Simple Q&A Thread

[dragonomega]

Originally Posted by hchaos2

How does the Prankster ability work? I thought it was suppose to give priority to status moves, but yet my Whimsicott constantly goes last. Example, I tried to use Trick Room and a Landorus used Earth Power first. So...I'm really not understanding how this works anymore. And at the same time, the guy's Tyranitar pulled off a Crunch before I could use Trick Room. Unless your opponent uses a priority move, doesn't the move with the higher priority go first?

I'm pretty sure Trick Room isn't affected by Prankster, and thus will not go first when a Pokemon with the ability uses it. Because, Trick Room has a move priority of -7. But when a prankster using TR uses it, the move becomes -6.

[SoulRed12]

Is it a big deal if you don't have any choice users on your competitive team? (specifically, in gen IV, if that matters) I read that you should be really careful about having two choicers, but do you generally need one? Or can you generally do just fine without one?

[PlatinumDude]

Originally Posted by SoulRed12

Is it a big deal if you don't have any choice users on your competitive team? (specifically, in gen IV, if that matters) I read that you should be really careful about having two choicers, but do you generally need one? Or can you generally do just fine without one?

You don't really need Choice users, but they're good to consider if you want the Pokemon you're using to hit hard or fast right off the bat without having to use a set-up move.

[Dark Azelf]

Because Trick Room has a negative priority, so it means it will always go last regardless of the ability.

[KLuning]

How do I train my team to level 100 in gen V. Message me please!

[dragonomega]

Originally Posted by KLuning

How do I train my team to level 100 in gen V. Message me please!

Grind. That's all I can really say lol? Or invest in an AR and use the x4535465546 exp code or something. There's really thing else you can do. ): (Just battle the E4, Cynthia and Audino's in the highest place for a lot of exp).

[KLuning]

I really don't understand how the legendary dogs and legendary birds are allowed in random match up. I have no legendaries and it's sad to see ppl rely on them bc they can't train pkmn for themselves. But can someone explain hy they are allowed jut other legendaries arnt? The rules and restrictions seems to be all over the place. How ca I lose to explosion in wifi match up when it's our lat 2 pokemo as well? Seems really bs

[dragonomega]

Originally Posted by KLuning

I really don't understand how the legendary dogs and legendary birds are allowed in random match up. I have no legendaries and it's sad to see ppl rely on them bc they can't train pkmn for themselves. But can someone explain hy they are allowed jut other legendaries arnt? The rules and restrictions seems to be all over the place. How ca I lose to explosion in wifi match up when it's our lat 2 pokemo as well? Seems really bs

Just because a Pokemon is legendary doesn't mean it's good. Articuno is legendary but because of its typing, movepool and stats, it just isn't that good. Well mainly its lovely 4x Rock (and Stealth Rock) weaknesses are the biggest causes here of why it's not that good. But then you have a Pokemon like Arceus who has 120 across the board in terms of base stats and a huge movepool, that can wreck a lot of teams; that is considered powerful and thus banished to the Uber tier. It's basically all up to type, stats, movepools etc. And the Explosion 'problem' is because if there's only 1 Pokemon left for you and your opponent, whoever uses Explosion is the one who loses iirc. And tbh; the rules aren't all over the place, you just need to educate yourself on the matter.

[SoulRed12]

Originally Posted by KLuning

I really don't understand how the legendary dogs and legendary birds are allowed in random match up. I have no legendaries and it's sad to see ppl rely on them bc they can't train pkmn for themselves. But can someone explain hy they are allowed jut other legendaries arnt? The rules and restrictions seems to be all over the place. How ca I lose to explosion in wifi match up when it's our lat 2 pokemo as well? Seems really bs

You should look up the tier system on Smogon. As far as I know, most people go by that system when battling.

FYI, in BW, Raikou and Suicune are both considered UU pokemon (UnderUsed, i.e. less strong than OU or OverUsed pokemon) and Entei is RU (RarelyUsed, or not even good enough to play in UU). As for the birds, Zapdos is OU thanks to his bulk and nifty E/Q immunity, among other things, while as dragonomega says Moltres and Articuno are hardly ever if ever used and are in RU and NU (NeverUsed, lower than RU) respectively.

