Pokérus: the rare virus?

[dqle]

Is it just me, or is the Pokérus more common than we think?

I first got the Pokérus in Granite Cave around the 50 hour mark when training there. Then I got the Pokérus again 5 hours later (still training there). Is this normal, or am I just lucky?

Oh, and I accidentally pressed the A button too fast, so I skipped what Nurse Joy said the first time. Does anyone know what she said about the Pokérus?

[Scizz]

Your POKéMON may be infected with
POKéRUS.

Little is known about the POKéRUS
except that they are microscopic life-
forms that attach to POKéMON.

While infected, POKéMON are said to
grow exceptionally well. Extracted with Advance-Text! =P

I guess you were just lucky.
Someone can search for days and won't get it, others can only play for 5 minutes and will already find it.

[Bobby]

Pokemon can infect your other pokemon if they have pokerus. You may have just spread it to another one of your pokemon.

[mew_rocks]

Bobby is right, your pokemon can infect others unless you place it in the box. The chances of finding a shiny pokemon are about 8192 to 1 and the poke rus virus is rarer. You are realy lucky.

[Hinoshi-chan]

The pokerus is something after 347 hours I still havent been able to get! youre lucky! ...I have no idea how you get the thing though mind you!

[Alakazam17]

You must be lucky then. I got it for the first time at hour 800! Yep, you are very lucky. But You're not alone. Although it took me awhile to get it in Crystal version, I got it again a week later!

[prolific_rhapsody]

Oh, I got it first in Rustboro Town in Sapphire at around hour Three. (I like to train a LOT!) And I've gotten it a whole lot since then. I'm at 50:38 right now. What I do when I get it is I will stick my poke'mon in the PC with a bunch of other poke'mon I want infected (I know, sounds sinister and cruel, doesn't it?), and once they've all got the pokerus, I will keep one poke'mon in the PC that has it and once the poke'mon in my party have lost it, I stick 'em right back in the box with that one infcted poke'mon and they all get it again. That's on way to keep the rare virus forever! Try it!

[dqle]

I dunno about the 'forever' part.

This is my theory: The Pokérus lasts 24 hours according to your battery pack. (the in-game clock, not game play time) As soon as you put the infected Pokémon in the PC, though, the timer stops. When it spreads to other Pokémon, it keeps the same time on that one too. (i.e. The Pokérus still has 21 hours left. when spread, it will also only last 21 hours on the newly infected Pokémon) That's why I haven't taken out my infected Nincada in a long time...

Oh, and I made sure I didn't have any Pokémon with the Pokérus. I only had 2 Linoone who's Pokérus already passed though them. (a period next to the Pokéball? that's the immunity symbol??? boring!) The other four I had were uninfected.

Maybe I should feel happy. On my Ruby, I've played over 300 hours worth, and I couldn't find a Shiney or the Pokérus!

Oh, and thanks for the quote, Scizz!

[Shiny Meganium]

I've never had it. After 370 hours on Gold, 210 hours on Fire red and 250 hours on ruby. I found one shiny in fire red though.(Rattata)

[kohei]

Hey, I think most people havn't got any Pokemon with Pokerus's, or even Shinies...

For example, my play time is at 450 hours, but I have yet to encounter any of these.

[Raiyna]

i have never heard of this 'poke virus' of which you speak of... but i do have a Shiney!!!^^ its a blue flygon^^(ironic, no?XD) but, its and awesome Poke!^^ could you explain the virus a litl bit more?

[dqle]

The Pokérus, or Pokémon Virus, is a 'disease' that helps the infected Pokémon gain higher stats per level when leveling up without the virus. I think it's dependent on EVs, but I'm not sure.

It's random when you get the Pokérus. Like people said, I guess I was just lucky that I got it twice in a row. I think, though, that the virus is spread when you battle, but I'm not sure...

[Raiyna]

hmm... it seems very interesting... mind if i join?

[Doc]

I think Pokérus is more common in Emerald. I never get it in Sapphire, but in Emerald i get it in Lavandia...

[Zootster]

i have never heard of this 'poke virus' of which you speak of... but i do have a Shiney!!!^^ its a blue flygon^^(ironic, no?XD) but, its and awesome Poke!^^ could you explain the virus a litl bit more?
Pokerus, like the Macho Brace, doubles the amount of EVs a pokemon gets in battle (without the drop in speed). In the end, your pokemon will still have the same stats it would have gotten without it, though. You can just EV train faster. And with Pokerus and Macho Brace you can get 4x EVs :D

[Wish]

Well I had it very early in the game. In fact my absol has it right now. It is in XD. But you find out through the nurse. But the pokemon infected can't have it for very long, or can it?

[shadow keeper]

do you know what's sad? i haven't ever heard of the pokerus and i had 3 chances to get a shiny but on 1 i didn't have a pokeball and on the other 2 i thought it was "some regular metapod messed up" in coloring.

