POKEMON BREEDING & TRAINING GUIDE Author - Wyrlwynd Version History: Version 1.0 - submitted to GameFAQs 12/2005 Version 1.01 - submitted 1/2006 Fixed some spelling and formatting errors Version 1.02 - submitted 4/2006 Updated some links Added new information about breeding genderless Pokemon and the passing of TM moves Foreword When you've decided that relying on a few Legendaries to save your behind in a Pokemon battle isn't the best way to go or when someone with 6 'loser' Pokemon wipes the floor with you, you're going to need a way to breed and train your Pokemon so you're getting the most out of them. This guide will take you through all of the basics of creating Pokemon that are fast and deadly, nearly impossible to kill, or capable of annoying your opponent so much he/she makes a mistake. Much of this guide is specific towards the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald trio of games from the Advanced Generation, but the techniques also apply to FireRed and LeafGreen. Also, you should not attempt to follow this guide until you have completed the storyline of the game as there may be spoilers - you also won't be able to do most of the things that this guide mentions until you have completed the storyline and beaten the Elite Four. The Basics The Base Stats of your Pokemon give you some idea what your Pokemon was intended to be (attacker, special attacker, defensive tank, etc). Each Pokemon is born with a set of genes that will allow roughly a 31 point increase in your final stats at level 100 assuming you get the perfect value. The Nature of your Pokemon will boost one stat and lower another by 10%. You can breed your Pokemon to improve their genes, get a better set of moves, and a better Nature. Then you can target how you train your Pokemon so that you can maximize 2 stats, target 3 or 4 stats, or raise all 6 stats equally. Base Stats Each Pokemon (and each evolution thereof) has a set of what are called Base Stats. These values are the same for each one of that specific Pokemon that you meet. For example, all Bagons have the same Base Stats if you meet one in the wild, breed one, or get one in a trade. These stats are used in the stat calculation formula as some sort of starting point which helps determine whether your Pokemon is better at attacking, special attacking, outlasting attacks, or faster/slower than other Pokemon. Pokemon Genes These genes are usually called IVs (short for Individual Values). These values are hidden and must be calculated using fairly complicated (but not impossible to understand or use) formulas. The maximum IV value in any stat is 31. The minimum IV value is 0. An IV of 31 in any stat means that stat will be roughly 31 points higher at level 100 than an identical Pokemon with an IV of 0 in that stat. The values are assigned at random (unless you are breeding for stats, which will be explained later, and even then much randomness still exists). Since the average IV value is 16, a Pokemon with values of 24 or above would have above average IVs (by my definition). If you can get 28, 29, 30, or 31 then you've got an excellent IV. It is, in all practicality, impossible to get a Pokemon with all maxed IVs without using a cheat device. You can calculate IVs by using this IV calculator, included in MetalKid's Pokemon Program: Version 3.02: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx Version 4.00: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/v400Plans.aspx NOTE: Version 4.00 has the BEST IV calculator on the planet not using a cheat device and gamesaves for a web-based IV calculator, you can go here: http://www.psypokes.com/dex/dv.php Pokemon Natures The Nature of your Pokemon can be found on the first page of the Summary, at the bottom. Each Nature (except for 5 of them) will give a 10% boost to one stat and a 10% deduction to another. 5 Natures have no effect on stats whatsoever because they boost and deduct the same stat cancelling each other out. Check out the Natures table below: Nature + - Adamant Attack Special Attack Bashful none none Bold Defense Attack Brave Attack Speed Calm Special Defense Attack Careful Special Defense Special Attack Docile none none Gentle Special Defense Defense Hardy none none Hasty Speed Defense Impish Defense Special Attack Jolly Speed Special Attack Lax Defense Special Defense Lonely Attack Defense Mild Special Attack Defense Modest Special Attack Attack Naive Speed Special Defense Naughty Attack Special Defense Quiet Special Attack Speed Quirky none none Rash Special Attack Special Defense Relaxed Defense Speed Sassy Special Defense Speed Serious none none Timid Speed Attack Effort Values You always run into some little dude in the game who says, "Trained Pokemon are stronger than Pokemon caught in the wild." You may also hear that Rare Candies or the Daycare don't get you a Lv. 100 Pokemon that's as strong as one that was trained to Lv. 100 or something to that effect. EVs (Effort Values) are the reason. Think of them as an upgrade that you can give to your Pokemon. You get a limited amount to "spend", so you have to choose how to spend them in making your Pokemon as strong as possible for their specific use. EVs are hidden values that are given to your Pokemon along with experience points after you battle any Pokemon. Battle Frontier/Tower and Link battles are the only type of battles that do not give EVs, but you do still gain EVs if you battle your friend's Pokemon in their secret base after mixing records. Each Pokemon that you beat will give you 1,2 or 3 EVs to one or more stats. Some Pokemon will even give you EVs in multiple stats. Once you have gained 4 EVs in a specific stat, you will get an extra point in that stat which will only be evident at level 100 but is there whether you see it or not. All Pokemon will gain a certain amount of points in each stat as you level-up (+2, +3, etc.), but people who EV train will see boosts of +5, +6, +7 etc. for 3 or 4 level-ups while training. At Lv. 100, these extra boosts add up to much higher stats. You can choose to put EVs in 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 stats - which will allows you to target which stats you want to maximize while ignoring the ones that you don't care about. You can get a maximum of 510 EVs total with a maximum of 255 per stat. However, it is a waste to actually put 255 points in a single stat since that would give you 63.75 points, and the game will round it down to 63. Therefore, the most you want to put in one single stat is 252 points. People who only use Rare Candies or the Daycare to level-up their Pokemon to Lv. 100 don't get the EV boost to their stats as opposed to people who actually train their Pokemon by battling. However, after you have maximized the EVs, you can use Rare Candies or the Daycare to level them up, and it won't hurt the stats. You may, however, end up with undesired moves if you use the Daycare if they still have level-up moves left to learn. Rare Candies There are a lot of opposing viewpoints about whether Rare Candies are helpful or harmful. They are helpful. In fact, they are vital to figuring out your IVs (although you can use the Daycare to accomplish the same thing in a much longer time frame at the risk of losing moves you want to keep - unless you reset afterwards). Rare Candies, in case you didn't know, give your Pokemon a boost so that it reaches the next level. No EVs are gained when you