Contents:
Introduction
General team guidelines
Pokemon stats
-Base stats
-IVs
-EPs
-Natures
Breeding
-Chain breeding
-Breeding for IVs
-Breeding for natures
Training
-Areas to train
Battling
Introduction
In pokemon team building, the challenge is to assemble teams that would crush, or at least win your opponent's team. There is no real challenge in beating the game, as any pokemon with any moveset consisting of at least 1 offensive move can accomplish that.
General team guidelines
For a team to be sucessful, it must have variety. Variety in type of pokemon and attacks, and variety in the function of each pokemon. It is no good to have a team full of attackers, as a baton passer plus a sweeper would finish you off. Similarly, sponges would beat you.
A good team would consist of one or two sweepers, two sponges, and the rest of the pokemon should serve different functions.
Below are the general functions of pokemon.
Sweepers
One of the most powerful roles played by a pokemon. Once properly set-up ( by increasing stats), it can destroy almost any pokemon in a single move. Hence it is able to erradicate the entire team quickly should it be given enough time to set up.
*Special sweepers are rare, and made redundant thanks to blissey.
Sponges
There are two types of sponges, namely physical and special. Pokemon that fall in this category usually have high defence/special defence and high hp. They also should have moves such as will-o-wisp (for physical sponges) and recover (or any other recovery move, eg the very common rest). These pokemon are able to last many turns and do damage using moves such as toxic and seismic toss.
Some pokemon can function as both physical and special sponges.
Annoyers
Can be classified as a special form of sponges. These pokemon serve to, well, annoy the enemy, and annoyance takes its toll. Annoyers must have a high enough HP and defences to last several turns. On top of that, they must learn mean look. Generally, they function to trap a pokemon, and kill it slowly using parafusion + seismic toss, or confusion + toxic. Protect is an annoying move when used with moves such as hail/sandstorm and toxic.
Hazers/pseudo hazers
These pokemon have the move haze, roar or whirlwind. They function to remove any stat changes made. Hence this can seriously affect a sweeper's ability to sweep. They must have a decent amount of hp to survive long enough, and must have decent attack power to destroy a sweeper before it destroys you.
Counters
This classification of pokemon are used to counter other famously overused pokemon. They do not take much damage from that pokemon and are able to destroy it very effectively. Here are some examples:
Magneton counters skarmory.
Claydol counters salamence.
Gardevoir counters magneton.
Gengar counters blissey and skarmory.
Wobuffet counters all attackers. :P
Attackers
This is a large category of pokemon. Tanks, subpunchers and choice banders all fall in this category. They all have several similar characteristics:
1. Good variety of moves.
2. Good hp and defences.
3. Good attack/special attack.
Tanks are pokemon with alot of hp and high defences. They usually come with chesto berry and rest. While their attacks may not be that powerful, they last long enough to deliver significant amounts of damage.
Subpunchers use the substitute/focus punch combo. They are usually sent in against a pokemon that is ineffective against them to force a switch. This gives them a chance to use substitute and follow up with focus punch.
Breloom is special, in that it spores the opponent instead of using substitute. Unlike other focus punchers, it must have high speed.
Choice banders rely on the item choice band to deliver massive amounts of damage, preferably massive enough to OHKO the opponent. These pokemon must have high HP and defences as well as a very high attack stat. Examples of choice banders are rhydon and metagross.
Baton passers
These are pokemon that learn stat increasing moves, as well as the move baton pass. They are usually sent in before attackers/sweepers to increase the efficiency of these pokemon. These pokemon must last long enough to use the stat increasing move, plus baton pass.
Miscellaneous
Pokemon that fall in this category usually perform two or more roles, as these usually take only one move to perform. These include:
Spikers
Rapid spinners
Item swappers
Heal beller
(More to come when i think of more)
As I have said earlier, a team must have pokemon that perform a variety of roles. One could be a sweeper, 2 can be sponges. You could include a counter such as gengar. Maybe throw in a baton passer and an attacker as well.
