Pokemon Corner

[Lustermx]

I was fortunate enough to get a friend with ditto in their friend zone, so I went ahead and caught a whole box of them, hoping to get one of each nature.

And Dittos looks more right to me

 

[Seeaka]

The plurals of all Pokemon are the same as their singular. Unlike moose, the plural of which is meese, and shoop, the plural of which is sheep.

Also I had entirely written the friend safari off as useless until I just realized you could get hidden abilities lol. 

 

[Tai_MT]

The plurals of all Pokemon are the same as their singular. Unlike moose, the plural of which is meese, and shoop, the plural of which is sheep.

Also I had entirely written the friend safari off as useless until I just realized you could get hidden abilities lol. 

...The plural of moose isn't "meese".  It's moose...  The plural of of sheep is sheep...  They are both singular and plural words...

Also, how could you write that area off as useless when you can catch mons that aren't commonly found in your game anyway?  Especially STARTERS?  I say the "hidden abilities" are just a fringe benefit that is highly dependent on if the hidden ability is even USEFUL or not (and most of them aren't).  Though, some of the ones on the new starters are fairly useful looking.  I might have to try to find a Fennekin with a hidden ability...  I am loving my Fire Starter this time around.

 

[orochii]

I was fortunate enough to get a friend with ditto in their friend zone, so I went ahead and caught a whole box of them, hoping to get one of each nature.

I foresee people that will be so popular with several thousands of friends because of Ditto. And some people without friends because of Sunkern, Bidoof, and a variety of others. If your friend safari gives Sunkerns, suicide your character right away.

J/K,

Orochii Zouveleki

 

[Seacliff]

...The plural of moose isn't "meese".  It's moose...  The plural of of sheep is sheep...  They are both singular and plural words...

I saw a flock of moosen...

 

[Tai_MT]

I saw a flock of moosen...

...Stop, you're making my brain hurt...  I need to go lay down now.

 

[Seeaka]

Tai ur wrong obvs.

And also the only pokemon i could evre find in there was that psychic cat thing. I've never seen another poke in there.

 

[NPC]

Hm, it would be nice to get a Sunkern in X and Y actually. I already have a shiny bidoof!

 

[hyde9318]

Shiny Bidoof? That rivals my shiny Whishmur, lol.

 

[Luminous Warrior]

I caught a shiny Starly once. I traded it for a shiny Lopunny, which in hindsight was a bad idea. I don't remember what ever happened to that Lopunny.

 

[NPC]

I don't have a shiny Whismur...it's an Exploud now... XD

Those are the only two I have though...

 

[Harmill]

Way back in Gold version, I caught a shiny Voltorb. In White version, I caught a shiny Patrat and evolved it into a shiny Watchog. In Y version, I caught a shiny Machop and haven't done anything with it yet. That's my history with shinies. 

I might try out the PokeRadar chaining but I honestly prefer most Pokemon's original colour schemes over their shiny forms. Many shiny pokemon merely change the shade of colour and that's all...

 

[hyde9318]

I wont lie, I want to give whishmur away. Anyone have any decent pokes to trade for, let me know. As of right now, Im still trying to figure out my team to use. So far it is Clawitzer (EVs: 252 SpAtk, 252 Spd), Blaziken (EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spd), Salamence, (EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spd),  and working on Honedge/Aegislash. I plan on adding Mewtwo and Yveltal soon as well. 

So with that team, Im trying to figure out a nice balance. Aegislash, I think I will bring up his Atk a little bit, then dump the rest in Def. His special ability to switch between attack and defensive modes is pretty awesome. Mewtwo is special attack all the way seeing as I am looking at Mega Mewtwo Y. Im still not sure what I am looking at for Yveltal though... anyone use him yet? 