use a Rare Candy, and this feature of gaining experience without gaining EVs is invaluable to you since it helps you calculate IVs more accurately with less to keep track of. Attack Types At the second page of the Summary screen, you'll see Attack, Defense, Special Attack and Special Defense. These stats refer to which type of attack uses which stat for determining battle damage formulas. If you have a Pokemon who has a high Attack stat (say, over 300) and a low Special Attack (say, less than 180), you would be foolish to teach it Special Attack moves. You would be working against its strength. Similarly, if you are battling a Pokemon with a high Special Defense and a low Defense (like Kyogre who has unbelievable Special stats but "only" really good Attack and Defense), you would want to try to use Attack moves rather than Special Attack moves to try to bring it down unless, of course, you have something with an insane Special Attack that knows Thunder. See the chart in MetalKid's Pokemon Program to find out which types rely on Attack or Special Attack: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx Breeding You can breed compatible Pokemon (more on this later) to get better IVs and to get moves that the Pokemon cannot normally learn on its own. The most important thing to remember is that the female determines what kind of baby you have, and the father gives the moves to the baby. If you breed a female Skitty and a male Wailord (and yes, as creepy as that sounds, they CAN breed), you will get a Skitty. The gender of the baby is basically 50-50 though some species are more likely to give you a male (the starters, for example, are 87.5% male and 12.5% female) and some species (Miltank, for example) are always one gender only. Some are even genderless like Metagross. Also not every Pokemon will breed with every other one. Check the Egg groups in a Pokedex to see what will breed with what. If you want to breed and raise a butt-kicking Salamence, for example, you will need a female Bagon, Shelgon or Salamence. When you're catching Pokemon in the wild, always try to get a female for later breeding. Same Type Attack Bonus Same Type Attack Bonus, or STAB for short, which may be the best acronym ever, refers to the bonus you get to your Attack or Special Attack move when you have a match between the type of your Pokemon and the attack type. For example, a Dragon type using a Dragon-type move at 80 base strength will have a higher attack power in the battle damage formula rather than the same Dragon using an 80 base strength Fire-type move. A STAB attack nets you a 1.5 bonus on top of the base strength of the attack. So a 80 base attack would end up being 120 base power. Abilities Each Pokemon has an Ability that can help them in battle or outside of battle. Some Pokemon can have one of two different Abilities. Some only have one available to them. Others change Abilities when they evolve. For a complete list of Abilities and what they do, check out MetalKid's Pokemon Program: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx The Steps to Awesome Pokemon The steps that follow take time and patience. Strong Pokemon require time and effort, deal with it. Almost everything good in this world requires time, work, and dedication. This is no different. Getting the Necessary Items You will need at least 15 or 30 Rare Candies. Getting 45, 60, 75, or 90 will make this even faster, but it will take a very long time to get 45 or more. You will use these Rare Candies to level up your newly hatched babies to level 20 so that you can get a decent idea about what their IVs are without wasting time or having to count EVs battling to level them up (more on this later). To get the Rare Candies, you will need Pokemon with the Pickup Ability. Pokemon with Pickup "pick up" items when you win battles. Zigzagoon, Linoone, Phanpy (but NOT Donphan), Teddiursa (but NOT Ursaring), and Aipom (some have Run Away and NOT Pickup) all have this Ability. In Emerald, the level of your Pickup team affects what items you Pickup. You will need level 41 or higher to have the best chance of getting Rare Candies. In Ruby and Sapphire (and also Fire Red and Leaf Green), the level doesn't matter. Now, get your 6 member Pickup team, and go to any grassy area with LOW- LEVEL Pokemon. Run through the grass back and forth on any route of your choice. Anytime you find a wild Pokemon, defeat it. Do not run from it. You must battle them and make them faint. Every 5 battles or so, check your Pokemon, and you'll see them holding items. Take the items off, and keep running though the grass and battling. Heal as necessary to restore HP and PP. Don't bother switching your others for your lead Pickupper. Just heal that one whenever you need to. It will take some time to get groups of 15 Rare Candies, but keep doing it until you get them. You'll also pick up other items which you can keep to use or sell. Depending on the game, you'll get PP Ups, Ultra Balls, various berries, Hyper Potions, King's Rocks, and even Earthquake TMs. Deciding What You Want If you check the online message boards about Pokemon battling strategy, you'll see words like Special Sweeper, Physical Sweeper, Tanks, Annoyers, etc. These terms refer to Pokemon that were bred and raised to do one thing really well. For a definition of these popular terms, you can go here: http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/gbstrategyguide.html Build your team around how you'd like to battle. If you do decide to battle competitively at tournaments, expect to see the baton passers, tanks, sweepers, etc. If you get whupped by someone using these techniques, ask them for help in designing your own team, and then go and beat your friends. Another good place to ask for help would be the PokeRealm Forums. http://www.pokerealm.net/forums/ So let's say you're creating a Special Sweeper, you need to check the Base Stats of the Pokemon that you have or can get. Check a Pokedex for Base Stats or use MetalKid's Pokemon Program: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx On the other hand, you probably know which Pokemon are good Special Attackers by looking at their stats. If you see a Special Attack that's much higher than the Attack stat (when at least level 50 or higher), you've probably got a good Special Sweeper in the making. Check the Base Stats to be sure. A good rule of thumb is that a Base Stat over 85 means that the Pokemon is good enough to use for that category. (IE: 85 Base Attack would be a Physical Sweeper while 85 Base Special Attack would be a Special Sweeper). Choosing a Good Moveset Before You Begin Once you have chosen the Pokemon you want to use and its purpose, then you need to think about a moveset. You want to take advantage of STAB if possible, but you don't want to overdo it. There is no need for 3 or even 2 STAB attacks on the same Pokemon except in rare cases. Choose moves that cover a wide variety of types and cover weaknesses that your Pokemon has. If your Pokemon is a Special Sweeper, then he should only have special attack powered moves and vice versa. There are very few Pokemon who are good Mixed Sweepers. Be sure you consider their base stats carefully and look at STAB bonuses before you decide to make a Mixed Sweeper. Plan your usage of TMs wisely. A TM used on a female is a one-time only TM (unless you can buy it again). A TM used on a male is potentially useable