[bhim]

Pardon me if this is an ignorant question to ask, but what exactly is the purpose of EV training a pokemon in HP? Presumably, there is some value in doing so, as I've seen countless sets that demand some EVs be put into HP, but I just don't understand the motivations behind this; the way I understand the mechanics of pokemon (and this is almost certainly wrong), an attack will do a percentage of damage to the opponent based on various factors (which, for the purposes of this explanation, are irrelevant). However, whether my pokemon has 300 HP or 330 HP, an attack that does 10% damage to my pokemon will always and only do 10%, not necessarily a specific amount of damage. If a tackle to a houndoom always did 30 damage, then I could certainly understand the bonuses of having 300 vs. 330 HP, but if it's a percentage based thing - and it seems like it is, based on those irrelevant details I previously alluded to, which seem to me to be a formula involving the attacking pokemon's attack/special attack stat, base damage of the move, and the receiving pokemon's defense/special defense stat - then why would it matter how much HP the houndoom had?

I hope I articulated this well enough to warrant a response, if not, please let me know and I'll try to word it better; I just kind of threw my [jumbled] thought process into this post and let it ride.

[SoulRed12]

It's not percentage based. If tackle does 30 HP damage to Houndoom, it will do 30 HP damage whether he has 300 or 330 HP. If Houndoom has 60 HP, it will do 50%, and if he is EV trained to 120 HP (for the sake of argument, without changing defense), it will do 25%. It's why so many people love Blissey; despite her pathetic physical defense stat, her HP is so ridiculously high that many physical attacks don't do much to her anyway (or at least, less than 50%, which means she can stall with softboiled). And of course, with her sky high special defense stat, she can absorb even super effective special attacks all day whereas some other special walls couldn't really do that.

Play around with a damage calculator to see for yourself. It only requires your pokemon's attack stat, your opponent's defense stat, and the move you're using (to determine base power and type advantages/disadvantages), and then spits out a number which is the damage the move will deal. (btw, for the calculator I linked to above, the "min" and "max" numbers refer to the range of damage, because the damage each attack does has a relatively small randomness factor to it)

[A Sadistic Bastard]

If you want proof that HP investment is beneficial, then take a look at Blissey.

[tj4bigred]

Some Pokémon need the HP to make 101 HP substitutes, so they can survive Seismic Toss and Night Shade. And some Pokémon can pass huge Wishes to their teammates. Sometimes, Pokémon need a specific HP investment to be able to switch into Stealth Rocks the maximum number of times.

[SoulRed12]

Alright, so here's a question. I made a couple relatively successful gen IV teams, which I've been doing because I haven't learned much about BW yet. But, I want to try. What is the best way to get acclimated to all the changes and threats? I feel like if I tried to make a team, it would simply fail because I don't know what's out there and I wouldn't know what opponents' pokemon would run. (e.g., I bring in Celebi to check Breloom and it uses "Mega Bug Punch" on me or something...)

Is there a guide (or small set of guides) that I could just read through and get acclimated to a good number of the new BW threats and the kinds of moves they will use?

[Forever]

Originally Posted by SoulRed12

Alright, so here's a question. I made a couple relatively successful gen IV teams, which I've been doing because I haven't learned much about BW yet. But, I want to try. What is the best way to get acclimated to all the changes and threats? I feel like if I tried to make a team, it would simply fail because I don't know what's out there and I wouldn't know what opponents' pokemon would run. (e.g., I bring in Celebi to check Breloom and it uses "Mega Bug Punch" on me or something...)

Is there a guide (or small set of guides) that I could just read through and get acclimated to a good number of the new BW threats and the kinds of moves they will use?

Breloom won't use mega bug punch, do not fear! ...for that does not exist, luckily.

Anyway as for guides this forum itself doesn't really have anything covering threats, but other than reading through here, there's no other place that'll really cover it. :( But tbh, I find practice the best thing really. Just try a team, ladder and see if it works then go from there, it's really the best way of learning and understanding what the metagame has.

[the_shadow_maker]

I had an open slot in my team, and I was thinking a good filler would be Weavile.

Do you guys think you could ramble off some decent stats and attacks I should go after?

[PlatinumDude]

Originally Posted by the_shadow_maker

I had an open slot in my team, and I was thinking a good filler would be Weavile.

Do you guys think you could ramble off some decent stats and attacks I should go after?

Weavile's best stats are its Attack and Speed. However, its poor defensive typing leaves it prone to Scizor's Bullet Punch and Conkeldurr's Mach Punch. Still, it's a decent Pokemon in its own right:
-Ice Shard
-Pursuit
-Ice Punch/Night Slash/Punishment
-Low Kick
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 40 HP/252 Atk/216 Spe or 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Choice Band

This is Weavile's standard OU set. While it does have a couple of weak moves, they serve important purposes. Pursuit lets you hit Pokemon as they switch out, especially Ghosts and Psychics, while Ice Shard lets you finish off weakened Pokemon, or to get a hit in before you die against a faster opponent.

or
-Swords Dance
-Night Slash
-Ice Punch/Ice Shard
-Low Kick
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 40 HP/252 Atk/216 Spe or 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb

While Weavile's defenses are poor, it can use Swords Dance somewhat well, assuming that priority users are out of the way.

