6th Gen X/Y Quick Q&A Thread v3

[Sydian]

This is actually about Bank, so I'll just assume the XY Q&A is an okay place to ask, as I've done in the past lol. Anyway, I think my days on my pass have expired, so how lenient is Bank on when you need to pay for your pass renewal? I plan on buying it today, but last I checked, at the beginning of February I had 22 days left. So I can't imagine I'm far behind. It doesn't delete your Pokemon if you're not right on time to renew or anything does it? It's just a Pokemon storing program not a water bill, so I figure it's more lenient, but wanted to make sure if anyone knew. My boyfriend keeps his Pokemon in my Bank (I think he uses it more than I do wow) and I don't want him to lose anything. Thanks in advance!

 

[Howmander]

Does Me First rely on the Att/SpAtt of the user, or is it simply a blanket 50% boost on however strong the move would have been when used by the opponent? (Hopefully that wording makes sense)

 

[Pendraflare]

I'm pretty sure the 50% boost is the user's offensive stats, not the opponents. Not like, say, Foul Play, which clearly uses the opponent's stats, this one is the move you're about to use on them.

 

[Howmander]

I ask this because certain things that stack don't mathmatically compute (such as a move that hits 5 times with King's Rock does not actually equal a 50% chance of flinching) which is why I'm asking this: If Sitrus Berry heals 25% and Cheek Pouch heals by 33%, does using them together heal the user by 58% or is there some sort of nerf that happens when using them together?

 

[Nah]

I ask this because certain things that stack don't mathmatically compute (such as a move that hits 5 times with King's Rock does not actually equal a 50% chance of flinching) which is why I'm asking this: If Sitrus Berry heals 25% and Cheek Pouch heals by 33%, does using them together heal the user by 58% or is there some sort of nerf that happens when using them together?

Sitrus Berry+Cheek Pouch does just simply add together, so you get 58% of your health from that. King's Rock+Skill Link must use a different formula for its calculation or something, but idk.

 

[Howmander]

I know that it's just the way it is, but has anyone ever read WHY Nidorina and Nidoqueen cannot breed? I have been running around Route 11 trying to find a Nidorina and I just went onto Serebii to check egg moves and saw that it can't breed. I did get a female Nidoran from a horde and understand that in order to get egg moves I just breed them using the female Nidoran so I don't need explanations on how to breed egg moves, I am just curious if there has ever been an explanation as to why Nidorina and Nidoqueen can't breed at all. It just seems like a ridiculous mechanic to put in the game. I can see it being a glitch in gen 2 or something, but a glitch wouldn't have been left in the game 5 generations later.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I know that it's just the way it is, but has anyone ever read WHY Nidorina and Nidoqueen cannot breed? I have been running around Route 11 trying to find a Nidorina and I just went onto Serebii to check egg moves and saw that it can't breed. I did get a female Nidoran from a horde and understand that in order to get egg moves I just breed them using the female Nidoran so I don't need explanations on how to breed egg moves, I am just curious if there has ever been an explanation as to why Nidorina and Nidoqueen can't breed at all. It just seems like a ridiculous mechanic to put in the game. I can see it being a glitch in gen 2 or something, but a glitch wouldn't have been left in the game 5 generations later.

It's most likely an oversight in Gen II, when breeding was introduced.

 

[Howmander]

So further Nido question, why is almost every suggested moveset for Nidoking a special moveset? Shouldn't it be physical movesets since it has a much higher Att stat, or did Nidoking used to have high special attack or something or is there something unique about it that makes it a better special attacker?

 

[PlatinumDude]

So further Nido question, why is almost every suggested moveset for Nidoking a special moveset? Shouldn't it be physical movesets since it has a much higher Att stat, or did Nidoking used to have high special attack or something or is there something unique about it that makes it a better special attacker?

Nidoking's special moves have better coverage than its physical ones. Pretty much all its viable special attacks benefit from Sheer Force, which includes, but not limited to: Sludge Bomb/Wave, Earth Power, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Fire Blast. While its physical move pool is also good, Earthquake forces Nidoking to take Life Orb recoil, as it isn't an attack that benefits from Sheer Force (to clarify, if a Sheer Force Pokemon holding Life Orb uses an attack that's boosted by Sheer Force, it doesn't take Life Orb recoil). In perspective, Sheer Force + Life Orb-boosted Earth Power (slightly) outdamages a simple Life Orb-boosted Earthquake. The same can be said for Sludge Wave and Poison Jab.