over and over again through breeding. Females cannot pass on TM moves. If you can't come up with a good moveset, you can look at PokeRealm's moveset guide. Alternatively, you can ask at the PokeRealm Team Requests forum. Simply post on the forum asking for a moveset for your Pokemon. Be sure to indicate what you plan to use it for. Salamence, for example, makes a fantastic physical sweeper or a great special sweeper. The moveset would differ for each purpose. Here's an example of a Special Sweeper moveset along with a description: Alakazam@Leftovers Modest 252 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 6 HP Psychic Thunder Punch Fire Punch Ice Punch That is the commonly used format for posting a Pokemon and the @ denotes the item that you should have it hold. Then they will list the optimal nature (in this case, Modest, which is one that increases Special Attack while decreasing the Attack stat since it won't be used) and the recommended EV spread below that. It is telling you that you want 252 EVs in Special Attack, 252 EVs in Speed, and 6 in Hit Points. Next are the four moves that you should use. Now here's a description of the above moveset. Alakazam can be devastating with a good moveset. A standard and effective moveset is Psychic (taking advantage of STAB), Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, and Ice Punch (providing strong Special Attacks against MANY different types). Calm Mind or Recover could be used in place of a Punch if you wish, but Alakazam is very weak defensively and may not survive long enough to effectively use Calm Mind. We'll use Alakazam throughout the remainder of this guide as an example of how to breed and EV train any Pokemon. The Daycare and Delivery Room Breeding serves two purposes. You can breed and rebreed for better IVs, and you can breed for moves. You should breed for moves first. This will save a lot of time in the long run, trust me. Breeding for Moves Breeding for moves follows 3 rules after rule 0: 0) Moves that the baby normally learns from levels 1 to 5. They will be born with these moves. 1) If the father (or a genderless parent breeding with a Ditto) knows a TM that the baby can use, then the baby will be born with that move. 2) If the mother and the father know a move the baby can learn by normal leveling-up, the baby will be born with the move. 3) If the father knows one of the baby's Egg moves, the baby will be born with that move. Egg moves are the secret to getting a wide variety of moves onto a Pokemon that would not have the move otherwise. As an example, Zangoose can obliterate opponents using the Endure/Flail combo. Flail is an egg move passed on from Dunsparce that Zangoose couldn't otherwise learn. Breeding for IVs Breeding for better IVs is easy but mind-numbingly dull. What you will be doing is hatching a bunch of males and females with the moves that you want. You will be checking their IVs (more on this below) and choosing the best female and the best male. These will be the parents of Generation 1. You can release all the rest. Try to get the best overall IVs but concentrate on the highest IVs in the stats that you care about. A Special Sweeper means to look for high IVs in Special Attack, Speed, and possibly HP. If you get a baby with lousy IVs in the other stats and great IVs in the stats that count, go ahead and use that baby as a parent. Do this only if there isn't a baby with good IVs across the board. You'll then take that female and that male to breed a bunch of eggs. NOTE: Big thanks to reaverz and imperfectluck for more information on breeding in Emerald. Pokemon can breed with their parents if necessary. This is especially helpful when you get, for example, a truly outstanding mom-to-be in one generation but a dad-to-be who is worse than the dad he came from (or vice versa). Just grab your mom-to-be and the dad from the previous generation, and breed them together. Try to get at least 5 females and at least 5 males before you stop breeding that pair. I name them by their generation... 1A, 1B, 1C and so on. The Generation 2 would be 2A, 2B, etc. Not that it matters. I was just being careful. Look at the IVs of all generation 1 Pokemon, and choose the best male and the best female to repeat the breeding process. Again, release the rest. Remember, don't get fewer than 5 of each gender. These will be Generation 2. Breed a third generation, and then perhaps a fourth. Keep generationally breeding until you get great parents (IVs wise). I've gotten 2 great parents in as little as 3 generations and as long as 6 generations. You can't predict when they'll get good IVs due to the random nature of the IVs system. When 2 Pokemon breed, 3 IVs are chosen at random and are passed to the baby. The remaining stats are random. In Ruby/Sapphire, it's possible to only pass on 2 IVs when the same stat is chosen from each parent. When you're hatching your last generation from your great parents, you change your strategy. You want only the babies with the right Nature for the purpose that you intend. If your Pokemon has 2 Abilities, keep only the babies with the right Nature and the right Ability. For example, Ludicolo can have Swift Swim (raises speed in rain) or Rain Dish (restores HP in rain) as an Ability. I prefer Rain Dish for my Ludicolo, but pick your poison for your purpose. Ludicolo is clearly designed to resist Special Attacks as his Base Stat for Special Defense is an astounding 130. His Special Attack is relatively weaker, therefore, I use Ludicolo as a Special Sponge/Sweeper (a sponge absorbs one type of hit, in this case Special Attacks and delivers some damage but not like a true Special Sweeper), and his Base Stat for Speed is lower than his Base Stat for Special Attack. This is why I want a Nature that will boost his Speed at the expense of a stat I don't care about (Attack in this case). In a perfect world, I would want only Timid (+ Speed, - Attack) Ludicolos with Rain Dish. When Pokemon breed, there are two stages at which information about the baby in the egg is determined. In Ruby/Sapphire/Leaf Green/Fire Red, when you see the man step out of his fence indicating he has an egg for you, the gender and the Ability of that baby are fixed, but the Nature and IV's are not. When you take the egg, the Nature and IV's now become set. In Emerald, when you see the man step out of his fence indicating he has an egg for you, the gender and the Ability AND the Nature of that baby are fixed, but the IV's are not. When you take the egg, the IV's become set. These may not seem like important stages, but creative saving and resetting allows you to take advantage of this separation of the baby's overall makeup. Thanks again to reaverz and Mottman for their help and information here. Since Emerald differs from the other Advanced Generation games, I will treat breeding in 2 parts depending on which game you have. If you have Emerald, you should do ALL of your breeding there. NOTE: I ONLY breed in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald because of the longer stretch for biking and because you can't bike "out of town" in Leaf Green/Fire Red so that the Daycare man can "step out" making it obvious he has an egg. The triggering event once an egg has been created for him to move out is changing routes. FOR BREEDING IN RUBY/SAPPHIRE/LEAF GREEN/FIRE RED: Place your 'great parents' in the Daycare then bike around until you get an