I am unsure about my choices in Salamence and Aegislash so far, but Blaziken and Clawitzer have earned their place by my side (seriously, high special attack mixed with his ability, Clawitzer can hit hard as f*ck!). Salamence is mainly there because of the fact that I am using this team as a half and half (half competitive, half practical gameplay; meaning it can be used for non-hardcore competiting {mainly just between friends and basic online play}, as well as be playable with basic gameplay, needing things like fly, surf, so on). Salamence is my flyer, Clawitzer is my surfer, so on and so forth. So if I were to replace mence, I would want to replace him with another flyer, but I really didnt see much else that I cared for, and I dont want to waste a moveslot for Yveltal. Decisions, Decisions...

 

[NPC]

Ooh nice, seems like a very offensive team- don't forget about the gen VI Shuckle, Carbink, if you want defense other than Aegis for dat. You can also catch Shuckles in Zygarde's cave. 

Mine so far: Carbink, Miltank, Bravairy, Gardevoir, and Malamar...I may or may not add Swanna...it's hard to choose. I did face an annoying tough Toxic Orb'd Ursaring recently, which took out my team almost wholy, but I'm not in the mood for Facading. 

Other pokemon that I want to use: Volt Tackle Raichu, Avalugg, and Ariados...

 

[hyde9318]

I have looked into Zygarde too really. He seems to be a defensive dragon type, which is kind of odd. He has a nice 121 Base Def stat, which could be nice if done right. BUT, He has Aura Break. Which, If my theory is right, means that Yveltal's Dark Aura carries over after he has been switched out. I could be wrong, but I hardly see a reason for Zygarde to have an ability that literally only neutralizes Xerneas and Yveltal while they are in battle. That would prove to be damn near worthless, but I dont know, I still havent even seen either legends yet (just got my fourth badge). 

Now, defensively, I cant bring myself to go with Carbink or Shuckle. I love just beating the snot out of my enemies. Love it. So I tend to look away from defensive pokemon who can't also at least put somewhat of a hurting on the opponent team. And if my math is correct, Shuckle can't really do squat when attacking. That is why I thought Aegislash. He boasts a whopping 150 Base Def stat when in shield form, but then switches over to a massive 150 Atk stat in sword form (Sword: 150 Atk, 150 SpAtk; Shield: 150 Def, 150 SpDef). Now, while neither of those are the best for each respective stat, both of them are equivalent to either Attack or Defense Deoxys... and you can switch IN BATTLE. So what I have here is a pokemon that can not only hold back some attacks, but turn around to bash the opponent right back when they least expect it. But, on another note, I also may start looking at my normal 'go-to' defensive pokemon that i always find myself running back to... my sweet sweet Blissey. Man, no Gen 2 pokemon has ever been used so much by myself. Her Special Attack is just high enough to f*ck up some enemies, while her HP is sky high. Mix that with a decent SpDef, and a tolerable Def, she is a beast. I admit, since gen 4 and on, she has been steadily losing her hold on the comp game, but I still love whipping out a blissey mid-match and watch un-suspecting opponents lose their ****. 

 

[Tai_MT]

Oh God...  The "stop having fun guys" showed up.  Competative...  IVs....  Evs...  Natures...  -_-" someone punch me in the face right now.

That being said, I've always found that mons who already have high Attack and Special Attack can always use a maxed out Speed stat with their IVs.  I've won a fair few matches between friends on that very premise alone.  If you can act before your enemy, there's a decisive advantage in that.  It's often an overlooked advantage as a lot of the competitive teams I've seen don't employ the strategy of "lightning bruiser" that often.  Many of the teams rely on "gimmicks" instead of strategies...  Thus the Wobbafet nonsense that got that mon banned from tournaments.

My strategy generally employs the "keep your enemy guessing" tactics.  It doesn't always work, but it does make for some very interesting gameplay.  I tend to specialize in using mons in ways they aren't typically used in tournaments or online play.  I like to load as many different kinds of moves onto a mon as possible so that I can cover bases that typical typings won't allow for.  A bird pokemon with "Close Combat" is typically a surprise.  It gets even worse when most bird mons are fairly fast as well as hard hitters.  They aren't lightning bruisers, but they can pack the pain on fairly quickly.  It only gets worse if you teach those birds Mud Slap or Whirlwind.  Both of those moves are highly underutilized in my opinion.

