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Tips and Tricks

Valerunner

Probably shouldn't be here.
Pronoun
She/her
So anyway, post your tips and tricks here for those who are either new to the trade or just need some help.

First off, me. When catching a Pokemon;

Never use an Ultra Ball until you've run out of special Balls (Dive, Lure, etc.) The effectiveness is only 2x. I highly suggest Quick Balls for roaming Legendaries or a combination of those and Timer Balls, and if you're in a dungeon Dusk Balls. Each one if used correctly has 4x effectiveness.

Also False Swiping is a great trick. Always carry one Pokemon with obscenely high Speed and False Swipe, holding a Quick Claw. It may also need Mean Look for those roamers. And don't forget to STOCK UP. It's heartbreaking to whittle down Cresselia's health down to 1 and find out you've run out of Poke Balls. What I do is bring 99 Pokeballs and 50 of every other ones. You can get the money from the Elite Four.

Always be ready. Say you're training your weakest up to Lv. 100 at some random route. Then, WILD SUICUNE APPEARED! You don't have any Pokemon with False Swipe OR Mean Look and all are obscenely underleveled it's not even funny. What do you do? You let it run, kicking yourself as it vanishes into the mists. Always carry a contingency Pokemon. Doesn't need to be the FSwiper, just a high-leveled Pokemon will do. About 60-70 will get you through anything. This is the only time when HM slaves need to be leveled up. (Or use the Master Ball but who uses those?)

And finally, patience. It took me over 48 hours trying to catch a Nidoran in Route 201, but it was damn well worth it. It's there somewhere.
 
Always be ready. Say you're training your weakest up to Lv. 100 at some random route. Then, WILD SUICUNE APPEARED! You don't have any Pokemon with False Swipe OR Mean Look and all are obscenely underleveled it's not even funny. What do you do? You let it run, kicking yourself as it vanishes into the mists. Always carry a contingency Pokemon. Doesn't need to be the FSwiper, just a high-leveled Pokemon will do. About 60-70 will get you through anything. This is the only time when HM slaves need to be leveled up. (Or use the Master Ball but who uses those?)
That... doesn't actually work. o_O I mean, sure, you're carrying a level 60-70 Pokémon, but on the turn that you switch to it, Suicune is going to run, and you have to live with it unless you decide you must never put a low-level Pokémon at the front of your party, ever.
 
If I run into a running legendary that my lead isn't faster than, then I throw an Ultra Ball or something in the hopes that hits the rare working chance. If it doesn't, then I switch something that can damage/Mean Look it in front and chase after it. :/
 
Is this topic going to be about tips for the game overall or just capture? I'm assuming it's the first, but, I have my own hints on capture.

First of all, sleep. It's the second best condition you can inflict on the target you intend to capture. Couple that with False Swipe and only a select few (mostly legendaries) will still give you a hard time. Both Pokémon that can learn Spore, though not the fastest, can also learn False Swipe (For the record, they are Parasect and Breeloom).

Sleep has a downside on having a limited lasting ability, but do better than poison and burning in that it won't kill the target, and has an advantage over paralysis in that the target won't attack at all unless they snap out of the condition.

Also, the best condition you can inflict is Freeze, but there's no way to do that except if you're damn lucky, so, stick to Sleep.

And, on roaming legendaries, D/P/Pt has made them a lot less annoying to track down, what with the Pokétch tool, so, if you're playing that, I suggest you ignore Grim's advice and alotgether ignore the roaming legendaries until you are specifically onto them. But, so as long as it won't kill them, leaving a scratch on them for later isn't a bad idea.
 
I prefer to paralyze the target because it slows it down to let you actually get a hit on it next time. (They can run it their sleep. Don't think about it too much.) Absol with Thunder Wave and False Swipe and Mean Look is really nice for that.
 
That... doesn't actually work. o_O I mean, sure, you're carrying a level 60-70 Pokémon, but on the turn that you switch to it, Suicune is going to run, and you have to live with it unless you decide you must never put a low-level Pokémon at the front of your party, ever.
Ah, forgot about that completely. So I think what Metallica Fanboy said; just ignore them until you need them.

This thread is for general advice, really. Battling, anything.
 
Since this topic is for any sort of Pokémon related tip, I'll post some offensive combinations that have a significant type coverage (i.e. one or two existant Pokémon resist it)

Couple a ghost-type move and a fighting-type move; unless they change something in the type chart, this offensive combination cannot be resisted by any type combination.

Couple a dark-type move and a fighting-type move; only two type combinations can resist that, and one has yet to be created (Figthing/Flying). Add a flying-type or psychic-type move and then it's official, it can't be resisted at all.