Here is an example of a good team:
Salamence (sweeper)
Gengar (counter-covers salamence weakness to claydol and skarmory)
Ninjask (baton passer)
Marowak (attacker)
Skarmory (Spiker, pseudohazer and physical sponge)
Blissey (Heal beller and Special sponge)
Pokemon Stats
We all know that the stats of all pokemon are different, even within species.
Well, it is not incorrect, but not enitrely true either. The stats of a pokemon depend on various things, and should we keep all these constant, the stats of all pokemon are the same. Here are the factors which affects the stats of a pokemon:
1.) Base Stats.
This determine the max stats a pokemon of a particular species can have. All pokemon of the same species have the same base stats, and there is no way we can change this. It is fixed.
2.) IVs
These are pre-determined values that each pokemon has. They is generated when an egg is formed, or when you encounter a wild pokemon. It ranges from 0-31. Only when you have an IV of 31 in a particular stat can you get the maximum value for that stat. There are IVs for HP, Att, SpAtt, Def, SpDef, and Spd. The amount of stat points added at level 100 = IV of stat. I.E. A pokemon with 31 in Att will have an Att stat of 31 points higher than one with an IV of 0.
As these are pre-determined values, they cannot be changed on any particular pokemon. However, through breeding, you can obtain the IV of your choice. (Explain later)
3.) EPs
Effort points play a significant part in determining the stats of a pokemon too. Every four effort points a pokemon gain, it gains an effort level. At level 100, the amount of stat points gain = effort level in that stat. There is however, a maximum of 510 effort points that each pokemon can achieve. Also the cap on effort points of each stat is 255. Hence in order to maximize the 510 effort points, you can put 252 into each of 2 stats, and the remaining 6 into another stat. This would give you a maximum of 63 effort levels in 2 stats, and 1 effort level in yet another stat.
Effort points can be obtained through battling. Each pokemon gives a certain fixed amount of EPs in a particular fixed stat when defeated. Effort points are given to all pokemon that had taken part in the battle, and to pokemon holding exp share.
The amount given is not divided.
E.g. Gloom gives 2 EPs in SpAtt when defeated.
Charmander and Squirtle both take part in the battle, and bulbasaur is holding Exp share. All 3 of them gain 2 EPs in SpAtt.
Although the amount of EPs given per pokemon defeated is normally fixed, you gain double the EPs when holding the item macho brace. It is also doubled if your pokemon is suffering from pokerus, or had pokerus. Hence a pokemon holding macho brace and has/had pokerus would gain 4X the EPs it normally recieves.
E.g. Charmander is holding macho brace and is suffering from pokerus. When gloom is defeated, it gains 8 EPs in SpAtt instead of the usual 2.
EPs can also be obtained by using vitamins like protein and calcium. (technically not vitamins, but whatever) Each vitamin gives 10 EPs in a particular stat, and a maximum of 10 of each vitamin can be used. The maximum EPs in each stat and maximum total EPs obtainable remains unchanged.
4.)Nature
This is introduced in Gen3. All pokemon has its own nature in RuSa onwards. The nature also determines the stats of that pokemon. Each nature (other than stalemate) increases the maximim value of particular stat by 10% and decreases another by 10%. Stalemate natures have no effect on stats.