But, no matter what team or strategy I decide on, it always involves my starter.  Where else are you going to find a "jack of all trades" mon that was easy to level and get some decent IVs for?  Besides that, you get extensive personal experience using them if you took them through the entire game to the Elite Four.  You become very intimate with them in knowing which mons will pose a threat to it and which you can easily steamroll despite type disadvantage.  That, above all stats and strategy, is vitally important to me.

I don't like to play the game in any particular "cheese" way.  I don't want to assemble the same team of mons everyone else has because they're "the best" and then work on doing all this other complete nonsense for "perfect" mons.  I want to learn how my mons work through actual experience and experiment with them as I can imagine.  I'll decide how I want each of my mons to play and work based on what they've already got, instead of trying to make something I want.

I know I'm not the greatest player of the game out there, but I have pulled some amazing victories out of my rear by simply knowing my team and how to counter a lot of different attacks and strategies.  I once performed a Full Party Wipe using nothing but my Torterra.  This was even against mons who were 5-8 levels above me with type advantages.  You would be surprised how deadly Giga Drain can be with one of those Roots attached and you're also low on health so it does the "ups grass attacks in a pinch".  90% health loss on a Charizard with that one attack.

But, with these new games...  I have no idea who I'm going to roll with in terms of party.  Right now, the only one I plan to keep in my party is my Fire Starter.  I noticed it eventually learns "Will O Wisp", and I do so love that attack.  I might throw a Lapras onto my team (I love Lapras, I use it every single generation if I can).  I might go with the sword guy since it's a Ghost/Steel type, and I've never really rolled with a Steel type before.  As for all the other slots?  I have no idea.  I usually roll with a bird type so that I've always got Fly on me at all types, so I'll have to decide on one of those.  Though, maybe I'll just roll with a Salamence instead, since it naturally learns "Fly"?  Maybe I'll try out the new Fairy type as well and roll with a Sylveon.  I do like Eevee and its evolutions (though this one is by far the most ugly POS I've ever seen of its evolutions...  The first appearance I've ever hated of the species) so it might be worth trying out.  Though, Fairy types seem to be more like status buffers/debuffers in terms of their movesets or just plain moves.  We'll see how that goes as well.  I have no idea what I'll use beyond that.  Might be a "wait and see" type deal and see if I catch anything that is interesting in terms of type or concept.  Maybe I'll load up with that T-Rex thing?  That looked fun... It'd even be the first fossil I've ever rolled with.  Again though, we'll see how it all goes.

 

[hyde9318]

Yes, go Lapras, teach it surf ASAP. You can actually ride lapras in these games. And Tyrantrum is SO worth it. His ability makes him overpowered as f*ck.

 

[Chaos Avian]

By the way, incase you guys don't know the Lumiose City bug has been patched and it's on the eShop~

 

[Harmill]

What's wrong with aiming for certain natures, EV spreads, and IVs on pokemon? How is that "stop having fun guys"? For me, I love seeing high stats so I go out of my way to make my pokemon have as high stats as possible (even if I never use that pokemon in a single PvP battle). Only if I plan on battling competitively do I go for the "perfect" EV spreads but often I like to max HP in EVs because I love having a Pokemon with high HP.

Sweepers (high SPD + ATK/SP. ATK) are actually super common. I think it was Gen V that made defensive pokemon not as viable because they made sweepers soooo dangerous. And there's the Psyshock move, that prevents a Blissey from walling something like an Alakazam. I'm not sure yet how defensive pokemon stand with new additions in Gen VI.