egg. Be sure that you save before you take the egg. NOTE: Saving AFTER you take an egg or right BEFORE an egg hatches does you NO good. It will be EXACTLY the same baby EVERY TIME. Take the egg and hatch it. If the hatched egg is the wrong gender or Ability then release the Pokemon. Start riding your bike until you get another egg. Again, save first before you take it from the Daycare man and hatch it, etc. Repeat this process of hatching, checking, and releasing until you get the gender and Ability that you want. If the egg has the right gender and Ability that you want, keep it but don't save yet. Check the Nature and IVs, if they aren't what you want them to be, then soft-reset without saving and take a "new" egg. Hatch it, and check the Nature and IVs, and reset if they aren't what you want. Keep repeating this second step until you get a good Nature and IVs. Every time you reset, the Nature and IVs change but the gender and Ability remain the same. Now, you CANNOT use your Rare Candies here to help you out since you would have to reset before saving so you wouldn't have wasted them (more on this below). Refer to the Stat Calculator link here with the amazing Metalkid: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx for a web-based Stat Calculator you can go here: http://www.psypokes.com/dex/stats.php Find the level 5 stats for the lowest evolution of your Pokemon with 0 EVs in every stat and what you would consider a minimum acceptable IV in each stat. When you hatch an egg with the right Nature (after already locking in the gender and Ability), if the stats of the baby are within 1 (and MAYBE 2) of your projected level 5 stats, keep that baby. You may want to repeat the process several times until you get a few with good Natures and IVs. That way, you can choose the best one possible. You may also want different movesets for each one, etc. You could even trade them to your friends for their Legendaries after you show them your new power! FOR BREEDING IN EMERALD: Place your 'great parents' in the Daycare then bike around until you get an egg. Be sure that you save before you take the egg. NOTE: Saving AFTER you take an egg or right BEFORE an egg hatches does you NO good. It will be EXACTLY the same baby EVERY TIME. Take the egg and hatch it. If the hatched egg is the wrong gender or Ability or Nature then release the Pokemon. Start riding your bike until you get another egg. Again, save first before you take it from the Daycare man and hatch it, etc. Repeat this process of hatching, checking, and releasing until you get the gender and Ability and Nature that you want. If the egg has the right gender, Ability, and Nature that you want, keep it but don't save yet. Check the IVs, if they aren't what you want them to be, then soft-reset without saving and take a "new" egg. Hatch it, and check the IVs, and reset if they aren't what you want. Keep repeating this second step until you get good IVs. Every time you reset, the IVs change but the gender, Ability, and Nature remain the same. Now, you CANNOT use your Rare Candies here to help you out since you would have to reset before saving so you wouldn't have wasted them (more on this below). Refer to the Stat Calculator link here with the amazing Metalkid: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx for a web-based Stat Calculator you can go here: http://www.psypokes.com/dex/stats.php Find the level 5 stats for the lowest evolution of your Pokemon with 0 EVs in every stat and what you would consider a minimum acceptable IV in each stat. When you hatch an egg with the right gender, Ability, and Nature, if the stats of the baby are within 1 (and MAYBE 2) of your projected level 5 stats, keep that baby. You may want to repeat the process several times until you get a few with good IVs. That way, you can choose the best one possible. So that was easier than the other Advanced gen games, but it gets better. You can FORCE a certain Nature half of the time with the previously pretty useless Everstone. When given to the correct Pokemon in a breeding pair, the Everstone gives you a 50% chance of passing the Nature of the Everstone holder down to the babies. There are 9 possible combinations of breeding pairs and Everstone combinations. Only 2 of the 9 have the 50% effect. Hatching 10 and sometimes 20 eggs for each pair (as a side note, Flame Body/Magma Armor make Magikarps hatch faster than the eggs come up), I came up with the following rules that I believe cover the complete spectrum of Everstone possibilites: -If you use a Ditto, it must be holding the Everstone to pass down Natures. Consequently, you will have a 50% chance of the babies having the Ditto's Nature. It does not matter if the other Pokemon holds an Everstone. It will have no effect. -If you use a Ditto (holding nothing) and the other Pokemon (male or female) holds the Everstone, you do not get any increased chance of passing down a Nature (from either the Ditto or the Everstone holder). -If you have a male and a female (non-Ditto), the female must hold the Everstone to pass down Natures. Consequently, you will have a 50% chance of the babies having the mother's Nature. It does not matter if the other Pokemon holds an Everstone. It will have no effect. The Everstone trick can be even more helpful. BEFORE you breed for moves, Everstone trick (using a right-Natured Ditto or mother) several female babies of the right Nature. Choose the best one of those, give HER the Everstone, and you'll keep get right-Natured mothers all the way down the generations effectively locking in your preferred Nature. When IVs are the ONLY thing that's still random, you're in much better shape. You won't have to hope for all 4 qualities to work out in your favor which rarely happens. Remember, even with repeated generational breeding, three of your six stats are completely random. FOR ALL ADVANCED GEN GAMES: This process is very long but is worth it. My new Ludicolo (compared the one that I had before I knew about breeding, etc.) has a Special Attack that's 70 points higher than the old one. That can make for a huge difference in battles if you need the extra 70 points to knock out your opponent. Don't worry about the parents learning new moves to replace the old as they level up while they breed and thereby getting babies with the wrong moves. Even though every move that you started with might be lost though normal move-gaining in Daycare, the babies will only have the moveset of the parents from when they first entered the Daycare. For example, I wanted a Hydro Pumping Bagon, so I bred my Hydro Pumping male Kingdra with a female Bagon and got a truckload of Hydro Pumping Bagon babies. When I selected my female and male for the next generation of breeding and left them in there to make eggs, they learned at least 4 moves which pushed Hydro Pump off their moveset completely. However, every egg was a Bagon that knew Hydro Pump even the very last egg that I got before I pulled the parents out of Daycare. Back to our Punching 'Kazam, Alakazam cannot learn the Punches by leveling-up. He must be born with them (Emerald has changed this with the new move tutors, but there are other guides for that). So here we go - get a female Abra/Kadabra/Alakazam (any level will do), but don't use one you that's already on your team because she may lose moves that you've taught her while she's in the Daycare (unless you don't care, of course). Get