POKEMON BREEDING & TRAINING GUIDE
Author - Wyrlwynd
Version History:
Version 1.0 - submitted to GameFAQs 12/2005
Version 1.01 - submitted 1/2006
Fixed some spelling and formatting errors
Version 1.02 - submitted 4/2006
Updated some links
Added new information about breeding genderless Pokemon and the
passing of TM moves
Foreword
When you've decided that relying on a few Legendaries to save your
behind in a Pokemon battle isn't the best way to go or when someone
with 6 'loser' Pokemon wipes the floor with you, you're going to need a
way to breed and train your Pokemon so you're getting the most out of
them. This guide will take you through all of the basics of creating
Pokemon that are fast and deadly, nearly impossible to kill, or capable
of annoying your opponent so much he/she makes a mistake.
Much of this guide is specific towards the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald
trio of games from the Advanced Generation, but the techniques also
apply to FireRed and LeafGreen. Also, you should not attempt to follow
this guide until you have completed the storyline of the game as there
may be spoilers - you also won't be able to do most of the things that
this guide mentions until you have completed the storyline and beaten
the Elite Four.
The Basics
The Base Stats of your Pokemon give you some idea what your Pokemon was
intended to be (attacker, special attacker, defensive tank, etc). Each
Pokemon is born with a set of genes that will allow roughly a 31 point
increase in your final stats at level 100 assuming you get the perfect
value. The Nature of your Pokemon will boost one stat and lower another
by 10%. You can breed your Pokemon to improve their genes, get a better
set of moves, and a better Nature. Then you can target how you train
your Pokemon so that you can maximize 2 stats, target 3 or 4 stats, or
raise all 6 stats equally.
Base Stats
Each Pokemon (and each evolution thereof) has a set of what are called
Base Stats. These values are the same for each one of that specific
Pokemon that you meet. For example, all Bagons have the same Base Stats
if you meet one in the wild, breed one, or get one in a trade. These
stats are used in the stat calculation formula as some sort of starting
point which helps determine whether your Pokemon is better at
attacking, special attacking, outlasting attacks, or faster/slower than
other Pokemon.
Pokemon Genes
These genes are usually called IVs (short for Individual Values). These
values are hidden and must be calculated using fairly complicated (but
not impossible to understand or use) formulas. The maximum IV value in
any stat is 31. The minimum IV value is 0. An IV of 31 in any stat
means that stat will be roughly 31 points higher at level 100 than an
identical Pokemon with an IV of 0 in that stat. The values are assigned
at random (unless you are breeding for stats, which will be explained
later, and even then much randomness still exists). Since the average
IV value is 16, a Pokemon with values of 24 or above would have above
average IVs (by my definition). If you can get 28, 29, 30, or 31 then
you've got an excellent IV. It is, in all practicality, impossible to
get a Pokemon with all maxed IVs without using a cheat device.
You can calculate IVs by using this IV calculator, included in
MetalKid's Pokemon Program:
Version 3.02:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx
Version 4.00:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/v400Plans.aspx
NOTE: Version 4.00 has the BEST IV calculator on the planet not
using a cheat device and gamesaves
for a web-based IV calculator, you can go here:
http://www.psypokes.com/dex/dv.php
Pokemon Natures
The Nature of your Pokemon can be found on the first page of the
Summary, at the bottom. Each Nature (except for 5 of them) will give a
10% boost to one stat and a 10% deduction to another. 5 Natures have no
effect on stats whatsoever because they boost and deduct the same stat
cancelling each other out. Check out the Natures table below:
Nature + -
Adamant Attack Special Attack
Bashful none none
Bold Defense Attack
Brave Attack Speed
Calm Special Defense Attack
Careful Special Defense Special Attack
Docile none none
Gentle Special Defense Defense
Hardy none none
Hasty Speed Defense
Impish Defense Special Attack
Jolly Speed Special Attack
Lax Defense Special Defense
Lonely Attack Defense
Mild Special Attack Defense
Modest Special Attack Attack
Naive Speed Special Defense
Naughty Attack Special Defense
Quiet Special Attack Speed
Quirky none none
Rash Special Attack Special Defense
Relaxed Defense Speed
Sassy Special Defense Speed
Serious none none
Timid Speed Attack
Effort Values
You always run into some little dude in the game who says, "Trained
Pokemon are stronger than Pokemon caught in the wild." You may also
hear that Rare Candies or the Daycare don't get you a Lv. 100 Pokemon
that's as strong as one that was trained to Lv. 100 or something to
that effect. EVs (Effort Values) are the reason. Think of them as an
upgrade that you can give to your Pokemon. You get a limited amount to
"spend", so you have to choose how to spend them in making your Pokemon
as strong as possible for their specific use. EVs are hidden values
that are given to your Pokemon along with experience points after you
battle any Pokemon. Battle Frontier/Tower and Link battles are the only
type of battles that do not give EVs, but you do still gain EVs if you
battle your friend's Pokemon in their secret base after mixing records.
Each Pokemon that you beat will give you 1,2 or 3 EVs to one or more
stats. Some Pokemon will even give you EVs in multiple stats.
Once you have gained 4 EVs in a specific stat, you will get an extra
point in that stat which will only be evident at level 100 but is there
whether you see it or not. All Pokemon will gain a certain amount of
points in each stat as you level-up (+2, +3, etc.), but people who EV
train will see boosts of +5, +6, +7 etc. for 3 or 4 level-ups while
training. At Lv. 100, these extra boosts add up to much higher stats.
You can choose to put EVs in 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 stats - which will allows
you to target which stats you want to maximize while ignoring the ones
that you don't care about. You can get a maximum of 510 EVs total with
a maximum of 255 per stat. However, it is a waste to actually put 255
points in a single stat since that would give you 63.75 points, and the
game will round it down to 63. Therefore, the most you want to put in
one single stat is 252 points. People who only use Rare Candies or the
Daycare to level-up their Pokemon to Lv. 100 don't get the EV boost to
their stats as opposed to people who actually train their Pokemon by
battling.
However, after you have maximized the EVs, you can use Rare Candies or
the Daycare to level them up, and it won't hurt the stats. You may,
however, end up with undesired moves if you use the Daycare if they
still have level-up moves left to learn.
Rare Candies
There are a lot of opposing viewpoints about whether Rare Candies are
helpful or harmful. They are helpful. In fact, they are vital to
figuring out your IVs (although you can use the Daycare to accomplish
the same thing in a much longer time frame at the risk of losing moves
you want to keep - unless you reset afterwards). Rare Candies, in case
you didn't know, give your Pokemon a boost so that it reaches the next
level. No EVs are gained when you use a Rare Candy, and this feature of
gaining experience without gaining EVs is invaluable to you since it
helps you calculate IVs more accurately with less to keep track of.