Here is a list of natures and their effects:
Nature --------------- Increases --------------- Decreases
Adamant ------------ Attack -------------------- Special Attack
Naughty ------------- Attack -------------------- Special Defence
Loney --------------- Attack -------------------- Defence
Brave ---------------- Attack -------------------- Speed
Modest -------------- Special Attack ----------- Attack
Rash ---------------- Special Attack ----------- Special Defence
Mild ----------------- Special Attack ----------- Defence
Quiet ---------------- Special Attack ----------- Speed
Calm ---------------- Special Defence --------- Attack
Careful ------------- Special Defence --------- Special Attack
Gentle -------------- Special Defence --------- Defense
Sassy --------------- Special Defence --------- Speed
Bold ----------------- Defense ------------------ Attack
Impish -------------- Defense ------------------ Special Attack
Lax ------------------ Defense ------------------ Special Defence
Relaxed ------------- Defense ------------------ Speed
Timid --------------- Speed --------------------- Attack
Jolly ---------------- Speed --------------------- Special Attack
Naive --------------- Speed --------------------- Special Defence
Hasty --------------- Speed --------------------- Defense
Bashful, Docile, Hardy, Quirky and serious are all stalemate natures.
The nature of each pokemon is fixed. To obtain a pokemon with a desired nature, you have to catch/ breed until you get one.
Breeding
The breeding of pokemon is very important in developing a powerful team. Like I have said earlier, you can somewhat choose the IVs of your pokemon, as well as its natures through breeding. By breeding, you can also transfer moves which are originally not learnt by that pokemon to the offspring. Many of these moves are invaluable in pokemon battling, hence it is essential that you breed for them.
In order for two pokemon to breed, both of them must belong to the same, non-no egg egg group. When breeding, the offspring would be the lowest evolution stage of the mother, and would inherit moves from its father. These moves consists of egg moves and tms.
Of course, in order for a pokemon to learn moves via breeding, that move has to be on its egg move list. You can't just breed any move onto any pokemon you like. Tms can also be transferred. However the father must know that move, and the offspring must also be able to learn that move via a tm.
Chain breeding
As most pokemon belong to two egg groups, you can transfer a move from one pokemon to another in a different egg group through chain breeding.
This is done by first breeding the father of egg group A with another female pokemon that belongs to that same group A, as well as another group B. A male offspring with that egg move is then bred with female in group B and C. Repeat until you reach the egg group of your desired pokemon.
Of course, for the move to be passed down the chain, every single member in the chain must be able to learn that move. Hence this prevents many moves from being transfered down a long chain. Also a long chain is undesirable as it means that alot of time would be spent breeding.
Here is example of chain breeding:
Lets say you want to breed substitute onto minum. Your starting pokemon is a kecleon.
Kecleon and minum are both in different egg groups, hence they are unable to breed directly. However the pokemon skitty, belongs to both these groups, and is able to learn substitute. Hence we breed a male kecleon with substitute, with a female skitty. Now we keep hatching eggs until we obtain a male skitty with the move substitute.
Now breed that male skitty with a female minum. This would produce minum babies with the move substitute.
As you can see, many babies need to be hatched, and hatching eggs take a long time. Hence in order to take as little time as possible to get our results, we always try to find the shortest chain possible.
Breeding for IVs
In Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire, there is a chance that your baby pokemon will inherit a certain IV from its parents. It can also generate an IV of its own.
The chance of a pokemon obtaining an IV from each of its parents is 1/4. The chance of it generating a new IV is 1/2. Hence through alot of patience, and knowledge of breeding, you can obtain a pokemon with an IV of 31 in all stats.
Here's an example of how IVs are transferred to the offspring.
(For simplicity, only the IVs of one stat will be considered.)
Lets say that the father has an IV of 31 in Att, and the mother has an IV of 1 in Att. When these 2 pokemon are bred, 1/4 of the offspring would have inherited the IV of 31 from the father, 1/4 would have inherited the IV of 1 from its mother and half would have random IVs for the Att stat. Hence, 1/4+1/31 of the offspring would have an IV of 31 and 1/4+1/31 would have an IV of 1.
Now lets consider 2 stats.
The father has an IV of 31 in Att and an IV of 1 in Def, while the mother has an IV of 1 in Att and an IV of 0 in Def.
