Pokemon!

[Aleu]

For those who are interested, the Pokemon World Championship will be broadcasted live on their new Twitch account.

http://www.twitch.tv/Pokemon

[Slapperfish]

(deleted)

[Makoes]

I noticed that...didn't think to mention it, lol.

[Redith]

So people take the battle seriously. I would love to actually find out and maybie even talk to someone about what things champs look at. I always just used my favorite pokemon. But watching the Pokémon Nationals, it seems there is allot of pokemon I would never use but they are picking them for some reason

[Magnakilro]

Competitive battlers look at type, stats, movepools etc.

For example..you will rarely see Charizard or Moltres competitively cuz Fire/Flying is too easy to wreck.

or you won't see Unown because it has no moveset or stats.

some examples of what are considered 'good' pokemon:

Cloyster: The synergy between his Skill Link ability + Shell Smash attack with his Icicle Spear is extremely deadly. (Skill Link lets him hit all 5 times with multi-hit moves like Icicle Spear without fail. This makes Icicle Spear stronger than Blizzard. Shell Smash doubles Attack, Sp Att and Speed at the cost of some Def and Sp Def.) He can also learn Rock Blast to abuse Skill Link.

Blaziken: With Speed Boost ability, this thing is so OP that it was banned to fight in the same 'tier' as Giratina, Mewtwo, Rayquaza etc

Politoed: Weather is a MASSIVE asset competitively. Politoed's Drizzle ability grants the best weather by competitive standards.

Tentacruel: Very good tanky support. Can clear entry hazards with Rapid Spin (Spikes and Stealth Rock) or by switching in (Toxic Spikes).

In MY opinion though...if you get a good strategy...ANY pokemon can be good.

Case in point:

I use an Octillery competitively. Octillery is slow as all hell and not very bulky but both attack stats are AWESOME. My Octy wrecks stuff though because I found a way to cut out his major speed flaw (Trick Room).

Gorebyss and Huntail (and Smeargle) can make ANYTHING a walking nuke because they can Baton Pass the effects of Shell Smash.

Its really in your strategy and such. Use what you wanna use.

[Redith]

Competitive battlers look at type, stats, movepools etc.

For example..you will rarely see Charizard or Moltres competitively cuz Fire/Flying is too easy to wreck.

or you won't see Unown because it has no moveset or stats.

some examples of what are considered 'good' pokemon:

Cloyster: The synergy between his Skill Link ability + Shell Smash attack with his Icicle Spear is extremely deadly. (Skill Link lets him hit all 5 times with multi-hit moves like Icicle Spear without fail. This makes Icicle Spear stronger than Blizzard. Shell Smash doubles Attack, Sp Att and Speed at the cost of some Def and Sp Def.) He can also learn Rock Blast to abuse Skill Link.

Blaziken: With Speed Boost ability, this thing is so OP that it was banned to fight in the same 'tier' as Giratina, Mewtwo, Rayquaza etc

Politoed: Weather is a MASSIVE asset competitively. Politoed's Drizzle ability grants the best weather by competitive standards.

Tentacruel: Very good tanky support. Can clear entry hazards with Rapid Spin (Spikes and Stealth Rock) or by switching in (Toxic Spikes).

In MY opinion though...if you get a good strategy...ANY pokemon can be good.

Case in point:

I use an Octillery competitively. Octillery is slow as all hell and not very bulky but both attack stats are AWESOME. My Octy wrecks stuff though because I found a way to cut out his major speed flaw (Trick Room).

Gorebyss and Huntail (and Smeargle) can make ANYTHING a walking nuke because they can Baton Pass the effects of Shell Smash.

Its really in your strategy and such. Use what you wanna use.

OMG that is awesome. How important is the nature? Well that and held items? I never put allot of stock into those except with battles I knew would be using things like shock wave

[Makoes]

I am really kicking myself for not paying more attention to where the Pokemon tournament was being held...If I had paid attention, I would have known that it was going to be held outside the U.S and pretty much my backyard! Vancouver, DAMNIT!! I would have loved to have booked the time off to go, even try and participate...I'll have ot pay better attention next time and hopefully it will come to Vancouver again.

[Magnakilro]

Natures are quite important. They help make one stat stronger, at the cost of weakening another. There is one nature for each possible combination.

example: For something like Alakazam, you'd want a Modest nature...which empowers his Sp Att stat at the cost of his Attack stat, which he doesn't use anyway.

There are 5 natures, one for each stat, that raises and lowers the EXACT same stat...and thus do nothing. (The natures are: Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, and Quirky)

There are no natures that effect HP.

As for held items...yes they are important.

Held items add to the power and strategy of your team. The right item can really make a pokemon strong.

Some noteable items:

Focus Sash: If you are at full HP, you can't be 1-shotted. Pokemon with the Sturdy ability have this built in so they don't need it.

Life Orb: 30% power boost to all attacks by the holder. Holder loses 10% hp with each successful strike.

Choice Band, Choice Specs, and Choice Scarf: 50% boost to a certain stat (Band: Attack, Specs: Sp Att, Scarf: Speed). The catch is you are limited to only the first move you choose until you switch out.

Leftovers: Free recovery for the holder at the end of each turn.

Eviolite: 50% Def and Sp Def boost to the holder. Holder must be able to evolve to get this benefit.

Air Balloon: Holder is immune to Ground. Item is lost upon taking direct dmg.