a male Medicham, and take 3 Heart Scales to the Move Tutor in Fallabor Town. Trade him the Scales so that your Medicham learns the 3 Elemental Punches. Go to Mauville City and drop the lucky couple off for their honeymoon at the Daycare which is just to the West (left) of town. Go check with the husband of the Daycare couple. He is the one who stands outside of the Daycare at the fence. As long as he doesn't say, "The two prefer to play with other Pokemon.", you will get eggs. Even if he says, "They don't seem to like each other very much.", you'll still get an egg. It may take a while, but you'll get one eventually. Keep only one Pokemon in your party (a Magma Armor/Flame Body Ability Pokemon in Emerald will cut hatching time by roughly 1/3 (not the 1/2 as Nintendo suggested but still it's less time.)) and keep taking eggs as he gives them to you. Keep riding your bike back and forth all the way from Verdanturf on the far west to the river's edge east of Mauville to hatching them. This will also help pass the time for the parents to breed another in the Daycare. When one hatches, dump it in the box, or release it depending on the situation, and get another egg as they are available. Save and reset or just hatch and hatch and hatch as needed depending on where you are in the process. So You've Got Babies, Babies, Babies Once you've got a slew of babies in any generation, you will need to check their IVs. You'll now need your Rare Candies and a piece of paper or a word processor. You'll also need an IV calculator. Metalkid is your man: Version 3.02: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx Version 4.00: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/v400Plans.aspx NOTE: Version 4.00 has the BEST IV calculator on the planet not using a cheat device and gamesaves for a web-based IV calculator, you can go here: http://www.psypokes.com/dex/dv.php Get 6 babies in your party, and save the game. This is crucial! Saving allows you to use your Rare Candies over and over without having to get more. Use 15 Rare Candies on the first one in your party. If the Pokemon tries to learn a new move, don't let it learn the Move...for 2 reasons: you're going to turn it off without saving and lose the move anyway, and it's fewer buttons to press to not learn a move than it is to learn a move. Also it may be necessary to give your Pokemon the Everstone to hold so it won't evolve. It doesn't technically matter if it does evolve or not, but you would need a new set of Base Stats for the evolved form when you calculate IVs. Whichever way you choose to go, just make sure that you choose the correct evolution in the IV calculator. Write down the stats at level 20 and the Nature as well as the name (keeping track is important... you don't want to lose your prize Pokemon because you don't know which is which or have to repeat the process). If you have another group of 15 Rare Candies, use them on #2, and write down its info. Repeat for each group of 15 Rare Candies you have left. When you're out of groups of 15 and have written down everything, turn off the game, and restart it (soft-resetting is ok). Repeat this process of feeding Rare Candies to level 20, writing down the info, and resetting your game with all of the newly hatched Pokemon in your party until you've gotten the level 20 info on all six. Always remember to restart your game after you've used your Rare Candies! Dump them in the box, get 6 more out, and repeat the process. On the IV calculator, choose the Pokemon and the Nature that it has, input the level and stats, and make sure that you input EVs as 0! You haven't gotten any EVs yet, and yes, we'll talk about them in a bit. Write down the calculated IV ranges. At level 20, your IVs still can't be perfectly determined, so the range is important. Don't assume that your IV is the maximum given or the minimum, but if you see an IV range of like 24 to 27 or higher, that's a good range. NOTE: Metalkid's Pokemon Program 4.00 will give you EXACT IVs at level 20 or less as long as yous know the Hidden Power type ingame. As another side note, when you're checking Base Stats to find a good Pokemon to use for a particular purpose, make sure you look at the Base Stats for the highest evolution. When you're calculating IVs, make sure you use the Base Stats of the kind of Pokemon that you actually have. This isn't so much of a concern when you use the IV calculator since it already knows the Base Stats. When you decide on a Nature, also use the Base Stats for the final evolution. As an example, Chinchou's Base Speed is higher than its Base Special Attack, but Lanturn (the evolved form) has the reverse situation. Mixing those up in choosing a Nature and purpose could have been a fatal error. So Now You've Got Your Great Baby Pokemon Finally, after all that breeding - we've got our great baby Pokemon. Now we have to train it and turn it into a killer just like the Army. Training Basics You've finally decided on what kind of Pokemon you want and what to use it for. You've bred for the moves that you want, bred for good IVs, the right Nature, and the right Ability. You have the ultimate baby! Now you have to train it to maximize his skills for your purpose. This process takes about an hour or two, but you can shorten it quite a bit by using Vitamins, the Macho Brace, and the Pokerus virus. First, some basics. Vitamins There are 6 Vitamins that you can buy. They are not cheap, but you can get them at half price from the Slateport Energy Guru when he is "stupendously going for it" which you learn about by watching TV. The Vitamins do not raise your stats directly. They raise your EVs in each stat which then will change your stat using the stat formulas. To be precise, 1 vitamin gives you 10 EVs in each stat with a maximum cap of 10 vitamins per stat. This, naturally, results in a cap of 100 EVs per stat from vitamins. Macho Brace The Macho Brace is given to you for defeating everyone in the Winstrate family at their home which is north of Mauville City. A Pokemon wearing the Macho Brace has its Speed temporarily cut in half. This is not a good thing, but when you receive EVs from defeating Pokemon, they are doubled - thanks to the Macho Brace. The Speed returns to normal when the Brace is removed. The Brace does not lower the Speed stat, it just halves your Speed in the "who goes first in battle" formula while the Macho Brace is on. Pokerus Virus When you are battling in the wild and use a physical attack like Headbutt, Body Slam, etc., you run a very small chance of contracting the Pokerus Virus. The Pokerus also doubles your EV gain from battling. You will know you have contracted it when you go to heal in a PokeCenter and Nurse Joy says something about your Pokemon having a beneficial virus. You can also see if a Pokemon has Pokerus by looking at the first page of the Summary screen. Under the Pokemon's picture on the left, it will say "Status: PRKS" if it is currently able to infect others and gain double EVs. If you see a tiny black dot under the Pokemon's picture, then it can still gain double EVs but cannot be used to infect others. If you have an infected Pokemon, put it in the front of your party then put a Pokemon that you want infected in the second spot and battle a few times. The virus will spread through the rest of your party as you battle. At midnight each night, Pokemon in your party who are infected with the