Attack Types
At the second page of the Summary screen, you'll see Attack, Defense,
Special Attack and Special Defense. These stats refer to which type of
attack uses which stat for determining battle damage formulas. If you
have a Pokemon who has a high Attack stat (say, over 300) and a low
Special Attack (say, less than 180), you would be foolish to teach it
Special Attack moves. You would be working against its strength.
Similarly, if you are battling a Pokemon with a high Special Defense
and a low Defense (like Kyogre who has unbelievable Special stats but
"only" really good Attack and Defense), you would want to try to use
Attack moves rather than Special Attack moves to try to bring it down
unless, of course, you have something with an insane Special Attack
that knows Thunder.
See the chart in MetalKid's Pokemon Program to find out which types
rely on Attack or Special Attack:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx
Breeding
You can breed compatible Pokemon (more on this later) to get better IVs
and to get moves that the Pokemon cannot normally learn on its own. The
most important thing to remember is that the female determines what
kind of baby you have, and the father gives the moves to the baby. If
you breed a female Skitty and a male Wailord (and yes, as creepy as
that sounds, they CAN breed), you will get a Skitty. The gender of the
baby is basically 50-50 though some species are more likely to give you
a male (the starters, for example, are 87.5% male and 12.5% female) and
some species (Miltank, for example) are always one gender only. Some
are even genderless like Metagross. Also not every Pokemon will breed
with every other one. Check the Egg groups in a Pokedex to see what
will breed with what. If you want to breed and raise a butt-kicking
Salamence, for example, you will need a female Bagon, Shelgon or
Salamence. When you're catching Pokemon in the wild, always try to get
a female for later breeding.
Same Type Attack Bonus
Same Type Attack Bonus, or STAB for short, which may be the best
acronym ever, refers to the bonus you get to your Attack or Special
Attack move when you have a match between the type of your Pokemon and
the attack type. For example, a Dragon type using a Dragon-type move at
80 base strength will have a higher attack power in the battle damage
formula rather than the same Dragon using an 80 base strength Fire-type
move. A STAB attack nets you a 1.5 bonus on top of the base strength of
the attack. So a 80 base attack would end up being 120 base power.
Abilities
Each Pokemon has an Ability that can help them in battle or outside of
battle. Some Pokemon can have one of two different Abilities. Some only
have one available to them. Others change Abilities when they evolve.
For a complete list of Abilities and what they do, check out MetalKid's
Pokemon Program:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx
The Steps to Awesome Pokemon
The steps that follow take time and patience. Strong Pokemon require
time and effort, deal with it. Almost everything good in this world
requires time, work, and dedication. This is no different.
Getting the Necessary Items
You will need at least 15 or 30 Rare Candies. Getting 45, 60, 75, or 90
will make this even faster, but it will take a very long time to get 45
or more. You will use these Rare Candies to level up your newly hatched
babies to level 20 so that you can get a decent idea about what their
IVs are without wasting time or having to count EVs battling to level
them up (more on this later).
To get the Rare Candies, you will need Pokemon with the Pickup Ability.
Pokemon with Pickup "pick up" items when you win battles. Zigzagoon,
Linoone, Phanpy (but NOT Donphan), Teddiursa (but NOT Ursaring), and
Aipom (some have Run Away and NOT Pickup) all have this Ability. In
Emerald, the level of your Pickup team affects what items you Pickup.
You will need level 41 or higher to have the best chance of getting
Rare Candies. In Ruby and Sapphire (and also Fire Red and Leaf Green),
the level doesn't matter.
Now, get your 6 member Pickup team, and go to any grassy area with LOW-
LEVEL Pokemon. Run through the grass back and forth on any route of
your choice. Anytime you find a wild Pokemon, defeat it. Do not run
from it. You must battle them and make them faint. Every 5 battles or
so, check your Pokemon, and you'll see them holding items.
Take the items off, and keep running though the grass and battling.
Heal as necessary to restore HP and PP. Don't bother switching your
others for your lead Pickupper. Just heal that one whenever you need
to. It will take some time to get groups of 15 Rare Candies, but keep
doing it until you get them.
You'll also pick up other items which you can keep to use or sell.
Depending on the game, you'll get PP Ups, Ultra Balls, various berries,
Hyper Potions, King's Rocks, and even Earthquake TMs.
Deciding What You Want
If you check the online message boards about Pokemon battling strategy,
you'll see words like Special Sweeper, Physical Sweeper, Tanks,
Annoyers, etc. These terms refer to Pokemon that were bred and raised
to do one thing really well.
For a definition of these popular terms, you can go here:
http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/gbstrategyguide.html
Build your team around how you'd like to battle. If you do decide to
battle competitively at tournaments, expect to see the baton passers,
tanks, sweepers, etc. If you get whupped by someone using these
techniques, ask them for help in designing your own team, and then go
and beat your friends. Another good place to ask for help would be the
PokeRealm Forums.
http://www.pokerealm.net/forums/
So let's say you're creating a Special Sweeper, you need to check the
Base Stats of the Pokemon that you have or can get. Check a Pokedex for
Base Stats or use MetalKid's Pokemon Program:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx
On the other hand, you probably know which Pokemon are good Special
Attackers by looking at their stats. If you see a Special Attack that's
much higher than the Attack stat (when at least level 50 or higher),
you've probably got a good Special Sweeper in the making. Check the
Base Stats to be sure. A good rule of thumb is that a Base Stat over 85
means that the Pokemon is good enough to use for that category. (IE: 85
Base Attack would be a Physical Sweeper while 85 Base Special Attack
would be a Special Sweeper).
Choosing a Good Moveset Before You Begin
Once you have chosen the Pokemon you want to use and its purpose, then
you need to think about a moveset. You want to take advantage of STAB
if possible, but you don't want to overdo it. There is no need for 3 or
even 2 STAB attacks on the same Pokemon except in rare cases.
Choose moves that cover a wide variety of types and cover weaknesses
that your Pokemon has. If your Pokemon is a Special Sweeper, then he
should only have special attack powered moves and vice versa. There are
very few Pokemon who are good Mixed Sweepers. Be sure you consider
their base stats carefully and look at STAB bonuses before you decide
to make a Mixed Sweeper.
Plan your usage of TMs wisely. A TM used on a female is a one-time only
TM (unless you can buy it again). A TM used on a male is potentially
useable over and over again through breeding. Females cannot pass on TM
moves.
