter; and this one has quite a few:
- Not using a direct attack the first turn (inflicting a status, via Toxic, Will O Wisp, Sing, etc)
- Ghost-types are immune in most cases; unless an ability such as Scrappy, a Ring Target, or Odor Sleuth is in effect.
- Any weather hazard (note that certain pokemon which can utilize the FEAR strategy are immune to weather effects).
- Entry hazards (unless it is a Flying-type in the case of Spikes)
- Multi-Hit attacks, such as Double-Slap (since these always hit twice, the Focus Sash will be used after the first attack)
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Venusaur Evolutionary Line
Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur; the very first pokemon in the pokedex, and one of the original starter pokemon from Generation I. Bulbasaur was the easiest starter to use at the beginning of Red/Blue, due to Brock's quadruple weakness and Misty's double weakness to grass-type, but became far less useful as the game went on, when faced with Sabrina's psychic-type and Blaine's fire-type. To be fair, it could hold it's own against Giovanni; but pales in comparison to Charizard (more diverse) or Blastoise (fewer weaknesses) when going up against the Elite Four.
In competitive play (against other players), Venusaur is fairly average; with base stats of 100 in Special Attack and Special Defense. When training a Venusaur, your focus will likely be in HP and Special Defense. You won't need to deal in special attack too much, as your primary focus should be on leech seed and poisoning your opponent.
As far as attacks go; it's move-set is somewhat lacking in diversity; which is common among grass-types. This leads to many sets having Leech Seed included. A good move-set would be:
Hidden Power [Rock] gives coverage against most of Venusaur's weaknesses (Fire, Ice, Flying); however, this move-set does not cover Steel-types, which are immune to Poison, and are strong against both grass and rock attacks. Hidden Power [Ground] will provide coverage against Steel-types, as well as Poison-types, who are immune to Toxic.
Run 252 HP/252 Special Defense/6 Speed or Special Attack, with a Calm nature.
As far as held items go, use Leftovers or Black Sludge. Many rulesets won't allow for duplicate items, but some do allow items which duplicate effects; so if you're using leftovers on another pokemon, use black sludge on Venusaur; just watch out for someone who may be running Soak, which would change Venusaur's type to Water and make the black sludge cause damage instead of healing.
Another set to consider, IF Bulbasaur ever appears in the Dream World, is:
Sunny Day will double Venusaur's Speed, due to the Chlorophyll ability, as well as eliminate the charging turn of Solarbeam. Of course, this is a one-trick pony, and VERY situational; if your opponent isn't hurt much by grass attacks (Charizard/Moltres), has an ability such as Cloud Nine (which eliminates weather effects) or a move which can change the weather, this setup is useless.
Run 252HP/252 Special Attack/6 Speed, with a Modest Nature. Hold a Meadow Plate.
Things to watch out for:
Feel free to comment, criticize, ridicule, or suggest in the comments below.
In competitive play (against other players), Venusaur is fairly average; with base stats of 100 in Special Attack and Special Defense. When training a Venusaur, your focus will likely be in HP and Special Defense. You won't need to deal in special attack too much, as your primary focus should be on leech seed and poisoning your opponent.
As far as attacks go; it's move-set is somewhat lacking in diversity; which is common among grass-types. This leads to many sets having Leech Seed included. A good move-set would be:
- Leech Seed (obtained at Lv. 7)
- Toxic (Via TM06)
- Giga Drain (via breeding) or Venoshock (via TM09)
- Hidden Power [Rock] or Hidden Power [Ground] (via TM10)
Hidden Power [Rock] gives coverage against most of Venusaur's weaknesses (Fire, Ice, Flying); however, this move-set does not cover Steel-types, which are immune to Poison, and are strong against both grass and rock attacks. Hidden Power [Ground] will provide coverage against Steel-types, as well as Poison-types, who are immune to Toxic.
Run 252 HP/252 Special Defense/6 Speed or Special Attack, with a Calm nature.
As far as held items go, use Leftovers or Black Sludge. Many rulesets won't allow for duplicate items, but some do allow items which duplicate effects; so if you're using leftovers on another pokemon, use black sludge on Venusaur; just watch out for someone who may be running Soak, which would change Venusaur's type to Water and make the black sludge cause damage instead of healing.
Another set to consider, IF Bulbasaur ever appears in the Dream World, is:
- Leech Seed (Obtained at Lv. 7)
- Toxic (TM06)
- Sunny Day (TM11)
- Solarbeam (TM22 or Venusaur Lv. 53)
Sunny Day will double Venusaur's Speed, due to the Chlorophyll ability, as well as eliminate the charging turn of Solarbeam. Of course, this is a one-trick pony, and VERY situational; if your opponent isn't hurt much by grass attacks (Charizard/Moltres), has an ability such as Cloud Nine (which eliminates weather effects) or a move which can change the weather, this setup is useless.
Run 252HP/252 Special Attack/6 Speed, with a Modest Nature. Hold a Meadow Plate.
Things to watch out for:
- Flying-types. Venusaur is usually slower than flying-types, and many flying types have a high attack, which works against Venusaur's lower defense.
- Physical Psychic attacks: in particular Psycho Cut, due to it's higher Critical Hit rate; and Psyshock, which deals physical damage, but the damage is determined by the Special Attack stat.