Pokerus may randomly lose their ability to infect others. This applies even if you haven't played the game for that duration of time. They will still be able to gain double EVs, but they can't pass the virus on. Always keep at least one infected Pokemon in your box. Pokerus is "frozen" in your boxes, and you can pull those Pokemon out to infect others and then toss them back in when you've done that to use again later. If you don't have the Pokerus, don't worry - it is likely that you will never get it anyway. The chances of contracting the virus are lower than the chances of encountering a shiny. The Macho Brace will allow you to cut EV training time to about 45 minutes or so anyway. However, a Pokemon with both the Pokerus and the Macho Brace will gain 4x the amount of EVs. EV Training As I previously mentioned, you can get a total of 510 EVs overall. The max in any one stat is 255, and remember - that's a waste of a stat point. You want to only get 252 EVs at the most in any single stat. The simplest EV spread is typically split among two stats that you really wish to maximize, and the leftover 6 points dumped into another stat just to get the full benefit. (This is not always true, of course, and you should consult a Moveset Guide or visit the PokeRealm forums to see what the best EV spreads are.) I now split my EVs after carefully considering Attack power, Speed, and Defenses. I will stick with the simple 252-252-6 split for this guide because it is the easiest to explain. Obviously, you can split them in many ways. In the formula which calculates your stats at each level, EVs are divided by 4, and the result is rounded down. This means that you need 4 EVs to get a 1 point stat gain at level 100. 3 won't do it. So you should use 252-252-6 as your basic EV split when focusing on 2 stats. 252 is evenly divisible by 4, so none are wasted in those 2 stats. The remaining 6 will give you a 1 stat point gain in a third stat. I usually stuff the remaining 6 EVs in HP. You can feed up to 10 Vitamins to any Pokemon in any given stat. Each one gives you 10 EVs in that stat. You may not exceed 100 EVs with Vitamins in any stat. Give your Vitamins, if you wish to use them, first. If you need money, attach the Amulet Coin to your strongest Pokemon and use it once in each battle against each trainer in the Elite Four. The Amulet Coin doubles your money, so when you fight the Elite Four over and over, you get a lot of cash. Whether you use Vitamins or not, you will still need to battle to fully reach your max of 510 total EVs. You could buy 51 Vitamins and feed 10 to each stat and put 1 in the 6th, and you will end up with a balanced EV spread, but this is not recommended. You get your EVs in your stats by defeating various different Pokemon. For a complete list of who gives what EVs, check a Pokedex or use the EV Tracker in MetalKid's Pokemon Program: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx Getting back to our Elemental Punching Alakazam, he needs to be EV trained in Special Attack and Speed. Even though he has a naturally high Special Attack and Speed, you're going to want to make them insanely high. You want it to hit something first, and you want that something to faint with one hit. You may feed it 10 Calciums (for 100 Special Attack EVs) and 10 Carbos (for 100 Speed EVs) or just forget the Vitamins altogether. Get the baby Alakazam, or Abra in this case, put the Macho Brace on, and take 3 or 4 really strong Pokemon (level 70 or higher) with moves that have an accuracy of 100. Put the baby in the 1st slot in your party, and run in the ashy grass until you meet a Spinda or Slugma (if you're doing Special Attack EVs). Immediately switch the baby out, and switch in a strong Pokemon. Take down the Spinda/Slugma. You just got two Special Attack EVs (remember that the Macho Brace doubles the 1 Special Attack EV that Spindas and Slugmas give to 2). Both Pokemon will gain EVs. However, only the one with the Macho Brace will gain 2 EVs. The other one will gain 1 EV. The EVs are dealt out along with experience points so that any Pokemon who gains exp points in battle will also gain the EVs. I recommend using the level 70 or higher Pokemon because they're probably already EV trained, and you won't have to worry about them getting EVs that you don't want because they've already maxed out their EV training. That's how you gain EVs. EV Training Example Here's an example of a 252-252-6 EV spread in Special Attack, Speed, and Hit Points - respectively. This will tell you how to gain 252 EVs in Special Attack, 252 in Speed and 6 in HP by guiding you through the process so you can completely understand how EV training works. Please remember, there is no way to keep track of EVs in-game - you will have to do it yourself using pen and paper, a word processor, or a program. First, fly to Fallarbor Town and head right towards the grassy area with the ashes. If you have the Macho Brace equipped, then you would need to fight 126 Spindas to gain 252 EVs in Special Attack (126 * 2 = 252). If you have both the Macho Brace and the Pokerus, then you would only need to fight 63 Spindas (63 * 4 = 252). With neither the Brace or the virus, you will have to fight 252 Spindas. Once you're done with that, fly to Verdanturf. Let's go ahead and get our 6 HP EVs out of the way. Head to the Rusturf Tunnel, if you have the Pokerus, then take the Macho Brace off and fight three Whismurs. That'll amount to 6 EVs in HP. If you don't have the Pokerus, then go ahead and use the Macho Brace; you'll still only have to fight three Whismurs. Without either one, you will need to fight six of them. Once you're done, head to Mauville City. When you're in Mauville, heal if necessary, then head east and surf over the river. You'll be in Route 118. If you do your EV training in an area with Pokemon that give varying amounts of EVs (such as Speed and Special Defense), you should do that last so you don't have to worry about mixing up your count and it won't matter if you do because once you complete your EV training - the EVs simply won't count. Now, you don't need to count because you only have 252 EVs left to give, and they're all going to speed. The Linoones and Manetrics give you 2 EVs rather than the 1 that you get from Zigzagoon, Electrike, and Wingull - but since we did this last, you don't have to worry about counting them. Just keep battling and try to keep an approximate figure in your head - it shouldn't take long, especially if you have the Macho Brace and/or the Pokerus. Once you think you've gained enough, fight a couple more battles to be sure. OK, now let's see if you EV trained properly. To be sure that you've gotten all 510 EVs, fly to Slateport City and go down to the outdoor market where the Energy Guru is. Then find the lady on the left hand side of the Energy Guru. If she gives you an Effort Ribbon, then your EVs are maxed, and you've completed your EV training properly. If she doesn't give you a ribbon and says, "You have to go for it a little harder", then you're short on EVs somewhere. There's no way to know which stat got shortchanged, so like I said, count very carefully or use a program. NOTE: As mentioned above, Vitamins first + Macho Brace + Pokerus is the FASTEST way to EV train. You can completely EV train a Pokemon in about half an hour. I went through this example without Vitamins, so you could see the "whole picture". If you'd like