If you can't come up with a good moveset, you can look at PokeRealm's
moveset guide. Alternatively, you can ask at the PokeRealm Team
Requests forum. Simply post on the forum asking for a moveset for your
Pokemon. Be sure to indicate what you plan to use it for. Salamence,
for example, makes a fantastic physical sweeper or a great special
sweeper. The moveset would differ for each purpose.
Here's an example of a Special Sweeper moveset along with a
description:
Alakazam@Leftovers
Modest
252 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 6 HP
Psychic
Thunder Punch
Fire Punch
Ice Punch
That is the commonly used format for posting a Pokemon and the @
denotes the item that you should have it hold. Then they will list the
optimal nature (in this case, Modest, which is one that increases
Special Attack while decreasing the Attack stat since it won't be used)
and the recommended EV spread below that. It is telling you that you
want 252 EVs in Special Attack, 252 EVs in Speed, and 6 in Hit Points.
Next are the four moves that you should use. Now here's a description
of the above moveset.
Alakazam can be devastating with a good moveset. A standard and
effective moveset is Psychic (taking advantage of STAB), Thunder Punch,
Fire Punch, and Ice Punch (providing strong Special Attacks against
MANY different types). Calm Mind or Recover could be used in place of a
Punch if you wish, but Alakazam is very weak defensively and may not
survive long enough to effectively use Calm Mind.
We'll use Alakazam throughout the remainder of this guide as an example
of how to breed and EV train any Pokemon.
The Daycare and Delivery Room
Breeding serves two purposes. You can breed and rebreed for better IVs,
and you can breed for moves. You should breed for moves first. This
will save a lot of time in the long run, trust me.
Breeding for Moves
Breeding for moves follows 3 rules after rule 0:
0) Moves that the baby normally learns from levels 1 to 5. They will be
born with these moves.
1) If the father (or a genderless parent breeding with a Ditto) knows
a TM that the baby can use, then the baby will be born with that move.
2) If the mother and the father know a move the baby can learn by
normal leveling-up, the baby will be born with the move.
3) If the father knows one of the baby's Egg moves, the baby will be
born with that move. Egg moves are the secret to getting a wide variety
of moves onto a Pokemon that would not have the move otherwise. As an
example, Zangoose can obliterate opponents using the Endure/Flail combo.
Flail is an egg move passed on from Dunsparce that Zangoose couldn't
otherwise learn.
Breeding for IVs
Breeding for better IVs is easy but mind-numbingly dull. What you will
be doing is hatching a bunch of males and females with the moves that
you want. You will be checking their IVs (more on this below) and
choosing the best female and the best male.
These will be the parents of Generation 1. You can release all the
rest. Try to get the best overall IVs but concentrate on the highest
IVs in the stats that you care about. A Special Sweeper means to look
for high IVs in Special Attack, Speed, and possibly HP.
If you get a baby with lousy IVs in the other stats and great IVs in
the stats that count, go ahead and use that baby as a parent. Do this
only if there isn't a baby with good IVs across the board. You'll then
take that female and that male to breed a bunch of eggs.
NOTE: Big thanks to reaverz and imperfectluck for more information on
breeding in Emerald. Pokemon can breed with their parents if necessary.
This is especially helpful when you get, for example, a truly
outstanding mom-to-be in one generation but a dad-to-be who is worse
than the dad he came from (or vice versa). Just grab your mom-to-be and
the dad from the previous generation, and breed them together.
Try to get at least 5 females and at least 5 males before you stop
breeding that pair. I name them by their generation... 1A, 1B, 1C and
so on. The Generation 2 would be 2A, 2B, etc. Not that it matters. I
was just being careful.
Look at the IVs of all generation 1 Pokemon, and choose the best male
and the best female to repeat the breeding process. Again, release the
rest. Remember, don't get fewer than 5 of each gender.
These will be Generation 2. Breed a third generation, and then perhaps
a fourth. Keep generationally breeding until you get great parents (IVs
wise). I've gotten 2 great parents in as little as 3 generations and as
long as 6 generations. You can't predict when they'll get good IVs due
to the random nature of the IVs system.
When 2 Pokemon breed, 3 IVs are chosen at random and are passed to the
baby. The remaining stats are random. In Ruby/Sapphire, it's possible
to only pass on 2 IVs when the same stat is chosen from each parent.
When you're hatching your last generation from your great parents, you
change your strategy. You want only the babies with the right Nature
for the purpose that you intend. If your Pokemon has 2 Abilities, keep
only the babies with the right Nature and the right Ability. For
example, Ludicolo can have Swift Swim (raises speed in rain) or Rain
Dish (restores HP in rain) as an Ability. I prefer Rain Dish for my
Ludicolo, but pick your poison for your purpose.
Ludicolo is clearly designed to resist Special Attacks as his Base Stat
for Special Defense is an astounding 130. His Special Attack is
relatively weaker, therefore, I use Ludicolo as a Special
Sponge/Sweeper (a sponge absorbs one type of hit, in this case Special
Attacks and delivers some damage but not like a true Special Sweeper),
and his Base Stat for Speed is lower than his Base Stat for Special
Attack. This is why I want a Nature that will boost his Speed at the
expense of a stat I don't care about (Attack in this case). In a
perfect world, I would want only Timid (+ Speed, - Attack) Ludicolos
with Rain Dish.
When Pokemon breed, there are two stages at which information about the
baby in the egg is determined. In Ruby/Sapphire/Leaf Green/Fire Red,
when you see the man step out of his fence indicating he has an egg for
you, the gender and the Ability of that baby are fixed, but the Nature
and IV's are not. When you take the egg, the Nature and IV's now
become set. In Emerald, when you see the man step out of his fence
indicating he has an egg for you, the gender and the Ability AND the
Nature of that baby are fixed, but the IV's are not. When you take the
egg, the IV's become set. These may not seem like important stages,
but creative saving and resetting allows you to take advantage of this
separation of the baby's overall makeup. Thanks again to reaverz and
Mottman for their help and information here.
Since Emerald differs from the other Advanced Generation games, I will
treat breeding in 2 parts depending on which game you have. If you
have Emerald, you should do ALL of your breeding there.
NOTE: I ONLY breed in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald because of the longer
stretch for biking and because you can't bike "out of town" in Leaf
Green/Fire Red so that the Daycare man can "step out" making it obvious
he has an egg. The triggering event once an egg has been created for
him to move out is changing routes.
FOR BREEDING IN RUBY/SAPPHIRE/LEAF GREEN/FIRE RED:
Place your 'great parents' in the Daycare then bike around until you
get an egg. Be sure that you save before you take the egg.