Now, when the two pokemon breed, the offspring has a 1/4 chance of inheriting the IV for attack from its father, a 1/4 chance from inheriting the IV for Att from its mother, and 1/2 chance of generating its own IV for Att. It also has a 1/4 chance of inheriting the IV for Def from its father, a 1/4 chance of inheriting the IV for Def from its mother, and a 1/2 chance of generating its own IV for Def.
Hence, the fraction of offspring that:
Inherit IVs for Att and Def from father = 1/16
Inherit IVs for Att and Def from mother = 1/16
Inherit IVs for Att from father and for Def from mother = 1/16
Inherit IVs for Att from mother and for Def from father = 1/16
Inherit IVs for Att from father and generate own IVs for Def = 1/8
Inherit IVs for Def from father and generate own IVs for Att = 1/8
Inherit IVs for Att from mother and generate own IVs for Def = 1/8
Inherit IVs for Def from mother and generate own IVs for Att = 1/8
Generate own IVs for both stats = 1/4
Simple probability.
As you can see, the fraction of pokemon which would actually inherit just 1 IV from their parent is already small. Now imagine it inheriting all 6 of the desired IVs from their parents. That fraction would be very small. This is not even considering the breeding and catching required to obtain those parents. Hence, I never mentioned about IVs when i suggest a moveset, as it is generally not worth the time. (Of course if you are lucky and get parents with perfect IVs, then by all means breed for the pokemon with the perfect IVs in everything. Get a perfect male so that you can create perfect pokemon of all species.)
Breeding for natures
As I have said in the earlier section, each pokemon has its own nature, and the nature is determined when an egg is form or when a wild pokemon is met. While we can just dash around the grasslands catching pokemon until we obtain one with the desired nature, breeding often results in a cheaper, and sometimes less time consuming alternative. When we want a pokemon of a particular nature and with a particular ability, catching that pokemon would be crazy. Also, If we want a pokemon of a particular nature, and with egg moves, the only way out is to breed.
Training
Alright, 2 of the 3 alterable factors that determine the stats of your pokemon have already been covered. Now, we shall go on to EVs.
As I have said earlier, every pokemon will give all pokemon in battle or holding the item exp share a fixed amount of EPs. Each pokemon gives a specific amount of a particular EP.
For example, Golbats give 2 EPs for Spd, and sharpedo gives 2 EPs for Att.
Generally, the higher the evolutionary stage of the defeated pokemon, the more EPs they would give.
For a pokemon to perform its role efficiently, it is not wise to spread out all 510 EPs into the 6 stats. Instead, it would be more helpful to focus on 2 stats, and put all the EVs into those stats. The stat in which you put the EPs in depend on the role of the pokemon, as well as its base stats.
I will give a brief summary of how the EPs should be allocated for each of the roles mentioned above.
Sweeper
Max out Att or SpAtt depending on whether the pokemon is a physical or special sweeper.
Allocate enough EPs into speed to outspeed most attackers after a speed boost. At least 267 speed at level 100 if you use dragon dance. 201 If you use agility.
The rest should go into HP.
Attackers
Max out Att/SpAtt and HP.
Spd is not as important most of the time.
Breloom must have max EPs in Spd and Att.
Sponges
Max EPs in HP and Def/SpDef.
Annoyers
Max EPs in HP and Def/SpDef, depending on which type you wanna annoy. You can split between Def and SpDef too if both stats are good, the HP stat is high, and the pokemon has few weaknesses on both sides.
Hazers/pseudohazers
Max EPs in HP and Def/SpDef.
Baton Passers
Max EPs into HP. The rest into Def/SpDef/Spd.
SubPassers(ninjask) have no need for HP, so sufficient EPs in HP to make it non-divisible by 4 at level 100, and the rest of the EPs into the two defences.
Counters
This depends on the pokemon you are countering.
Miscellaneous
As pokemon that perform these roles also usually perform other roles, alloctae EPs according to the other roles. Item swappers must have high speed.
Areas to EP train
Certain areas have alot of pokemon which give EPs to a particular stat. These places make good training grounds to obtain such EPs.