to know what your final stats at Level 100 will be, then you can use the stat calculator below. Choose the Pokemon's final evolution in the list then input your IVs (called DVs at that page) and your Evs. It will then calculate your final stats at Level 100. Refer to the Stat Calculator link here with the amazing Metalkid: http://www.metalkid.org/Pokemon/Download.aspx for a web-based Stat Calculator you can go here: http://www.psypokes.com/dex/stats.php EV Reduction Berries If you get a Pokemon that has already gained EVs through battling, and you'd like to correctly train it yourself - or check the IVs to see if it's worth training - then there are six berries in Emerald that you can use to remove EVs from your Pokemon. Each of the berries listed below (when you select Use from the Berry Menu) will remove 10 EVs from the corresponding stat: Pomeg: Decreases HP EVs by 10 Kelpsy: Decreases Attack EVs by 10 Qualot: Decreases Defense EVs by 10 Hondew: Decreases Special Attack EVs by 10 Grepa: Decreases Special Defense EVs by 10 Tamato: Decreases Speed EVs by 10 As a result of using these berries, YOUR STATS WILL DECREASE. However, this does not decrease your base stats - only the EV points that attributed to stat increases. These berries work like Vitamins only in reverse. This is because, after the Pokemon 'eats' the berry, its stats are recalculated by the game with the lowered EVs which reduces the overall stat but not the base stat. When you use one of these berries on a Pokemon who has gained EVs, you will get a message like this: "Jirachi turned friendly. Base HP fell." This happened when I used a Pomeg berry on a Jirachi which I got from a friend who is giving up Pokemon. If you continue to feed it EV Reducing berries, and it still has EVs in that stat, you'll keep getting the same message. When you get to the point where you have completely cleared out the EVs, the message changes to: "Jirachi turned friendly. Base HP can't fall." You can repeat this process for each stat until you have wiped all of the EVs away. At this point, the stats that you see are as if you had freshly caught it. You can easily calculate the IVs of the Pokemon using an IV calculator then train it in the way that you feel is appropriate. In theory, since a Pokemon can have up to 255 EVs in a stat, you may need as many as TWENTY-SIX of these berries to completely clear the EVs in a single stat. In practice, though, if someone battled the Elite Four, other trainers, or wild Pokemon to level-up - you probably won't need more than 20, or even 15, berries in any given stat. For example, my Jirachi (given to me at Level 44) needed 5 Pomeg, 4 Kelpsy, 3 Qualot, 5 Honydew, 3 Grepa and 9 Tamato berries to completely clear out its EVs. It wasn't completely EV trained, apparently as it only had about 230 EVs. As an added bonus - the Jirachi which had his happiness reset to zero after being traded to my game gained happiness from munching on all of these berries. I took him to Verdanturf and checked with the Happiness Lady. Jirachi was already at "It seems to be very happy. It obviously likes you a whole lot." Not bad for just stuffing him full of 29 berries. Remember that the last berry doesn't actually decrease the EVs - so in reality, I only should have needed to use 23 berries. If I had been more careful about saving and resetting, I could have not used the last berry in each stat. NOTE: If the message says, "The berry will have no effect.", then not only are the EVs in that stat cleared, but the Pokemon is at max happiness. So, whenever you get these specific berries - you will want to re-plant them to grow as many possible so that you can fix your EVs whenever you need to. I recommend that you use the Berry Master's patch on Route 123. You can plant up to 12 berries at one time using that patch. Keep in mind that this only works in Pokemon Emerald! Leveling Up Once you've maxed your EVs, you can level-up that Pokemon any way that you choose. There are several methods. I'll give you a few and the pros/cons of each method. Mixing Records I have mixed records with many different trainers, and as a result I have 9 or so different Secret Bases in which I can battle high level Pokemon and consequently gain a lot of experience points. I put the Exp Share on my newly EV trained Pokemon and take along 5 other high level Pokemon along with me to defeat them. You can battle in each Secret Base once a day (or more, if you keep mixing records throughout the day). After that, I take my Pickup team to the route just between Rustboro and the Rustboro/Verdanturf tunnel. This way, I can battle and accumulate a lot of Rare Candies. I repeat this process once a day until I have enough extra Rare Candies (I don't touch the 90 that I use for baby IV checking) to get the EV trained Pokemon the rest of the way to 100. Don't bother using the Rare Candies at the lower levels. Save them for the higher levels up to 100 since it takes so much experience to level up (from 80 to 100, for example). Pros: You run a chance of seeing a shiny since you are battling wild Pokemon (you can choose the area to battle in if you want a specific shiny - I have seen and caught 2 of them using this method). Cons: It takes a while to get to level 100 (5 to 10 days) since you can only battle in the Secret Bases once a day. Elite Four Stick on the Exp Share and battle the Elite Four repeatedly. You can even let your EV trained Pokemon take part in the battles after it is high enough, and it'll gain even more experience points. Pros: You will quickly gain a lot of experience and money. Cons: if you save in the middle of battling the Elite Four, then you have to finish it to be able to do something else. It can also be tedious and repetitive. Sky Pillar/Victory Road Equip the Exp Share on the newly EV Trained Pokemon and get 4 or 5 other high level Pokemon and go to the Sky Pillar/Victory Road. Use up all the PPs for every attack move that each Pokemon has defeating everything in sight. Pros: You gain lots of experience, and you also have the chance of encountering a shiny (I've also seen and caught two of them using this method). Cons: Tedious and repetitive and slow. Daycare Simply do the Daycare Trick. Pros: This speaks for itself. You won't have to do anything at all and are free to pursue your life while your Pokemon level up. Cons: Very slow and may mess up your movesets. If you choose to use this method then be sure you can fix the moveset afterwards, or wait until the Pokemon is at a high enough level where it won't learn any more moves. Miscellaneous This section covers stuff that didn't fit elsewhere in this guide. I felt there were some important points that I needed to touch on before closing out. Legendaries I highly recommend that you EV train the Legendaries that you catch when you play a new game. Legendaries already have unbelievably high stats, and you can turn them into beasts. Additionally, you can save right before you encounter the Legendary and keep resetting until you get one with good IVs. This will only work on the stationary ones not the wandering ones (Latios, Latias, Raikou, etc). You shouldn't throw them in your party as soon as you get them. Take the time to EV train them and turn them into powerhouses then use them afterwards. The time spent will be well worth it. While trainers who use legendaries are frowned upon in competitive battling circles (and who hasn't