NOTE: Saving AFTER you take an egg or right BEFORE an egg hatches does
you NO good. It will be EXACTLY the same baby EVERY TIME.
Take the egg and hatch it. If the hatched egg is the wrong gender or
Ability then release the Pokemon. Start riding your bike until you get
another egg. Again, save first before you take it from the Daycare man
and hatch it, etc. Repeat this process of hatching, checking, and
releasing until you get the gender and Ability that you want.
If the egg has the right gender and Ability that you want, keep it but
don't save yet. Check the Nature and IVs, if they aren't what you want
them to be, then soft-reset without saving and take a "new" egg. Hatch
it, and check the Nature and IVs, and reset if they aren't what you
want. Keep repeating this second step until you get a good Nature and
IVs. Every time you reset, the Nature and IVs change but the gender and
Ability remain the same.
Now, you CANNOT use your Rare Candies here to help you out since you
would have to reset before saving so you wouldn't have wasted them
(more on this below).
Refer to the Stat Calculator link here with the amazing Metalkid:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx
for a web-based Stat Calculator you can go here:
http://www.psypokes.com/dex/stats.php
Find the level 5 stats for the lowest evolution of your Pokemon with 0
EVs in every stat and what you would consider a minimum acceptable IV
in each stat. When you hatch an egg with the right Nature (after
already locking in the gender and Ability), if the stats of the baby
are within 1 (and MAYBE 2) of your projected level 5 stats, keep that
baby.
You may want to repeat the process several times until you get a few
with good Natures and IVs. That way, you can choose the best one
possible. You may also want different movesets for each one, etc. You
could even trade them to your friends for their Legendaries after you
show them your new power!
FOR BREEDING IN EMERALD:
Place your 'great parents' in the Daycare then bike around until you
get an egg. Be sure that you save before you take the egg.
NOTE: Saving AFTER you take an egg or right BEFORE an egg hatches does
you NO good. It will be EXACTLY the same baby EVERY TIME.
Take the egg and hatch it. If the hatched egg is the wrong gender or
Ability or Nature then release the Pokemon. Start riding your bike
until you get another egg. Again, save first before you take it from
the Daycare man and hatch it, etc. Repeat this process of hatching,
checking, and releasing until you get the gender and Ability and Nature
that you want.
If the egg has the right gender, Ability, and Nature that you want,
keep it but don't save yet. Check the IVs, if they aren't what you want
them to be, then soft-reset without saving and take a "new" egg. Hatch
it, and check the IVs, and reset if they aren't what you want. Keep
repeating this second step until you get good IVs. Every time you
reset, the IVs change but the gender, Ability, and Nature remain the
same.
Now, you CANNOT use your Rare Candies here to help you out since you
would have to reset before saving so you wouldn't have wasted them
(more on this below).
Refer to the Stat Calculator link here with the amazing Metalkid:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx
for a web-based Stat Calculator you can go here:
http://www.psypokes.com/dex/stats.php
Find the level 5 stats for the lowest evolution of your Pokemon with 0
EVs in every stat and what you would consider a minimum acceptable IV
in each stat. When you hatch an egg with the right gender, Ability,
and Nature, if the stats of the baby are within 1 (and MAYBE 2) of your
projected level 5 stats, keep that baby.
You may want to repeat the process several times until you get a few
with good IVs. That way, you can choose the best one possible.
So that was easier than the other Advanced gen games, but it gets
better. You can FORCE a certain Nature half of the time with the
previously pretty useless Everstone.
When given to the correct Pokemon in a breeding pair, the Everstone
gives you a 50% chance of passing the Nature of the Everstone holder
down to the babies. There are 9 possible combinations of breeding pairs
and Everstone combinations. Only 2 of the 9 have the 50% effect.
Hatching 10 and sometimes 20 eggs for each pair (as a side note, Flame
Body/Magma Armor make Magikarps hatch faster than the eggs come up), I
came up with the following rules that I believe cover the complete
spectrum of Everstone possibilites:
-If you use a Ditto, it must be holding the Everstone to pass down
Natures. Consequently, you will have a 50% chance of the babies having
the Ditto's Nature. It does not matter if the other Pokemon holds an
Everstone. It will have no effect.
-If you use a Ditto (holding nothing) and the other Pokemon (male or
female) holds the Everstone, you do not get any increased chance of
passing down a Nature (from either the Ditto or the Everstone holder).
-If you have a male and a female (non-Ditto), the female must hold the
Everstone to pass down Natures. Consequently, you will have a 50%
chance of the babies having the mother's Nature. It does not matter if
the other Pokemon holds an Everstone. It will have no effect.
The Everstone trick can be even more helpful. BEFORE you breed for
moves, Everstone trick (using a right-Natured Ditto or mother) several
female babies of the right Nature. Choose the best one of those, give
HER the Everstone, and you'll keep get right-Natured mothers all the
way down the generations effectively locking in your preferred Nature.
When IVs are the ONLY thing that's still random, you're in much better
shape. You won't have to hope for all 4 qualities to work out in your
favor which rarely happens. Remember, even with repeated generational
breeding, three of your six stats are completely random.
FOR ALL ADVANCED GEN GAMES:
This process is very long but is worth it. My new Ludicolo (compared
the one that I had before I knew about breeding, etc.) has a Special
Attack that's 70 points higher than the old one. That can make for a
huge difference in battles if you need the extra 70 points to knock out
your opponent.
Don't worry about the parents learning new moves to replace the old as
they level up while they breed and thereby getting babies with the
wrong moves. Even though every move that you started with might be lost
though normal move-gaining in Daycare, the babies will only have the
moveset of the parents from when they first entered the Daycare.
For example, I wanted a Hydro Pumping Bagon, so I bred my Hydro Pumping
male Kingdra with a female Bagon and got a truckload of Hydro Pumping
Bagon babies. When I selected my female and male for the next
generation of breeding and left them in there to make eggs, they
learned at least 4 moves which pushed Hydro Pump off their moveset
completely. However, every egg was a Bagon that knew Hydro Pump even
the very last egg that I got before I pulled the parents out of
Daycare.
Back to our Punching 'Kazam, Alakazam cannot learn the Punches by
leveling-up. He must be born with them (Emerald has changed this with
the new move tutors, but there are other guides for that).
So here we go - get a female Abra/Kadabra/Alakazam (any level will do),
but don't use one you that's already on your team because she may lose
moves that you've taught her while she's in the Daycare (unless you
don't care, of course). Get a male Medicham, and take 3 Heart Scales to
the Move Tutor in Fallabor Town. Trade him the Scales so that your
Medicham learns the 3 Elemental Punches.
