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Basics to a Competitive Team

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KoL

Expert FPS Player
Staff member
Moderator
This is basically going to be a direct copypaste of the original topic. Note that the double-posting here is deliberate, and done to make this topic a little easier on the eyes for those reading - that's right, I'm breaking the rules just for you, so no reporting me now unless you want a sprinkling of Smart Bombs dropped on your head.

Contents

1. The Basics
2. Raising and Breeding
3. The Moves
4. Other Factors: Items and Abilities
5. Why EV Train?

The Basics:

1 ) Use Diverse types of Pokemon. in the meta-game, a strong sweeper will tear through your team with a super effective attack and your moves will be predictable.

2 ) Always try to use moves with STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) which is gotten by using an attack which shares the same type as the Pokemon using it. The only exception to this is the Poison-Types and certain Pokemon.

3 ) Never have two attacks of the same type on one Pokemon. The only exception is if you're using a CB Pokemon. Even then, only have two attacks of the same type, One special, One Physical.

4 ) Never use two turn attacks like Hyper Beam and Fly, One hit KO attacks and most HM moves. Most people will switch into an approprite counter for the two turn moves. The only exception is for Slaking with Giga Impact because it would lose the turn anyways because of Traunt. The HM moves are weak and have better uses elseware (Only Surf and Waterfall are exceptions). People will be laughing in your face when you try to use a One Hit KO move. They'll have an easy time hitting you while you're missing your attack.

5 ) Use diverse attacks on your Pokemon (This is literally a repeat of #3). A Pokemon should always have an attack that will be super-effective against them if the Pokemon does switch in.
 

KoL

Expert FPS Player
Staff member
Moderator
Raising and Breeding:

1 ) EVs are Effort Values. They are gained for defeating certain Pokemon. Different Pokemon give off different EVs, so use the 'Charms Dex to see what gives what. Sweepers usually have 252 EVs into Speed, 252 EVs into Attack/Special Attack or a mixed sweeper would have 128/128 Attacks and Special Attack. The last 6 EVs for the first two are usually put into HP. Walls usually have 252 EVs HP, 252 EVs into Def/S. Def and the last 6 into Atk/S.Atk.

2 ) Be ready to breed for natures and Egg moves. Commonly used natures include:

Jolly (+Spd, -S.Atk)
Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
Adamant (+Atk, -S.Atk)
Modest (+S.Att, -Atk)
Impish (+Def, -S.Att)
Bold (+Def, -Atk)
Calm (+S.Def, -Atk)
Careful (+S.Def, -S.Att)

Always try to use beneficial natures for playing.
 

KoL

Expert FPS Player
Staff member
Moderator
The Moves:

1 ) Status moves are wonders in the game. Stat Boosters and Pokemon that reset an opponents stats are good too. If you're having trouble finding a filler move, try a status inflicting, stat upper or phazing move.

2 ) Priority moves are a fairly good choice in the competitive play. Moves like Ice Shard and Quick Attack can mean the difference between a win or a defeat.

3 ) Commonly used or useful moves:

Bug Type:

-X-Scissor (High base power)
-U-Turn (An attack plus a switch to a counter)
-Mega Horn (Strongest Bug attack)
-Bug Buzz (Strong Special Bug attack)

Dark Type:

-Crunch/Dark Pulse (Strongest Dark attack)
-Night Slash (High critical hit ratio)
-Pursuit (Double the damage if the Pokemon is switching
-Taunt (Only damage dealing attacks can be used)

Dragon Type:

-Draco Meteor (Strongest Dragon attack)
-Dragon Claw/Outrage/Dragon Pulse (High base attack)

Electric Type:

-Thunderbolt (Strong base attack)
-Thunderpunch (Strong Physical attack)
-Discharge (Slightly lower power than Thunderbolt but much higher paralysis chance)
-Volt Tackle (Pikachu exculsive attack)

Fighting Type:

-Focus Punch (Powerful, often combined with Substitute)
-Aura Sphere (Never Misses)
-Brick Break (Decent power and PP)
-Close Combat (Powerful but lowers stats)
-Counter (return damage dealt double)
-Cross Chop (High power, High critical hit ration)
-Focus Blast (Indirect fighting attack)
-Reversal (lower HP, higher base power)
-Seismic Toss (Damage equal to user's level)

Fire Type:

-Flamethrower (Strong base attack)
-Overheat (Second strongest Fire attack)
-Flare Blitz (High power but high recoil)
-Fire Blast (High power but unreliable)
-Fire Punch (Decent PP and decent power)
-Blaze Kick (Better than Fire Punch overall if available, but not quite as potent as Flare Blitz)
-Lava Plume (Like Discharge, slightly less power than Flamethrower, but a much higher chance of inflicting a burn)
-Heat Wave (Good for Flying-types with good Sp.Attack stats that don't have access to Flamethrower, such as Zapdos)

Flying Type:

-Aerial Ace (Never Misses)
-Air Slash (Decent base power, indirect Flying attack)
-Brave Bird (High attack power)
-Drill Peck (Decent power)

Ghost Type:

-Shadow Ball (Strong base attack)
-Shadow Claw (High critical hit ratio)
-Shadow Sneak (Priority move)
-Night Shade (Damage equal to user's level)

Grass Type:

-Seed Bomb (Physical Grass attack)
-Solar Beam (great with Sunny Day/Power Herb)
-Energy Ball (High base attack)
-Leaf Storm (Strong base attack)
-Wood Hammer (Strong but has recoil)
-Grass Knot (Lots of Pokemon can learn this attack)
-Leaf Blade (Physical Grass-type attack)

Ground Type:

-Earthquake (Overused attack)
-Spikes (HP is taken away when switched in Flying Type and Pokemon W/ Levitate)
-Earth Power (Special Ground-type attack)

Ice Type:

-Avalanche (power doubles if second to attack)
-Ice Beam (good base power)
-Ice Punch (Physical Ice attack)
-Ice Shard (Priority Move)

Normal Type:

-Return (At max Friendship, it has a base power of 102)
-Facade (Its power doubles when inflicted with a status move)
-Explosion (Its used as a last resort move on some walls)
-Baton Pass (It's used to pass stat changes or Subs to another Pokemon)
-Substitute (Creates a Sub using 1/4 of a Pokemon's HP)
-Sleep Talk (Move is used at random)
-Rapid Spin (Gets rid of Spikes, Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes)
-ExtremeSpeed (Fantastic priority move)
-Double-Edge (Stronger than Return, but inflicts recoil damage on the user)
-Tri Attack (Very potent Special attack that can inflict one of three status effects on the opponent)

Poison Type:

-Sludge Bomb (Decent power)
-Poison Jab (Decent base power and good PP)
-Cross Poison (High critiacl hit ratio)

Psychic Type:

-Psychic (Strongest Psychic attack used)
-Psycho Cut (Physical attack)

Rock Type:

-Stone Edge (High Base power)
-Rock Slide (Less power than Stone Edge, but far more accurate and can flinch opponents)
-Stealth Rock (Inflicts damage on Pokemon switching in)
-Power Gem (Indirect Rock type attack)

Steel Type:

-Bullet Punch (Priority move)
-Flash Cannon (Indirect Steel attack)
-Iron Head/Iron Tail (Strong Base power)
-Metal Burst (Damage dealt is returned to foe double)
-Meteor Mash (High base attack)

Water Type:

-Waterfall (Physical attack)
-Surf (Powerful move)
-Hydro Pump (A more powerful but less accurate alternative to Surf)
-Water Pulse (Decent power plus a chance of confusion)
-Aqua Jet (Priority move)

Weather Changes:

-Sunny Day
-Rain Dance

Healing Moves:

-Slack Off
-Recover
-Milk Drink
-Softboiled
-Heal Order
-Leech Seed (Saps health slowly, doesn't work on Grass types)
-Pain Split (The remaining health is added together and then divided amongest the two Pokemon)
-Wish (Takes two turns to activate, but can be used to heal team-mates if you switch someone else in on the second turn)
-Moonlight (Affected by weather)
-Synthesis (Affected by weather)
-Morning Sun (Affected by weather)
-Rest (Takes two turns, good with Chesto Berry)
-Refresh
-Heal Bell (Every Pokemon in the party)
-Aromatherapy (Every Pokemon in the party)

Stat Upper Attacks:

-Swords Dance (+2 Atk)
-Dragon Dance (+1 Atk, +1 Spd)
-Calm Mind (+1 S.Atk ,+1 S.Def)
-Agility (+2 Spd)
-Belly Drum (+6 Atk (max), health cut in half)
-Tail Glow (+ 2 S. Att)
-Nasty Plot (+ 2 S. Att)
-Curse (+1 Atk, +1 Def, -1 Spd)
-Bulk Up (+1 Atk, +1 Def)
-Defend Order (+1 Def, +1 S.Def)

Status Inflictors:

-Toxic (Bad Poison)
-Toxic Spikes (Poison)
-Thunder Wave (Paralysis and Speed cut in half)
-Will-o-Wisp (Burn, attack cut)
-Spore (Sleep)
-Yawn (Sleep)
-Confuse Ray (Confusion)

Phazing Moves:

-Roar (Forces a switch)
-Whilrwind (Forces a switch)
-Haze (Resets the stats)

Other Moves:

-Endure (Endures the hit, leaving 1 HP, often combined with Reversal)
-Mean Look (Traps the Pokemon)
-Protect/Detect (May evade attack)
-Trick (Switches items with the foe)
-Trick Room (Slower Pokemon go first for 5 turns)
 

KoL

Expert FPS Player
Staff member
Moderator
Other Factors: The Items and Abilities:

1 ) Items for Pokemon have different uses. The Plates and any item that only boosts the type it says are not worth it (Charcoal, Mystic Water). Commonly used items include:

-Leftovers
-The Pinch Berries (Salac, Ganlon)
-Expert Belt
-Focus Sash
-The Berries that reduce the damage from Super-Effective hits
-Choice Band/Scarf/Specs
-Wise Glasses
-Muscle Band
-Flame Orb
-Toxic Orb
-Life Orb
-Power Herb
-White Herb

2 ) Secondary STAB/Power Boosts: Other than STAB, certain abilities give an extra Power Boost to an attack. Such Abilities include Blaze, Guts, Technician, Huge Power, Iron Fist, Adapability, ect. They act as another STAB. Choice Items and any attack boosting Items work the same way.

Take Swellow for example: It's burned and it kicks Guts in. Guts activates because of Swellow's status condition (For a fact, Guts cancels out the Burn Power loss and then boosts the power by 1.5). So now, all of Swellow's attacks get a STAB/Power bonus. Swellow is going to use Facade (Normal-Type attack). Since Swellow is part Normal, Facade gets a 1.5 Power boost to the attack. Guts also gives it another 1.5x power boost. And Facade's power doubles to 140 Base Power so to figure out the base damage we go: 140*1.5*1.5. So the Base Power of Facade is now 315. If it came in holding a Choice Band (Gives a 1.5x power boost) we take 315*1.5 or 140*1.5*1.5*1.5 to get 472.5 Base Damage. Incredibly powerful, even if the Defending Pokemon resists the attack.

So the abilities that give a Power Boost are:

-Overgrow: 1.5x Power Boost to Grass attacks when the Pokemon has 1/3 or less of its health.
-Blaze: 1.5x Power Boost to Fire attacks when the Pokemon has 1/3 or less of its health.
-Torrent: 1.5x Power Boost to Water attacks when the Pokemon has 1/3 or less of its health.
-Guts: 1.5x Power Boost to all attacks when the Pokemon has been inflicted with a status condition.
-Adaptability: 3x Power Boost to all attacks of the Pokemon's type.
-Pure Power: 2x Power Boost to all attacks.
-Huge Power: 2x Power Boost to all attacks.
-Hustle: 1.5x Power Boost to all attacks but only hit at a base rate of 80%.
-Technician: 1.5x Power Boost to all attacks with a base power of 60 or less.
-Iron Fist: 1.2x Power Boost to all attacks that are Punching based.
-Reckless: 1.3x Power Boost to all attacks that cause recoil.
-Swarm: 1.5x Power Boost to Bug attacks when the Pokemon has 1/3 or less of its health.
-Minus: 1.5x Power Boost to Special attacks when the Pokemon is paired with Plus.
-Plus: 1.5x Power Boost to Special attacks when the Pokemon is paired with Minus.
-Sniper: 2x Power Boost to an attack that causes a critical hit.
-Rivalry: 1.5x Power Boost to all attacks when the Pokemon is the same gender of the opponent.
-Flower Gift: 1.5x Increase in Attack and Special Attack. In double battles, both Pokemon recieve a bonus.
-Solar Power: Raises S.Atk one level, but lowers HP
 

KoL

Expert FPS Player
Staff member
Moderator
Why EV Train?

EV training is almost essential to battling over the Wi-Fi. That's the main reason why people often list EV sets. The EVs make a difference of up to 63 points (By Level 100) in any single stat. 63 points is quite a bit, isn't it?

And what if we don't EV train? Well you'll have Stat gains in some useless stats that Pokemon can't rely on. Take Swellow for instance. If I battled random Pokemon till I got 510 EVs, how much of those EVs were actually put to good use? Swellow needs the boost in Attack and Speed to survive.

With the boost in stats, you'll stand a better chance against people who do EV train, otherwise, you're at a huge disadvantage.
 
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