Here are some of these areas:
Area -------------------- Pokemon ---------- EP
Rusturf tunnel --------- Whismur ----------- HP
Fish --------------------- Wailmer ----------- HP
Viridian Forest --------- Caterpie ----------- HP
Outside Littleroot ------ Wurmple ---------- HP
Fish --------------------- Sharpedo ---------- Att
Fish --------------------- Carvana ----------- Att
Viridian forest ---------- Metapod ----------- Def
Viridian Forest --------- Kakuna ------------ Def
Petalburg Woods ------ Silcoon/cascoon --- Def
Pokemon tower ------- Ghastly/Haunter -- SpAtt
West of Lilycove ------ Gloom/Oddish ----- SpAtt
Cerulean City --------- Oddish ------------- SpAtt
Surf -------------------- Tentacool/cruel --- SpDef
Fish -------------------- Goldeen/seaking -- Spd
Everywhere ----------- Ratatta/Raticate --- Spd
Everywhere ----------- Zigzagoon/linoone - Spd
Pokemon battling
Alright, now you have the perfect team, but whats the use of it if you do not know how to use it properly? A large part of pokemon battling is the use of common sense. The rest goes to luck, and experience. Common sense tells you when to use what attack, luck affects your chances to land a hit while experience allows you to predict what the opponent would do, and counter accordingly.
There are some things that you must keep at the tip of your fingers during battling.
They are:
STAB: Same type attack bonus
When a pokemon uses an attack that is of a similar type to it(eg charizard using flamethrower), that attack gains a 50% damage boost. Take this into consideration when choosing which move to use.
Effectiveness
All attacks are strong against certain pokemon types, and weak against others. Some pokemon are even immune to certain types of attacks. You must know what is effective against your foe, and even yourself, and what is not. Whether the move is effective or not against a particular opponent will affect your choice of attack.
Pokemon stats
You must know the general stats(or use of) for at least the more common pokemon. For example, you should not try to take down skarmory using fighting moves, even though fighting moves are neutral against skarmory. Skarmory has high defence and low special defence, so use a special move instead. The opposite is true for special sponges like blissey. This is also important when assigning attacks to your pokemon. If a pokemon has better attack than special attack, or has the ability to increase its attack but not special attack, you would be better off teaching it physical moves.
As you would probably have guessed/found out by now, switching is an integral part of pokemon battling in the advanced generation. Whenever a switch is made, the player switching loses a turn. However, every switch is made to put the user in a better position(I hope). An opponent would probably switch in something that is strong against your current pokemon.
By knowing when the opponent will switch, and what he/she would switch to, you might be able to catch him/her by surprise, and deal fatal damage to his team. For example, you have a physical attacker, say vigoroth. The opponent switches in skarmory to put himself in a more advantageous position. You predict the switch, and use thunderbolt. Even though you may not KO skarmory, you would have dealt some serious damage, and spoiled his strategy. He would have to switch skarmory out, else it would be KOed by a second thunderbolt.
However, he could predict that you foresee a switch, and would probably use a physical move, so he does not switch out. Instead he uses that turn to lay spikes/toxic. Etc...
Another way to take advantage of switching is to use spikes. This would deal damage whenever a pokemon is switched in. As switches are so important in battling, this would definitely do alot of damage, or force the opponent not to switch. Either way, it is good news for you. Rapid spinners can remove spikes however.
Certain strategies require more of such prediction than others. Subpunching is one strategy that is highly dependant on this. Others, such as the all out attacker team(highly ineffective) requires little prediction. The worst is, however, the OHKO team, where every member has OHKO moves. This requires no prediction at all, and is highly dependant on luck. If you win, it wouldn't be because you were better, it would just be because you were luckier. Generally deemed as a cheesy victory.
Now that you have what it takes to battle, go assemble your teams, and may the best trainer win. (just felt like saying that :P)