Charizard takes only 25% damage from grass type attacks....I only see a Charizard taking 90% damage from a Giga Drain if he was 30 levels below you. Plus Torterra has poor Sp ATK. I don't mean to be a spoil sport or anything - I'm just commenting on an example that screams "hyperbole".  Weaknesses/resistances are a huge reason you can defeat a Pokemon that's 10+ levels above you. Charizard is 4x weak to Rock, for example. He also has weak DEF stat. Something that can resist Charizard's attack options and then whip out a Rock Slide could destroy Charizard in one move. Likewise, a pokemon that's 10 levels over Charizard that tries to attack him with Grass (dealing 0.25 damage to him) will likely get destroyed (and Charizard's STAB moves like Flamethrower will do 2x damage to Grass Pokemon anyways).

Goodra is probably my favourite pokemon from Gen VI (aesthetically) and it's Base Stats suggest Special Tank/Wall. But I'll probably build it with Sp ATK and SPD EVs anyways because that's good enough for normal play. It's a shame that Noivern's stats seem so poor because he looks pretty awesome, too. My team for the main game was: Delphox, Tyrantrum (<3), Doublade (didn't want to evolve him), Pangoro, Talonflame, and Florges. I'll get a Goodra once I'm ready to start doing some breeding to get good IVs for it.

There are so many ways you can build a Pokemon and part of that is why I get so absorbed in Pokemon games. I think it was discovering the existence of EVs and IVs that actually sucked me in for the long road.  Being able to increase the stats of a Pokemon beyond their "natural" means in any way/combination you want (within a certain limit of course) is extremely addicting for me. 

 

[Tai_MT]

What's wrong with aiming for certain natures, EV spreads, and IVs on pokemon? How is that "stop having fun guys"? For me, I love seeing high stats so I go out of my way to make my pokemon have as high stats as possible (even if I never use that pokemon in a single PvP battle). Only if I plan on battling competitively do I go for the "perfect" EV spreads but often I like to max HP in EVs because I love having a Pokemon with high HP.

Sweepers (high SPD + ATK/SP. ATK) are actually super common. I think it was Gen V that made defensive pokemon not as viable because they made sweepers soooo dangerous. And there's the Psyshock move, that prevents a Blissey from walling something like an Alakazam. I'm not sure yet how defensive pokemon stand with new additions in Gen VI.

Charizard takes only 25% damage from grass type attacks....I only see a Charizard taking 90% damage from a Giga Drain if he was 30 levels below you. Plus Torterra has poor Sp ATK. I don't mean to be a spoil sport or anything - I'm just commenting on an example that screams "hyperbole".  Weaknesses/resistances are a huge reason you can defeat a Pokemon that's 10+ levels above you. Charizard is 4x weak to Rock, for example. He also has weak DEF stat. Something that can resist Charizard's attack options and then whip out a Rock Slide could destroy Charizard in one move. Likewise, a pokemon that's 10 levels over Charizard that tries to attack him with Grass (dealing 0.25 damage to him) will likely get destroyed (and Charizard's STAB moves like Flamethrower will do 2x damage to Grass Pokemon anyways).

Goodra is probably my favourite pokemon from Gen VI (aesthetically) and it's Base Stats suggest Special Tank/Wall. But I'll probably build it with Sp ATK and SPD EVs anyways because that's good enough for normal play. It's a shame that Noivern's stats seem so poor because he looks pretty awesome, too. My team for the main game was: Delphox, Tyrantrum (<3), Doublade (didn't want to evolve him), Pangoro, Talonflame, and Florges. I'll get a Goodra once I'm ready to start doing some breeding to get good IVs for it.