 

[Howmander]

Okay, so does Sand Force REALLY boost the pokemon's Sp Def by 50% AS WELL AS boosting the strength of ground, rock and steel type moves by 33%? (or technically, Rock type pokemon) Cause if so, that seems to be a GREATLY overlooked ability, and had I known that earlier on, a lot more of my rock pokemon would have gotten that ability! The reason I ask is because neither Bulbapedia nor Serebii say it boosts Sp Def by 50% ( http://www.serebii.net/abilitydex/sandforce.shtml , http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sand_Force_(Ability) ) however on an old Serebii Pokemon of the Week article ( http://www.serebii.net/potw-bw/526.shtml ) and Pokemon DB thread ( http://pokemondb.net/pokebase/101504/sandstorm-sand-force ) say it does so is this 50% boost accurate? And if it only applies to Rock Types, does that mean only pure rock types or dual Rock and other types?

 

[PlatinumDude]

Okay, so does Sand Force REALLY boost the pokemon's Sp Def by 50% AS WELL AS boosting the strength of ground, rock and steel type moves by 33%? (or technically, Rock type pokemon) Cause if so, that seems to be a GREATLY overlooked ability, and had I known that earlier on, a lot more of my rock pokemon would have gotten that ability! The reason I ask is because neither Bulbapedia nor Serebii say it boosts Sp Def by 50% ( http://www.serebii.net/abilitydex/sandforce.shtml , http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sand_Force_(Ability) ) however on an old Serebii Pokemon of the Week article ( http://www.serebii.net/potw-bw/526.shtml ) and Pokemon DB thread ( http://pokemondb.net/pokebase/101504/sandstorm-sand-force ) say it does so is this 50% boost accurate? And if it only applies to Rock Types, does that mean only pure rock types or dual Rock and other types?

The 50% Special Defense boost in sandstorm only applies to Rock Pokemon. It's been that way since Gen IV.

Sand Force simply powers up the user's Rock, Ground and Steel moves in sandstorm.

 

[Howmander]

Man you accumulate a lot of questions when breeding! Okay, so what's the deal with Metal Burst? It says it doesn't take type affinities or resistances into account, but then you see sites like this: http://www.marriland.com/pokedex/moves/368-metal-burst that show on the calculator (when you select a particular pokemon) that it does take type affinities into account even though the paragraph right above it says it doesn't, well, which is it? Is it typeless and does straight 1.5x damage back on the opponent, or does it take type affinities into account too?

 

[PlatinumDude]

Man you accumulate a lot of questions when breeding! Okay, so what's the deal with Metal Burst? It says it doesn't take type affinities or resistances into account, but then you see sites like this: http://www.marriland.com/pokedex/moves/368-metal-burst that show on the calculator (when you select a particular pokemon) that it does take type affinities into account even though the paragraph right above it says it doesn't, well, which is it? Is it typeless and does straight 1.5x damage back on the opponent, or does it take type affinities into account too?

Metal Burst deals typeless damage. There may be an error with the calculator.

 

[Agenta]

Shiny Mewtwo?

So I was on the GTS last night and someone traded me a shiny Mewtwo. Somehow I think its a hack and was wondering if anyone could take a look, pm me if you can help.

 

[Volga]

So I was on the GTS last night and someone traded me a shiny Mewtwo. Somehow I think its a hack and was wondering if anyone could take a look, pm me if you can help.

Just check it's description. If it says it traveled through time and space to reach you from the Johto Region, then it could easily be Legit, since in HGSS you can soft-reset for it, the same goes for Kanto from FRLG.

If it has the Blue Pentagon, and it says from the Unknown Dungeon or something like that, then it's hacked.

 

[Nah]

You can also ask about it in this thread here:

http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=304470

 

[Howmander]

Okay since I JUST found out (a couple weeks ago) that Rock Types get a 50% boost in Sp Def during Sand Storm (seriously, why do no sites actually make an obvious mention of this?! and I STILL can't find out if it only applies to pure rock types or dual rock types as well) I was wondering if there are other things that aren't mentioned anywhere, specifically, if certain pokemon/pokemon abilities/types of pokemon are more prone to status ailemnts than others, because I am training a Makuhita with Guts and it seems to get infected with status aiments 100% of the time from moves that don't have a 100% infect rate (such Poison Sting that I got hit 10 times in a row with in different battles and got infected with poison 10 times in a row, or Lick which I got hit with 6 times in a row and got infected with paralysis 6 times in a row) mathmatically I should have been able to be hit at least ONCE out of those 16 times with those moves and NOT gotten infected, right? Or does my Makuhita just happen to be prone to infection because of it's ability or even it's species?