Go to Mauville City and drop the lucky couple off for their honeymoon
at the Daycare which is just to the West (left) of town. Go check with
the husband of the Daycare couple. He is the one who stands outside of
the Daycare at the fence. As long as he doesn't say, "The two prefer to
play with other Pokemon.", you will get eggs. Even if he says, "They
don't seem to like each other very much.", you'll still get an egg. It
may take a while, but you'll get one eventually.
Keep only one Pokemon in your party (a Magma Armor/Flame Body Ability
Pokemon in Emerald will cut hatching time by roughly 1/3 (not the 1/2
as Nintendo suggested but still it's less time.)) and keep taking eggs
as he gives them to you. Keep riding your bike back and forth all the
way from Verdanturf on the far west to the river's edge east of
Mauville to hatching them. This will also help pass the time for the
parents to breed another in the Daycare. When one hatches, dump it in
the box, or release it depending on the situation, and get another egg
as they are available. Save and reset or just hatch and hatch and
hatch as needed depending on where you are in the process.
So You've Got Babies, Babies, Babies
Once you've got a slew of babies in any generation, you will need to
check their IVs. You'll now need your Rare Candies and a piece of paper
or a word processor.
You'll also need an IV calculator. Metalkid is your man:
Version 3.02:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx
Version 4.00:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/v400Plans.aspx
NOTE: Version 4.00 has the BEST IV calculator on the planet not
using a cheat device and gamesaves
for a web-based IV calculator, you can go here:
http://www.psypokes.com/dex/dv.php
Get 6 babies in your party, and save the game. This is crucial! Saving
allows you to use your Rare Candies over and over without having to get
more. Use 15 Rare Candies on the first one in your party.
If the Pokemon tries to learn a new move, don't let it learn the
Move...for 2 reasons: you're going to turn it off without saving and lose
the move anyway, and it's fewer buttons to press to not learn a move
than it is to learn a move.
Also it may be necessary to give your Pokemon the Everstone to hold so
it won't evolve. It doesn't technically matter if it does evolve or
not, but you would need a new set of Base Stats for the evolved form
when you calculate IVs. Whichever way you choose to go, just make sure
that you choose the correct evolution in the IV calculator.
Write down the stats at level 20 and the Nature as well as the name
(keeping track is important... you don't want to lose your prize
Pokemon because you don't know which is which or have to repeat the
process). If you have another group of 15 Rare Candies, use them on #2,
and write down its info. Repeat for each group of 15 Rare Candies you
have left.
When you're out of groups of 15 and have written down everything, turn
off the game, and restart it (soft-resetting is ok). Repeat this
process of feeding Rare Candies to level 20, writing down the info, and
resetting your game with all of the newly hatched Pokemon in your party
until you've gotten the level 20 info on all six. Always remember to
restart your game after you've used your Rare Candies!
Dump them in the box, get 6 more out, and repeat the process. On the IV
calculator, choose the Pokemon and the Nature that it has, input the
level and stats, and make sure that you input EVs as 0! You haven't
gotten any EVs yet, and yes, we'll talk about them in a bit.
Write down the calculated IV ranges. At level 20, your IVs still can't
be perfectly determined, so the range is important. Don't assume that
your IV is the maximum given or the minimum, but if you see an IV range
of like 24 to 27 or higher, that's a good range.
NOTE: Metalkid's Pokemon Program 4.00 will give you EXACT IVs at
level 20 or less as long as yous know the Hidden Power type ingame.
As another side note, when you're checking Base Stats to find a good
Pokemon to use for a particular purpose, make sure you look at the Base
Stats for the highest evolution. When you're calculating IVs, make sure
you use the Base Stats of the kind of Pokemon that you actually have.
This isn't so much of a concern when you use the IV calculator since it
already knows the Base Stats. When you decide on a Nature, also use the
Base Stats for the final evolution. As an example, Chinchou's Base
Speed is higher than its Base Special Attack, but Lanturn (the evolved
form) has the reverse situation. Mixing those up in choosing a Nature
and purpose could have been a fatal error.
So Now You've Got Your Great Baby Pokemon
Finally, after all that breeding - we've got our great baby Pokemon.
Now we have to train it and turn it into a killer just like the Army.
Training Basics
You've finally decided on what kind of Pokemon you want and what to use
it for. You've bred for the moves that you want, bred for good IVs, the
right Nature, and the right Ability. You have the ultimate baby!
Now you have to train it to maximize his skills for your purpose. This
process takes about an hour or two, but you can shorten it quite a bit
by using Vitamins, the Macho Brace, and the Pokerus virus. First, some
basics.
Vitamins
There are 6 Vitamins that you can buy. They are not cheap, but you can
get them at half price from the Slateport Energy Guru when he is
"stupendously going for it" which you learn about by watching TV. The
Vitamins do not raise your stats directly. They raise your EVs in each
stat which then will change your stat using the stat formulas. To be
precise, 1 vitamin gives you 10 EVs in each stat with a maximum cap of
10 vitamins per stat. This, naturally, results in a cap of 100 EVs per
stat from vitamins.
Macho Brace
The Macho Brace is given to you for defeating everyone in the Winstrate
family at their home which is north of Mauville City. A Pokemon wearing
the Macho Brace has its Speed temporarily cut in half. This is not a
good thing, but when you receive EVs from defeating Pokemon, they are
doubled - thanks to the Macho Brace. The Speed returns to normal when
the Brace is removed. The Brace does not lower the Speed stat, it just
halves your Speed in the "who goes first in battle" formula while the
Macho Brace is on.
Pokerus Virus
When you are battling in the wild and use a physical attack like
Headbutt, Body Slam, etc., you run a very small chance of contracting
the Pokerus Virus. The Pokerus also doubles your EV gain from battling.
You will know you have contracted it when you go to heal in a
PokeCenter and Nurse Joy says something about your Pokemon having a
beneficial virus. You can also see if a Pokemon has Pokerus by looking
at the first page of the Summary screen.
Under the Pokemon's picture on the left, it will say "Status: PRKS" if
it is currently able to infect others and gain double EVs. If you see a
tiny black dot under the Pokemon's picture, then it can still gain
double EVs but cannot be used to infect others.
If you have an infected Pokemon, put it in the front of your party then
put a Pokemon that you want infected in the second spot and battle a
few times. The virus will spread through the rest of your party as you
battle. At midnight each night, Pokemon in your party who are infected
with the Pokerus may randomly lose their ability to infect others. This
applies even if you haven't played the game for that duration of time.
They will still be able to gain double EVs, but they can't pass the
virus on. Always keep at least one infected Pokemon in your box.