There are so many ways you can build a Pokemon and part of that is why I get so absorbed in Pokemon games. I think it was discovering the existence of EVs and IVs that actually sucked me in for the long road.  Being able to increase the stats of a Pokemon beyond their "natural" means in any way/combination you want (within a certain limit of course) is extremely addicting for me. 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StopHavingFunGuys

That's what I mean.  Pokémon is one of those games that has a TON of these people in them, and they are absolutely obsessed with these things.  There's nothing wrong with catching any random mon and training it.  It's when we get into discussions about "competitive play" that these guys come out of the woodwork and make me facestairs at every opportunity.  It's a video game, it's for fun.  Fun should not be massive grind coupled with algebra.  If you find these things fun...  It only takes a single job in the real world to figure out why these things are NOT fun.  Especially when 8 hours of grind a day is what you do to make a living.  Work =/= fun.

Charizard does take 25% resistance from Grass moves.  But, let's suppose that Charizard is NOT level 100 for a moment.  Let's also suppose that Charizard has below average Special Defense  We'll just say he has a neutral nature.  So, something around... what... 170-190 Sp.Def.?  Maybe?  If I remember right?  Now, a Big Root doesn't increase damage done...  But with STAB and Overgrow... it does alleviate that x4 resistance as well as do some decent damage if Torterra has a high Sp.Atk. (which mine does, along with a high Defense).  Flying moves are nearly nullified by the simple High Defense of a Torterra.  Fire moves also don't get the x2 bonus since Torterra is half ground.  So, we have a Charizard who is doing normal damage to Torterra without a "It's Super Effective" message unless it uses a flying attack, and even then, most of those are nullified by the rather high defense of that starter.

So, Giga Drain with its 70 Base Attack multiplied by 1.5x due to STAB as well as the 1.5x for Overgrow.  Turns the attack into a 140 base damage.  Divided by 4, we're down to what...  35 base damage?  Couple that with low HP and Low Sp.Def. of a Charizard and you can do a surprising amount of damage with an attack, especially with a critical hit.  Does that mean my 90% is accurate?  Gross estimation on my part.  Attack that took a Charizard from nearly full health to fainted.  Do I pretend to know how the mechanics of calculating damage work?  No.  I have no idea.  I just know that while it may not be 90% damage, it's still fairly high, enough that a mon goes from green to fainted on its meter.    I'd also like to mention that the Charizard was only 4 levels above my Torterra.  Did I score a critical hit?  No, I did not.  But my two 1.5x together does take that x4 resistance down to x3 instead.  Does having a low Sp.Def. on that Charizard help as well?  Most likely.  How about having a high Sp.Atk. on my Torterra?  Yeah, probably.  How much does it help?  I have no idea in terms of raw numbers.  I can only say that while it may not have been 90% of the health, it was enough that Charizard went from green to faint.

Also, that's something else that I've found irritating about the "Stop having fun guys" crowd.  The change of "Lightning bruisers" to "sweepers".  Did we really have to change the name for that?  Seriously?  I also never really see people with the "Sweepers", though a lot of guides recommend having at least one.  Maybe that means I don't play online enough (which I likely don't, since nobody really plays for fun online and spends a lot of time EV training and breeding and blah blah blah) so I don't see all these "sweepers".  Most of what I see is tanks, gimmicks, or pseudo-legendaries.  Do I see glass cannons?  Nope.  I don't see many sweepers either.

But, that's just me.  I don't mind playing and learning new things, I just don't like the guys who go massively out of their way to "be the very best, like no one ever was".  Especially since a large number of these people are living off of my tax dollars.  Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

I do love that pokemon is one of the most versatile systems out there for battle.  I like that you can easily think of new ways to use common mons or find ways to make underused mons fairly powerful.  I like that the moves are often fairly diverse enough that you can pretty much choose whatever you want on them.  I also like that there is sometimes some fairly deep strategy elements to the series.  What's even better is that these things only get better with time.

Maybe I'll just spend a ton of time becoming one of the "Stop Having Fun" guys in order to see the kind of mons you're talking about.  Probably couldn't hurt any, at least.  Well.... maybe I'll do that after I get to the second gym.  It's really weird having 80 dex, 30 hours, level 30, and not even at the second gym yet.