Toxic Orb: Badly poisons holder. Used to activate Guts (for Flareon, as Flareon is un-Burnable), Quick Feet, Toxic Boost, and Poison Heal. Sigilyph is immune to the dmg with Magic Guard ability and can use his Psycho Shift attack to transfer the status to the enemy. The move Trick can be used to give this item to the enemy.

Fire Orb: Burns holder. Used to activate Guts (this ability makes you immune to Burn's Attack loss), Quick Feet, Marvel Scale. Sigilyph and Trick work the same way here.

Examples:

Heatran is a VERY powerful defensive pokemon. However those defenses crumble easily to Ground attacks. An Air Balloon can keep him safe for a bit.

Hydreigon is a powerful Sp Attacker that can learn a lot of different moves. Choice Specs are perfect for him, granting him massive power.

Rampardos is EXTREMELY powerful (3rd highest Attack stat in the game)...but he's very squishy. A Focus Sash will keep him in the game for at least 1 more turn.

Volcarona is a pokemon that buffs its stats before going in for the kill. A Choice item would ruin this. Life Orb is perfect for it though.

So yeah:

Nature

Movepool

Type

Ability

Held item

These all go into making a great pokemon.

[Redith]

Awesome thanks

[Magnakilro]

No prob

Other things to keep in mind:

EV's: Effort Values. These are invisible (till 6th gen) points earned every time you kill an enemy that would yield exp (even if you're lvl 100). Every pokemon gives 1-3 ev's total (either all in one stat. or spread across multiple). What stat(s) are effected depends on what you kill. You can get 510 EV's on one pokemon total...255 per stat. Every 4 EV's is +1 extra point in that stat. Since 255 isn't divisible by 4, its best to stop at 252. Most players will do 252 each in your 2 best stats and use the leftover 6 in whatever's most useful. There's ways to greatly reduce the amount of grinding you'll do.

IV's: Individual Values. A hidden number from 0-31 for each stat. These are randomly determined when you meet the pokemon. The higher the better.

[Slapperfish]

(deleted)

[Redith]

Mega Kangaskhan in a nutshell:

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lolz

[Magnakilro]

For those that are curious:

The abilities of the Mega Pokemon:

Mega absol: Magic Bounce: Non-damaging attacks targeting Absol will bounce off and effect the user instead.

Mega Mawile: Huge Power. Mawile's Attack is double what it really is.

Mega Lucario: Adaptability: Lucario's same-type attacks do x2 more damage instead of the usual x1.5

Mega Mewtwo: Insomnia: Mewtwo can't sleep

Mega Ampharos: Mold Breaker: Ampharos's attacks will ignore the enemy's ability. Examples: Electric attacks will damage enemies with Volt Absorb, Motor Drive or Lightningrod. Ground moves injure Levitators. He can kill Sturdy pokemon in 1 hit. Ampharos gains the Dragon type in this form, making him Electric/Dragon. He's basically a mini Zekrom...same type combo and same ability.

Mega Blaziken: Speed Boost: Blaziken gets a free 1 stage boost in Speed at the end of each turn until he has 6 boosts. (Remember that Mega Blaziken is Event-only)

Mega Kangaskhan: Parental Bond: Kangaskhan's baby copies its mother's attacks, causing Kangaskhan to use its attacks twice per turn.

Neat stuff

[Makoes]

Mega Kangaskhan using earthquake X2...Mega Blaziken is KO'd. Nuff said

[Magnakilro]

Another scary thought....Kangaskhan can learn Outrage.....

[Makoes]

I think Kangaskhan will be my favourite mega pokemon to use :3

[Magnakilro]

It may shoot up in usage because of this, that's for sure XD

[mpd_84]

Finally got my shiny charm in black 2. Now to start breeding deinos, dw eevees, and shroomish. Maybe a ralts too...

Ah. Gotta breed up a nice shiny snivy for a friend too!

[Snowy]

Mega absol: Magic Bounce: Non-damaging attacks targeting Absol will bounce off and effect the user instead.

Well I was looking forward to using a Mega Absol but this ability is crap. :/

[Senna-Umbreon]

Mega absol: Magic Bounce: Non-damaging attacks targeting Absol will bounce off and effect the user instead.

Well I was looking forward to using a Mega Absol but this ability is crap. :/

..Um, what? Magic Bounce is one of the best abilities in the games! It's what made Dream World Espeon so good in competitive battling! There is NOTHING more satisfying than predicting a Thunder Wave, switching to a Pokemon with Magic Bounce and laughing as the opponent's Pokemon gets paralyzed instead! As a physical attacker, Magic Bounce will work WONDERS for Mega Absol, since it would otherwise be completely crippled by paralysis and burn. It's MUCH better than any of normal Absol's abilities, that's for sure. (And I gotta say, Absol's abilities are.. Decent. Pressue can mean enemies can use their really powerful moves just a little bit less, even if Absol is likely to get facerolled by said powerful moves, Super Luck means critical hits EVERYWHERE, although it's still dumb luck-related, and Justified is okay because yay attack boost from getting hit with Dark type moves, but Absol really shouldn't be taking that many hits anyway, resisted or not. Overall, Magic Bounce is just better than any of those, as much as I'm a sucker for Super Luck.)

...Ahem. Just felt the need to pop in here and say this, because I personally love Magic Bounce. *Hugs her awesome little Calm Minding Magic Bounce Espeon from Black*