Pokerus is "frozen" in your boxes, and you can pull those Pokemon out
to infect others and then toss them back in when you've done that to
use again later. If you don't have the Pokerus, don't worry - it is
likely that you will never get it anyway. The chances of contracting
the virus are lower than the chances of encountering a shiny. The Macho
Brace will allow you to cut EV training time to about 45 minutes or so
anyway. However, a Pokemon with both the Pokerus and the Macho Brace
will gain 4x the amount of EVs.
EV Training
As I previously mentioned, you can get a total of 510 EVs overall. The
max in any one stat is 255, and remember - that's a waste of a stat
point. You want to only get 252 EVs at the most in any single stat. The
simplest EV spread is typically split among two stats that you really
wish to maximize, and the leftover 6 points dumped into another stat
just to get the full benefit. (This is not always true, of course, and
you should consult a Moveset Guide or visit the PokeRealm forums to see
what the best EV spreads are.)
I now split my EVs after carefully considering Attack power, Speed, and
Defenses. I will stick with the simple 252-252-6 split for this guide
because it is the easiest to explain. Obviously, you can split them in
many ways. In the formula which calculates your stats at each level,
EVs are divided by 4, and the result is rounded down. This means that
you need 4 EVs to get a 1 point stat gain at level 100. 3 won't do it.
So you should use 252-252-6 as your basic EV split when focusing on 2
stats. 252 is evenly divisible by 4, so none are wasted in those 2
stats. The remaining 6 will give you a 1 stat point gain in a third
stat. I usually stuff the remaining 6 EVs in HP.
You can feed up to 10 Vitamins to any Pokemon in any given stat. Each
one gives you 10 EVs in that stat. You may not exceed 100 EVs with
Vitamins in any stat. Give your Vitamins, if you wish to use them,
first. If you need money, attach the Amulet Coin to your strongest
Pokemon and use it once in each battle against each trainer in the
Elite Four. The Amulet Coin doubles your money, so when you fight the
Elite Four over and over, you get a lot of cash.
Whether you use Vitamins or not, you will still need to battle to fully
reach your max of 510 total EVs. You could buy 51 Vitamins and feed 10
to each stat and put 1 in the 6th, and you will end up with a balanced
EV spread, but this is not recommended.
You get your EVs in your stats by defeating various different Pokemon.
For a complete list of who gives what EVs, check a Pokedex or use the
EV Tracker in MetalKid's Pokemon Program:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx
Getting back to our Elemental Punching Alakazam, he needs to be EV
trained in Special Attack and Speed. Even though he has a naturally
high Special Attack and Speed, you're going to want to make them
insanely high. You want it to hit something first, and you want that
something to faint with one hit. You may feed it 10 Calciums (for 100
Special Attack EVs) and 10 Carbos (for 100 Speed EVs) or just forget
the Vitamins altogether.
Get the baby Alakazam, or Abra in this case, put the Macho Brace on,
and take 3 or 4 really strong Pokemon (level 70 or higher) with moves
that have an accuracy of 100.
Put the baby in the 1st slot in your party, and run in the ashy grass
until you meet a Spinda or Slugma (if you're doing Special Attack EVs).
Immediately switch the baby out, and switch in a strong Pokemon. Take
down the Spinda/Slugma. You just got two Special Attack EVs (remember
that the Macho Brace doubles the 1 Special Attack EV that Spindas and
Slugmas give to 2).
Both Pokemon will gain EVs. However, only the one with the Macho Brace
will gain 2 EVs. The other one will gain 1 EV. The EVs are dealt out
along with experience points so that any Pokemon who gains exp points
in battle will also gain the EVs. I recommend using the level 70 or
higher Pokemon because they're probably already EV trained, and you
won't have to worry about them getting EVs that you don't want because
they've already maxed out their EV training. That's how you gain EVs.
EV Training Example
Here's an example of a 252-252-6 EV spread in Special Attack, Speed,
and Hit Points - respectively. This will tell you how to gain 252 EVs
in Special Attack, 252 in Speed and 6 in HP by guiding you through the
process so you can completely understand how EV training works.
Please remember, there is no way to keep track of EVs in-game - you
will have to do it yourself using pen and paper, a word processor, or a
program.
First, fly to Fallarbor Town and head right towards the grassy area
with the ashes. If you have the Macho Brace equipped, then you would
need to fight 126 Spindas to gain 252 EVs in Special Attack (126 * 2 =
252). If you have both the Macho Brace and the Pokerus, then you would
only need to fight 63 Spindas (63 * 4 = 252). With neither the Brace or
the virus, you will have to fight 252 Spindas. Once you're done with
that, fly to Verdanturf.
Let's go ahead and get our 6 HP EVs out of the way. Head to the Rusturf
Tunnel, if you have the Pokerus, then take the Macho Brace off and
fight three Whismurs. That'll amount to 6 EVs in HP. If you don't have
the Pokerus, then go ahead and use the Macho Brace; you'll still only
have to fight three Whismurs. Without either one, you will need to
fight six of them. Once you're done, head to Mauville City.
When you're in Mauville, heal if necessary, then head east and surf
over the river. You'll be in Route 118. If you do your EV training in
an area with Pokemon that give varying amounts of EVs (such as Speed
and Special Defense), you should do that last so you don't have to
worry about mixing up your count and it won't matter if you do because
once you complete your EV training - the EVs simply won't count. Now,
you don't need to count because you only have 252 EVs left to give, and
they're all going to speed.
The Linoones and Manetrics give you 2 EVs rather than the 1 that you
get from Zigzagoon, Electrike, and Wingull - but since we did this
last, you don't have to worry about counting them. Just keep battling
and try to keep an approximate figure in your head - it shouldn't take
long, especially if you have the Macho Brace and/or the Pokerus. Once
you think you've gained enough, fight a couple more battles to be sure.
OK, now let's see if you EV trained properly.
To be sure that you've gotten all 510 EVs, fly to Slateport City and go
down to the outdoor market where the Energy Guru is. Then find the
lady on the left hand side of the Energy Guru. If she gives you an
Effort Ribbon, then your EVs are maxed, and you've completed your EV
training properly.
If she doesn't give you a ribbon and says, "You have to go for it a
little harder", then you're short on EVs somewhere. There's no way to
know which stat got shortchanged, so like I said, count very carefully
or use a program.
NOTE: As mentioned above, Vitamins first + Macho Brace + Pokerus is
the FASTEST way to EV train. You can completely EV train a Pokemon in
about half an hour. I went through this example without Vitamins, so
you could see the "whole picture".