[AshKetchumFromPalletTown]

Hey guys,
Can someone help me make a team around Heracross and Suicune for the OU tier, they are two of my favorite Wi-Fi Pokemon but it's hard to build a solid team around them considering im kinda new to all this, so any help would be amazing

[AdrianD]

I cant seem to beat anyone online with my team no matter who I use. Can someone tell if there is something wrong with my team. This is a combo of Plat, heartgold, and White

Emboar/Adamant : Flame Charge, heat crash, Hammer arm, Earthquake.
Infernape/ Impish: Flamethrower, Bulk up, close combat Earthquake
Tyrantar/Quiet: Dark Pulse, Thunder Fang, Earthquake, Giga impact
Haxorus/Hardy: Dragon Claw, Outrage, Dragon Dance, (change from Swords dance) False swipe
Raichu/Rash: Thunderbolt, Thunder, Body Slam, Thunder wave (changed from Return)
Umbreon/quiet: Confuse ray (bite) Dark pulse, Moonlight, Psychic
Espeon/Lax: Swift, Future Sight, Shadown ball, Psychic
Blastoise/Lax: Ice Beam, Hydro Cannon, Earthquake, Protect (skull bash)
Garchomp/impish: Dragon claw, Swords dance, Dragon rush, Earthquake
Jolteon/sassy: Thunderbolt, Double kick, Thunder, Toxic


Obviously these levels get dropped down to 50 online, but why I cant see I cant beat these people online. I know speed is an issue with this team. As far as EV/IV I am not sure what they are that concept is new to me and still learning. What other issues can people see based on this?

[PlatinumDude]

Originally Posted by AshKetchumFromPalletTown

Hey guys,
Can someone help me make a team around Heracross and Suicune for the OU tier, they are two of my favorite Wi-Fi Pokemon but it's hard to build a solid team around them considering im kinda new to all this, so any help would be amazing

It might be a better idea to provide full sets for Suicune and Heracross so that we can give you more options on which Pokemon to work with.

Originally Posted by AdrianD

I cant seem to beat anyone online with my team no matter who I use. Can someone tell if there is something wrong with my team. This is a combo of Plat, heartgold, and White

Garchomp lv 95
Feraligator lv 100
Espeon 53
Raichu 91
Tyranitar 76
Jolteon 90
Blastoise 96
Haxorus 83
Infernape 93

Obviously these levels get dropped down to 50 online, but why I cant see I cant beat these people online. I know speed is an issue with this team. What other issues can people see based on this?

Would you mind giving full sets and EVs for those Pokemon? It might be easier to identify any weaknesses this way.

[DarkPhillip]

Alright, so this is a question I ran into when I first began EV training Pokemon. My usual method was:
1) Breed for Nature
2) Hatch (duh)
3) EV train the stats as I needed, giving no thoughts to leveling/evolving
4) Once I had maxed out the EV's, I need to level up my Pokemon quickly to get them up to lvl 50. I basically ran through the E4 with a couple lvl 100 event Pokemon using an Exp. Share on the Pokemon I needed to level up.

Now, since Pokemon level up faster when they are unevolved, and I needed speed, I stopped them from evolving as soon as they could (getting ready for a tournament and got crunched for time), so they'd grow levels fast, but then unevolved Pokemon also gain stats slower. So the dilemma was level quickly, then evolve, or evolve and level slower.

I guess my question is if, after delaying evolution, the stat boosts that come with the evolution balance out with what I would have had, if I had evolved as soon as I could. Hopefully that makes sense.

[KLuning]

It doesn't matter. Your pokemons stats will be what it's suppose to be at its final evolution. The difference is moves learned. Just make sure you evolve them before level 100

[DarkPhillip]

Well, I was thinking this in regards to Pokemon under lvl 100. For example, this tournament is using Pokemon at lvl 50, so obviously, all the EV boosts won't have come into play yet.

[snogaws]

I'm wondering if there is any way to re-EV a pokemon at level 100, and still have it be able to be used in competitive wifi battles.

If it is possible, can someone help me with that? thanks.

[tj4bigred]

A new mechanic in the fifth generation causes EVs to be calculated at the end of the battle, rather than upon level up. So it it possible to EV train a level 100 Pokémon.

However, if you mean it already has EVs, the only way to remove them is through the use of 6 berries, which at the moment are still unreleased in the Dream World.