Couple a water-type move and a rock-type move; the only Pokémon (fully evolved) capable of resisting both is Empoleon. Add a ground-type, fighting-type or electric-type move, and it can't be resisted at all.

Couple a dragon-type move and a fire-type move; this can't be resisted at all. It also works if you replace fire-type with ground-type or fighting-type, but then you get some drawbacks (Steel-types immune to Ground such as Skarmory and Bronzong can stop the first combo; the second one can't be stopped, but if they create a Steel/Ghost type next generation, it will become possible).

EDIT: No, Dragon-type and Fire-type can also be resisted. Heatran can because it has Flash Fire and is steel-type.

There are probably more but my memory isn't being helpful.
 
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Couple a dragon-type move and a fire-type move; this can't be resisted at all.

EDIT: No, Dragon-type and Fire-type can also be resisted. Heatran can because it has Flash Fire and is steel-type.

I once saw someone post that Dragon/Fire/Water can't be resisted (Water of course takes care of Heatran), so.

And to add to the type combo things: did you intentionally forget boltbeam?
 
I once saw someone post that Dragon/Fire/Water can't be resisted (Water of course takes care of Heatran), so.

And to add to the type combo things: did you intentionally forget boltbeam?
Dragon/Fire/Ground takes care of that even better.

Also, truth to be told, I thought boltbeam was stoppable. But, now that you say it, it really is impossible to resist as well.

If anyone's unfamiliar with the terminology, by the way, boltbeam means Thunderbolt and Ice Beam. Though Thunderpunch and Ice Punch would work too :P
 
Dragon/Fire/Ground takes care of that even better.

Also, truth to be told, I thought boltbeam was stoppable. But, now that you say it, it really is impossible to resist as well.

If anyone's unfamiliar with the terminology, by the way, boltbeam means Thunderbolt and Ice Beam. Though Thunderpunch and Ice Punch would work too :P

Magnezone, Volt Absorb Lanturn, and Shedinja would like to disagree. Yes, I looked that up =P
 
Some of the other combinations posted had a few resistances, and boltbeam has so few that it was worth mentioning. :/
 
This is stating the obvious, but when making a moveset for your Pokemon, be sure to include at least one STAB move! Seriously, I've seen this high-level Aggron with a moveset of Shock Wave, Thunder, Earthquake and Strength. I don't know why it gets on my nerves so much, but... *shrug*

Also, in double battles, I find the Protect/Earthquake combo to be fun and effective to use. Actually, I often cycle between that and the Protect/Surf combo with my Floatzel and Rhydon.
 
Levitate~

Right...Damn loopholes. Still, a Pinsir or Rampardos with Mold Breaker could pull it off.

Anyway, here's a prime battling tip: Never underestimate ANY Pokemon. I usually use Pokemon that don't see much use, so I always use that to my advantage. For example, I use a Tinted Lens Venomoth. Since Tinted Lens is a rare ability and Venomoth isn't exactly overused, I can wreak havoc while leaving most opponents confused. Watching Ryu's Bug Buzz do normal damage to my opponent's counter is oh-so satisfying. So don't be all confident when your oppoent sends out a "weak" Pokemon. It's in their team for a reason, and they know how to use it.
 
Ah, yes, good call, glitchedgamer. I was playing in the Battle Factory the other day and came across a Shuckle. Assumed that it'd be a relatively easy takedown 'cuz it can do close to no damage. Turns out it had Power Trick, and I couldn't exploit its inexistent defenses because my only offensive option was Surf or something, and my Wailord got murdered.

And speaking of Battle Factory, I find it best to look at stats first, and then the moves. Most people, I find, tend to rent the Pokemon based on how good their moves are, but they might be so slow they don't have a chance to attack, or have some mediocre attack stats, etc.
 
This is stating the obvious, but when making a moveset for your Pokemon, be sure to include at least one STAB move! Seriously, I've seen this high-level Aggron with a moveset of Shock Wave, Thunder, Earthquake and Strength. I don't know why it gets on my nerves so much, but... *shrug*

Also, in double battles, I find the Protect/Earthquake combo to be fun and effective to use. Actually, I often cycle between that and the Protect/Surf combo with my Floatzel and Rhydon.
Well it really helps to STAB, but it's not imperative as long as you can raise the Attack with an ability or held item.

Like my Luxray with Crunch. Rarely do I use Discharge since in double battles it takes down Staraptor plus it's not known for having Dark-type moves. Give it the BlackGlasses and you're off.
 
True, but I find that not as effective, since I remember reading somewhere that the power-up items other than the plates multiply the damage only by 1.1. In addition, that uses up the item slot, which could be used for something more useful, say Leftovers or Life Orb, something around those lines.

My Luxray has Crunch as well actually, since... heh, all its other moves are electric.
 
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