If you'd like to know what your final stats at Level 100 will be, then
you can use the stat calculator below. Choose the Pokemon's final
evolution in the list then input your IVs (called DVs at that page) and
your Evs. It will then calculate your final stats at Level 100.
Refer to the Stat Calculator link here with the amazing Metalkid:
http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx
for a web-based Stat Calculator you can go here:
http://www.psypokes.com/dex/stats.php
EV Reduction Berries
If you get a Pokemon that has already gained EVs through battling, and
you'd like to correctly train it yourself - or check the IVs to see if
it's worth training - then there are six berries in Emerald that you
can use to remove EVs from your Pokemon.
Each of the berries listed below (when you select Use from the Berry
Menu) will remove 10 EVs from the corresponding stat:
Pomeg: Decreases HP EVs by 10
Kelpsy: Decreases Attack EVs by 10
Qualot: Decreases Defense EVs by 10
Hondew: Decreases Special Attack EVs by 10
Grepa: Decreases Special Defense EVs by 10
Tamato: Decreases Speed EVs by 10
As a result of using these berries, YOUR STATS WILL DECREASE. However,
this does not decrease your base stats - only the EV points that
attributed to stat increases. These berries work like Vitamins only in
reverse. This is because, after the Pokemon 'eats' the berry, its stats
are recalculated by the game with the lowered EVs which reduces the
overall stat but not the base stat.
When you use one of these berries on a Pokemon who has gained EVs, you
will get a message like this: "Jirachi turned friendly. Base HP fell."
This happened when I used a Pomeg berry on a Jirachi which I got from a
friend who is giving up Pokemon. If you continue to feed it EV Reducing
berries, and it still has EVs in that stat, you'll keep getting the
same message. When you get to the point where you have completely
cleared out the EVs, the message changes to: "Jirachi turned friendly.
Base HP can't fall."
You can repeat this process for each stat until you have wiped all of
the EVs away. At this point, the stats that you see are as if you had
freshly caught it. You can easily calculate the IVs of the Pokemon
using an IV calculator then train it in the way that you feel is
appropriate.
In theory, since a Pokemon can have up to 255 EVs in a stat, you may
need as many as TWENTY-SIX of these berries to completely clear the EVs
in a single stat. In practice, though, if someone battled the Elite
Four, other trainers, or wild Pokemon to level-up - you probably won't
need more than 20, or even 15, berries in any given stat.
For example, my Jirachi (given to me at Level 44) needed 5 Pomeg, 4
Kelpsy, 3 Qualot, 5 Honydew, 3 Grepa and 9 Tamato berries to completely
clear out its EVs. It wasn't completely EV trained, apparently as it
only had about 230 EVs.
As an added bonus - the Jirachi which had his happiness reset to zero
after being traded to my game gained happiness from munching on all of
these berries. I took him to Verdanturf and checked with the Happiness
Lady. Jirachi was already at "It seems to be very happy. It obviously
likes you a whole lot." Not bad for just stuffing him full of 29
berries. Remember that the last berry doesn't actually decrease the EVs
- so in reality, I only should have needed to use 23 berries. If I had
been more careful about saving and resetting, I could have not used the
last berry in each stat.
NOTE: If the message says, "The berry will have no effect.", then not
only are the EVs in that stat cleared, but the Pokemon is at max
happiness.
So, whenever you get these specific berries - you will want to re-plant
them to grow as many possible so that you can fix your EVs whenever you
need to. I recommend that you use the Berry Master's patch on Route
123. You can plant up to 12 berries at one time using that patch. Keep
in mind that this only works in Pokemon Emerald!
Leveling Up
Once you've maxed your EVs, you can level-up that Pokemon any way that
you choose. There are several methods. I'll give you a few and the
pros/cons of each method.
Mixing Records
I have mixed records with many different trainers, and as a result I
have 9 or so different Secret Bases in which I can battle high level
Pokemon and consequently gain a lot of experience points. I put the Exp
Share on my newly EV trained Pokemon and take along 5 other high level
Pokemon along with me to defeat them.
You can battle in each Secret Base once a day (or more, if you keep
mixing records throughout the day). After that, I take my Pickup team
to the route just between Rustboro and the Rustboro/Verdanturf tunnel.
This way, I can battle and accumulate a lot of Rare Candies. I repeat
this process once a day until I have enough extra Rare Candies (I don't
touch the 90 that I use for baby IV checking) to get the EV trained
Pokemon the rest of the way to 100. Don't bother using the Rare Candies
at the lower levels. Save them for the higher levels up to 100 since it
takes so much experience to level up (from 80 to 100, for example).
Pros: You run a chance of seeing a shiny since you are battling wild
Pokemon (you can choose the area to battle in if you want a specific
shiny - I have seen and caught 2 of them using this method).
Cons: It takes a while to get to level 100 (5 to 10 days) since you can
only battle in the Secret Bases once a day.
Elite Four
Stick on the Exp Share and battle the Elite Four repeatedly. You can
even let your EV trained Pokemon take part in the battles after it is
high enough, and it'll gain even more experience points.
Pros: You will quickly gain a lot of experience and money.
Cons: if you save in the middle of battling the Elite Four, then you
have to finish it to be able to do something else. It can also be
tedious and repetitive.
Sky Pillar/Victory Road
Equip the Exp Share on the newly EV Trained Pokemon and get 4 or 5
other high level Pokemon and go to the Sky Pillar/Victory Road. Use up
all the PPs for every attack move that each Pokemon has defeating
everything in sight.
Pros: You gain lots of experience, and you also have the chance of
encountering a shiny (I've also seen and caught two of them using this
method).
Cons: Tedious and repetitive and slow.
Daycare
Simply do the Daycare Trick.
Pros: This speaks for itself. You won't have to do anything at all and
are free to pursue your life while your Pokemon level up.
Cons: Very slow and may mess up your movesets. If you choose to use
this method then be sure you can fix the moveset afterwards, or wait
until the Pokemon is at a high enough level where it won't learn any
more moves.
Miscellaneous
This section covers stuff that didn't fit elsewhere in this guide. I
felt there were some important points that I needed to touch on before
closing out.
Legendaries
I highly recommend that you EV train the Legendaries that you catch
when you play a new game. Legendaries already have unbelievably high
stats, and you can turn them into beasts. Additionally, you can save
right before you encounter the Legendary and keep resetting until you
get one with good IVs. This will only work on the stationary ones not
the wandering ones (Latios, Latias, Raikou, etc).
You shouldn't throw them in your party as soon as you get them. Take
the time to EV train them and turn them into powerhouses then use them
afterwards. The time spent will be well worth it.