[dqle]

Well I had it very early in the game. In fact my absol has it right now. It is in XD. But you find out through the nurse. But the pokemon infected can't have it for very long, or can it? Again, The Pokérus can only last for a total of 24 hours. This timer keeps on going until you put the Pokémon in the PC and SAVE!!! If you save while the Pokémon with the Pokérus is still in your party, the timer will keep going down, until, of course, it runs out. In that case, the Pokémon will be immune to future Pokérus.

Oh yeah, the timer will still count down whether your power is on or not! My suggestion is to either level up that Absol as fast as possible, or put it in the PC ASAP.

Pokerus, like the Macho Brace, doubles the amount of EVs a pokemon gets in battle (without the drop in speed). In the end, your pokemon will still have the same stats it would have gotten without it, though. You can just EV train faster. And with Pokerus and Macho Brace you can get 4x EVs :D So, what you're saying is that if you have the Pokérus and the Macho Brace equipped, then Speed will level up normally since the Macho Brace negates the Pokérus' effect on speed?

[MetalMario]

The odds of seeing a wild Pokémon with Pokérus are 3 in 65536, or ~1 in 21845. At that, you have no clue that the poke you're battling has it since it looks no different. AFAIK, you have to use a contact move on the wild poke to receive Pokérus. Once you've got it, spreading it is easy: sometimes, after a battle, Pokérus will spread to the Pokémon adjacent in your party to the ones with it (assuming they don't already have it or have the Black Spot).

As far as going away goes, there's a bit of a Cinderella rule to it: at midnight, each of the Pokémon in your party has its Pokérus counter knocked down by one. When a poke catches Pokérus, its counter has any value between 3 and 1, and is predetermined for the Pokémon, so different Pokémon will keep Pokérus for different time periods. Pokérus neither spreads nor dissipates on Pokémon in the PC.

Once Pokérus goes away, the Pokémon that had it will have the "black spot," indicating that it can never have active Pokérus again. It still receives the boosted EV gains, however, no matter how long ago it had Pokérus.

In FR/LG, your party will behave just like the PC in terms of Pokérus: it will neither dissipate nor spread. (Nintendo could've made it spread in FR/LG, but they opted not to in order to keep the game balanced. They considered Pokérus that could spread but never go away too cheap.)

I got Pokérus in my Sapphire some time ago; while I was looking for a shiny Seviper, my Marowak caught it.

[Ralts]

How can we find that rare virus ? I've played more than 400 hours but no sign about that virus... how does it works ?

[dqle]

As MetalMario said, just use a Pokémon that uses a contact attack on an infected Pokémon. Odds of getting it are pretty low as well. Problem is, since you can't tell whether the Pokémon you're fighting against is infected with the Pokérus, you'll just have to keep hitting all Pokémon you meet. Ya big brute.

But I'd like to comment on keeping EV's. If the Pokérus expires at midnight, would putting a Pokémon with Pokérus in the PC before midnight and taking them back out restart the timer?

Also, if the Pokérus expires, wouldn't the Pokémon's stat gains return to normal? If the EV gains still remain, then why should the virus expire at all?

[MetalMario]

But I'd like to comment on keeping EV's. If the Pokérus expires at midnight, would putting a Pokémon with Pokérus in the PC before midnight and taking them back out restart the timer?
If you put it in before midnight, then take it out after, I believe the counter will not go down. (If the Pokémon was in your party last time you saved, then you put it in the box while you play, but reset after midnight without saving, its counter should go down.)

Also, if the Pokérus expires, wouldn't the Pokémon's stat gains return to normal? If the EV gains still remain, then why should the virus expire at all?
Nope. When Pokérus goes away, your Pokémon retains the "black spot" forever, which both prevents it from having Pokérus again but still provides it with increased EV gain. By going away, Pokérus becomes more difficult to spread.

[dqle]

By going away, Pokérus becomes more difficult to spread.
But... it still seems too simple! You'd have a max of 24 hours to put an infected Pokémon in the PC. Considering how fast the virus spreads, it really shouldn't be hard to decide which Pokémon to deposit. And, according to you, MetalMario, the virus lasts forever. Spreading the virus is a little more of a hassle with the expiration time, but not by much!

Oh, and your avatar is broken, and I am using FireFox!

[Zootster]

So, what you're saying is that if you have the Pokérus and the Macho Brace equipped, then Speed will level up normally since the Macho Brace negates the Pokérus' effect on speed?

The Macho Brace has no effect on a Pokemon's actual speed stat. It's just that when a Pokemon with a Macho Brace is in battle, it acts as if its speed was cut in half. It's kinda like Ditto with Metal Powder and Marowak with Thick Club. It changes a stat, but you can't see the change in the stat, and when you remove it, the stat change goes away.

[dqle]

I though the Macho Brace lowers the stat gains of Speed, not its battle effect. Oh well. Don't forget Pikachu's Light Ball!

[nick-xx]

a pokerus if is in the gold, crystal or silver will have more chance to gain in the yamna after a battle.

[The Legendary Saiyan]

Where do I get the Macho Brace?! Whatz that 4 a item?!
P.S. If u can say the german names, becouse i have german version...
-thx in advance