- Any Physical Ice or Fire attacks
Feel free to comment, criticize, ridicule, or suggest in the comments below.
RANT: GTS
I do enjoy a good rant. This rant is about the GTS. If you do not like rants, I recommend you read a different post.
The GTS is an excellent tool to help trade pokemon and complete pokedexes. I do applaud Nintendo for creating an effective tool like this for trading; although I do wish that it would not limit trades to what you have seen.
But the mechanics and limitations are not what this rant is about. This rant is about YOU, the users of the GTS.
One good rule of thumb to think about is that, like books, 'there is nothing more common than a rare pokemon.' What I am referring to is that people put pokemon, such as Zekrom and Reshiram (the series mascots and Legendary pokemon) on the GTS, and are asking for something which is impossible to get (i.e., Lv. 9 or below Reshiram).
Here is a hint: Nobody cares that you caught Reshiram or Zekrom, so don't put them up on the GTS like you are trying to show them off. You have to catch them to complete the game anyways. All you do is clog up the GTS and hinder people who are actually trying to trade. It isn't like we can negotiate with you on the standard GTS. The same goes for shinies.
Now, if you want to put them up and ask for a completely unreasonable trade (i.e., your Lv1. Eevee for my Lv. 100 Zekrom), that's fine; at least that trade can happen. But please, do the rest of us a favor and trade things that you actually want to trade.
The GTS is an excellent tool to help trade pokemon and complete pokedexes. I do applaud Nintendo for creating an effective tool like this for trading; although I do wish that it would not limit trades to what you have seen.
But the mechanics and limitations are not what this rant is about. This rant is about YOU, the users of the GTS.
One good rule of thumb to think about is that, like books, 'there is nothing more common than a rare pokemon.' What I am referring to is that people put pokemon, such as Zekrom and Reshiram (the series mascots and Legendary pokemon) on the GTS, and are asking for something which is impossible to get (i.e., Lv. 9 or below Reshiram).
Here is a hint: Nobody cares that you caught Reshiram or Zekrom, so don't put them up on the GTS like you are trying to show them off. You have to catch them to complete the game anyways. All you do is clog up the GTS and hinder people who are actually trying to trade. It isn't like we can negotiate with you on the standard GTS. The same goes for shinies.
Now, if you want to put them up and ask for a completely unreasonable trade (i.e., your Lv1. Eevee for my Lv. 100 Zekrom), that's fine; at least that trade can happen. But please, do the rest of us a favor and trade things that you actually want to trade.
The new Generation
The new generation of Pokemon games (Black and White) have been out for a few months now. In terms of gameplay, not much has changed from Generation IV (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum), however, some things have been added or updated; so, as a brief overview, here are some of the major changes:
- GTS: The Global Trade Station, now available in ANY Pokemon center, now has a second option; the ability to trade directly with another Trainer. The advantage of this is that the Pokemon you may trade are not limited to those you have already seen in the game. The disadvantage is that you can not give a very good indication of what you want (it is possible through the 'trade message' option, but you have to remember to change it each time you want to trade).
One ingenious idea (and I regret not noting the name of the person who brought it up) is to utilize an 'Unown' alphabet to spell out what it is you are looking for. If the person you are trading with gets the hint, they may be able to help you. Of course, if the person doesn't share your language, this may be useless, unless you know the foreign name (in general, if you know the Japanese name and can Romanize it, Japanese trainers will know what you are looking for).
The normal part of the GTS (which I WILL be ranting about sometime soon), where you put a Pokemon up for trade, still functions as it used to; including not being able to obtain Pokemon you have not already seen.
- Pikachu: Yes folks, without transferring it from a previous game, Pikachu, the iconic Pokemon of the series, can not be obtained (short of trading directly with someone over the GTS; since you do not ever see it (in battle) in game, you can't trade via the normal GTS). This is the first time this has ever occurred in the series. Most (but not all) species have at least one member of their evolutionary line in the game.
- New Battle modes: There are two new battle modes. Each mode is quasi-specific to each game; meaning that one battle takes precedence over the other, depending on which version you are playing:
- Triple Battle (Primarily in White Version): Similar to double battle, this battle uses 3 Pokemon. Normal rules apply; however, the Pokemon on the Left and Right of your team are limited to attacking the pokemon directly in front of them, and the center one (certain moves can ignore this limitation).
- Rotation Battle (Primarily in Black Version): This mode also uses 3 pokemon; however, only one is active at a time. Each turn, you are able to choose a pokemon to come to the front to perform an attack; allowing for highly tactical battles to occur.
- Dream World: The Dream World is a Wi-Fi feature which allows you to put a pokemon to sleep, and play in its dreams. In the dream world, you can obtain items to send back to your game, as well as one pokemon per trip. These pokemon typically have a non-standard ability; such as Marill with Sap Sipper. Pokemon in the Dream world all seem to have a 7:1 Male to Female ratio, with the obvious exception of male and female-only species; this is due to breeding mechanics, as explained below:
- Breeding Mechanics: These have not changed much. The big difference is the improved chance to obtain a shiny pokemon, via the Masuda Method. In Generation IV, if two pokemon from different language versions were bred, the chance of an egg being shiny improved to 1:2048; up from 1:8192. In Generation V. this improves further, to approximately 1:1313.
Also, if a female pokemon with a dream world ability produces an egg, there is a good chance that the new pokemon will also have the dream world ability.
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