While trainers who use legendaries are frowned upon in competitive
battling circles (and who hasn't been pissed at a friend who throws out
like 3 Mewtwo's just because he has no life and keeps replaying and
trading them over), all legendary battles with both opponents sending
out the ubers are just as fun (and quicker usually) than regular team
battles. But please, don't consider yourself a good battler because
you swept someone with a legendary when your opponent had none. That's
just bullying.
General Hints and Tips
Choosing Pokemon that are awesome in one role or another is just fine,
but if you have a favorite Pokemon, use it. This is a game and is
supposed to be fun. Don't let your favorite Pokemon rot in the box just
because its stats aren't the best. Almost any Pokemon that you create
using this guide with a good moveset will do serious damage. Especially
against players who don't use these techniques.
If you want to get the Silver Shield or the Gold Shield in the Battle
Tower or the Silver and Gold Frontier symbols, then use EV trained
Pokemon. Following this guide will give you great Pokemon to take into
the Battle Tower/Frontier, and you will be able to win or "buy" great
prizes along with the Shields/Symbols.
Don't make your Pokemon hold things like Mystic Water or Hard Stone
(which increase their type attacks by 10%), etc. The 10% increase will
not matter much when you are battling another human player over a link
cable or fighting in the Battle Tower/Frontier. In most cases, you will
want to give your Pokemon Leftovers, Brightpowders, Choice Bands, Lum
berries, or stat-raising berries. This will give you a better team, and
since you shouldn't have more than one type of attack in a moveset, the
type-boosting held items won't do much anyway.
Frequent a forum or message board that's dedicated to the particular
game that you are playing and read what people are saying. You may
learn something that you didn't know before and be better for it.
Conserve your TMs. Don't use them just because you need a move to beat
the Elite Four or an in-game trainer. They should be conserved and
wisely used along with breeding so that you can get multiple instances
of the good moves. Many good moves can only be learned through TMs.
Don't use HMs on your competitive team with the exception of Surf
(which I feel is superior to Hydro Pump due to accuracy). Dive and Fly
could be good moves in some cases (Dive more so than Fly), but you can
still be attacked underwater or while you're in the air - you're not as
invulnerable as you think. And two turn moves with the attack coming on
the second turn just scream at your opponent to switch in something
that resists that attack.
Strength is not a good move. Return is much better because when your
Pokemon is at max happiness, Return's base power is 102 which is higher
than Strength. You can get 1 Return TM per week from the guy in
Pacifidlog Town (in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald).
You can make your Pokemon forget HM moves by going to the Move Deleter
in Lilycove (R/S/E). His house is just to the right of the department
store, and it's free. If you need HM Slaves (a Pokemon whose sole
purpose is to use HM moves), then you should take along a Tentacool and
a Tropius. Tentacool can learn all the water HMs plus Cut while Tropius
can learn the rest.
Hidden Power is worth a look. Hidden Power is a way to give an
Electric-type attack to a Fire type that couldn't learn an Electric-
type move otherwise. You could surprise a Water-type opponent who
thought they would get the upper hand. Both the type and the power of
Hidden Power are based on your Pokemon's IVs. Depending on what IVs
that you have, you could get any type of Hidden Power, and the max
power will vary between 30 and 70.
Now, I don't normally stand for an attack less than 80 power, but
having a secret weapon, like I mentioned, that would give you a super
effective attack against a foe you're totally weak against is not a bad
idea. You will need your most accurate IVs, so wait until you've gotten
the Pokemon to Level 100 with completely known EVs. Then calculate your
IVs one last time, and then find the Hidden Power. You can buy Hidden
Power TMs in Slateport City (R/S/E) (or you can get some with Pickup in
FireRed/LeafGreen). I wouldn't recommend a Hidden Power if the power is
30-50, but a 60+ Hidden Power with the right type could be very
helpful.
An IV Calculator estimates your IVs, so if you want to be absolutely
sure, go to Route 118 and fight a Kecleon using Hidden Power then see
what its Color Change does. Color Change will change the Kecleon's type
to the type of the attack used against it. So this way you can see what
type the Hidden Power is.
NOTE: Kecleons are VERY rare on route 118. Look in the notch between
the trees just west of Fortree (R/S/E). There is a hidden Kecleon
there that many people don't find. Just save before you fight it, and
then reset after you see the Color Change effect. That Kecleon can
then be used over and over for Hidden Power testing.
Metalkid's version 4.00 will give you EXACT IVs at levels much lower
than ANY other IV calculator. It does REQUIRE that you already know
the Hidden Power type to do its job, so if you're using 4.00, you'll
have to do the Kecleon trick or figure it out some other way.
Learn who carries the good held items, and learn how to steal them.
Thief and Covet always work (as long as you're not already holding an
item), so if you don't get the held item the first time you try it,
then the Pokemon is not holding an item.
Summary
Choose a purpose (Physical Sweeper, etc). This will tell you what
Pokemon to choose, how to EV train your Pokemon, what Nature to shoot
for, and what Ability to choose (assuming you have a choice).
Decide on a moveset and breed accordingly. Remember, the female decides
the species of the baby, and the male gives the moves.
Breed a bunch of babies then use Rare Candies to get them to level 20,
and check their IVs. Choose the best female and male, and rebreed them.
Do this until you have two great parents, and then start looking for
the right Nature and Ability and best IVs.
EV train your Pokemon, and level it up once it has been EV trained.
Thank you's
Zeroality - Thanx for your support and advice. Someday I'll get that
whole Netbattle thing so we can, as they say on MXC, "get it on"
Metalkid - seriously, who has done more work than him. If you
haven't gotten the Metalkid Pokemon Program, you're missing out
psypokes.com - web-based calculation tools and an awesome egg move
resource
imperfectluck - Thanx for the breeding info and your moveset guide
reaverz - Thanx for copious amounts of breeding info
Mottman - Thanx for the breeding info
Ken J. Egervari - author of the Advanced Trainers Guide
Thanx to those above plus many others on the Advanced gen message
boards for being voices of reason and helping me out when I was just
starting and continuing to help others out
Contact Info
I can be reached on the forums at
http://www.pokerealm.net. Post a
message with subject "ATTN: Wyrlwynd", and I'm certain to see it.
Legalities and Copyright
This guide was written by Wyrlwynd copyright 2005.
All copyrights and trademarks found in this document are owned by their
respective copyright and trademark holders. No infringement of
copyright is intended.
This document may be printed in part or in whole, for personal use
only. You may not take any part of this document and display it
anywhere - do not ask. I will not give consent.
http://www.pokerealm.net and
http://www.gamefaqs.com are the only web
sites allowed to host this document.