 

[PlatinumDude]

Okay since I JUST found out (a couple weeks ago) that Rock Types get a 50% boost in Sp Def during Sand Storm (seriously, why do no sites actually make an obvious mention of this?! and I STILL can't find out if it only applies to pure rock types or dual rock types as well) I was wondering if there are other things that aren't mentioned anywhere, specifically, if certain pokemon/pokemon abilities/types of pokemon are more prone to status ailemnts than others, because I am training a Makuhita with Guts and it seems to get infected with status aiments 100% of the time from moves that don't have a 100% infect rate (such Poison Sting that I got hit 10 times in a row with in different battles and got infected with poison 10 times in a row, or Lick which I got hit with 6 times in a row and got infected with paralysis 6 times in a row) mathmatically I should have been able to be hit at least ONCE out of those 16 times with those moves and NOT gotten infected, right? Or does my Makuhita just happen to be prone to infection because of it's ability or even it's species?

The 50% boost to Special Defense applies to all Rock Pokemon, regardless of whether have 1 or 2 types.

The Guts ability has nothing to do with how often the user gets hit by the secondary effects of moves (if the secondary effect happens to be a status). The odds must be against you, then. The best use of Guts is to switch the user in on a predicted Thunder Wave, WIll-o-Wisp or Toxic

 

[Howmander]

on movesets I CONSTANTLY hear to use U-Turn to keep your teams momentum (to the point that I hate hearing the word "momentum" anymore!) but my question is HOW. (I understand that U-turn causes damage before the pokemon leaves, so don't point THAT out, I already understand that part of the equation)

So this is what I'm not getting:

Fast Pokemon uses U-turn 1st turn, switches out for next pokemon, next pokemon can't attack and gets attacked by opponent.

vs

Simply switching pokemon, old pokemon leaves, new pokemon comes in, can't attack and gets attacked by opponent.

So where exactly is this imaginary momentum coming from and how is it different than simply switching?

(again, because people skim read, I understand U-turn damages the opponent before switching, that does not need to be reiterated, what I'm asking is how is any momentum gained when in both situations the new pokemon switching in gets damaged before it can attack anyway. This "momentum" has never made any sense to me because of the above scenario. Thanks to anyone who can clarify.

Edit: Also I understand that U-Turn can switch out on moves/abilities that prevent normal switching out, but again, I don't see how that's "momentum" exactly.

 

[Nah]

on movesets I CONSTANTLY hear to use U-Turn to keep your teams momentum (to the point that I hate hearing the word "momentum" anymore!) but my question is HOW. (I understand that U-turn causes damage before the pokemon leaves, so don't point THAT out, I already understand that part of the equation)

So this is what I'm not getting:

Fast Pokemon uses U-turn 1st turn, switches out for next pokemon, next pokemon can't attack and gets attacked by opponent.

vs

Simply switching pokemon, old pokemon leaves, new pokemon comes in, can't attack and gets attacked by opponent.

So where exactly is this imaginary momentum coming from and how is it different than simply switching?

(again, because people skim read, I understand U-turn damages the opponent before switching, that does not need to be reiterated, what I'm asking is how is any momentum gained when in both situations the new pokemon switching in gets damaged before it can attack anyway. This "momentum" has never made any sense to me because of the above scenario. Thanks to anyone who can clarify.

Edit: Also I understand that U-Turn can switch out on moves/abilities that prevent normal switching out, but again, I don't see how that's "momentum" exactly.

If I understand the concept of U-Turn/Volt Switch momentum in battles correctly, the idea is to use U-Turn/Volt Switch on a predicted switch to bring in a counter to the counter that your opponent is bringing in to your U-Turner/Volt Switcher.

Like let's say you have Scizor out, and the opponent has Mega Diancie out. Your opponent doesn't want to keep in Mega Diancie because it'll get annihilated by Scizor's Bullet Punch. But they have a Heatran on their team, which counters your Scizor. So they're probably going to switch Mega Diancie out for Heatran. So you use U-Turn then, predicting this switch. Heatran comes out, Scizor U-turns away, and you bring in your Heatran counter, all in the same turn. The turn is over, and your opponent is still in an unfavorable position.