been pissed at a friend who throws out like 3 Mewtwo's just because he has no life and keeps replaying and trading them over), all legendary battles with both opponents sending out the ubers are just as fun (and quicker usually) than regular team battles. But please, don't consider yourself a good battler because you swept someone with a legendary when your opponent had none. That's just bullying. General Hints and Tips Choosing Pokemon that are awesome in one role or another is just fine, but if you have a favorite Pokemon, use it. This is a game and is supposed to be fun. Don't let your favorite Pokemon rot in the box just because its stats aren't the best. Almost any Pokemon that you create using this guide with a good moveset will do serious damage. Especially against players who don't use these techniques. If you want to get the Silver Shield or the Gold Shield in the Battle Tower or the Silver and Gold Frontier symbols, then use EV trained Pokemon. Following this guide will give you great Pokemon to take into the Battle Tower/Frontier, and you will be able to win or "buy" great prizes along with the Shields/Symbols. Don't make your Pokemon hold things like Mystic Water or Hard Stone (which increase their type attacks by 10%), etc. The 10% increase will not matter much when you are battling another human player over a link cable or fighting in the Battle Tower/Frontier. In most cases, you will want to give your Pokemon Leftovers, Brightpowders, Choice Bands, Lum berries, or stat-raising berries. This will give you a better team, and since you shouldn't have more than one type of attack in a moveset, the type-boosting held items won't do much anyway. Frequent a forum or message board that's dedicated to the particular game that you are playing and read what people are saying. You may learn something that you didn't know before and be better for it. Conserve your TMs. Don't use them just because you need a move to beat the Elite Four or an in-game trainer. They should be conserved and wisely used along with breeding so that you can get multiple instances of the good moves. Many good moves can only be learned through TMs. Don't use HMs on your competitive team with the exception of Surf (which I feel is superior to Hydro Pump due to accuracy). Dive and Fly could be good moves in some cases (Dive more so than Fly), but you can still be attacked underwater or while you're in the air - you're not as invulnerable as you think. And two turn moves with the attack coming on the second turn just scream at your opponent to switch in something that resists that attack. Strength is not a good move. Return is much better because when your Pokemon is at max happiness, Return's base power is 102 which is higher than Strength. You can get 1 Return TM per week from the guy in Pacifidlog Town (in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald). You can make your Pokemon forget HM moves by going to the Move Deleter in Lilycove (R/S/E). His house is just to the right of the department store, and it's free. If you need HM Slaves (a Pokemon whose sole purpose is to use HM moves), then you should take along a Tentacool and a Tropius. Tentacool can learn all the water HMs plus Cut while Tropius can learn the rest. Hidden Power is worth a look. Hidden Power is a way to give an Electric-type attack to a Fire type that couldn't learn an Electric- type move otherwise. You could surprise a Water-type opponent who thought they would get the upper hand. Both the type and the power of Hidden Power are based on your Pokemon's IVs. Depending on what IVs that you have, you could get any type of Hidden Power, and the max power will vary between 30 and 70. Now, I don't normally stand for an attack less than 80 power, but having a secret weapon, like I mentioned, that would give you a super effective attack against a foe you're totally weak against is not a bad idea. You will need your most accurate IVs, so wait until you've gotten the Pokemon to Level 100 with completely known EVs. Then calculate your IVs one last time, and then find the Hidden Power. You can buy Hidden Power TMs in Slateport City (R/S/E) (or you can get some with Pickup in FireRed/LeafGreen). I wouldn't recommend a Hidden Power if the power is 30-50, but a 60+ Hidden Power with the right type could be very helpful. An IV Calculator estimates your IVs, so if you want to be absolutely sure, go to Route 118 and fight a Kecleon using Hidden Power then see what its Color Change does. Color Change will change the Kecleon's type to the type of the attack used against it. So this way you can see what type the Hidden Power is. NOTE: Kecleons are VERY rare on route 118. Look in the notch between the trees just west of Fortree (R/S/E). There is a hidden Kecleon there that many people don't find. Just save before you fight it, and then reset after you see the Color Change effect. That Kecleon can then be used over and over for Hidden Power testing. Metalkid's version 4.00 will give you EXACT IVs at levels much lower than ANY other IV calculator. It does REQUIRE that you already know the Hidden Power type to do its job, so if you're using 4.00, you'll have to do the Kecleon trick or figure it out some other way. Learn who carries the good held items, and learn how to steal them. Thief and Covet always work (as long as you're not already holding an item), so if you don't get the held item the first time you try it, then the Pokemon is not holding an item. Summary Choose a purpose (Physical Sweeper, etc). This will tell you what Pokemon to choose, how to EV train your Pokemon, what Nature to shoot for, and what Ability to choose (assuming you have a choice). Decide on a moveset and breed accordingly. Remember, the female decides the species of the baby, and the male gives the moves. Breed a bunch of babies then use Rare Candies to get them to level 20, and check their IVs. Choose the best female and male, and rebreed them. Do this until you have two great parents, and then start looking for the right Nature and Ability and best IVs. EV train your Pokemon, and level it up once it has been EV trained. Thank you's Zeroality - Thanx for your support and advice. Someday I'll get that whole Netbattle thing so we can, as they say on MXC, "get it on" Metalkid - seriously, who has done more work than him. If you haven't gotten the Metalkid Pokemon Program, you're missing out psypokes.com - web-based calculation tools and an awesome egg move resource imperfectluck - Thanx for the breeding info and your moveset guide reaverz - Thanx for copious amounts of breeding info Mottman - Thanx for the breeding info Ken J. Egervari - author of the Advanced Trainers Guide Thanx to those above plus many others on the Advanced gen message boards for being voices of reason and helping me out when I was just starting and continuing to help others out Contact Info I can be reached on the forums at http://www.pokerealm.net. Post a message with subject "ATTN: Wyrlwynd", and I'm certain to see it. Legalities and Copyright This guide was written by Wyrlwynd copyright 2005. All copyrights and trademarks found in this document are owned by their respective copyright and trademark holders. No infringement of copyright is intended. This document may be printed in part or in whole, for personal use only. You may not take any part of this document and display it anywhere - do not ask. I will not give consent. http://www.pokerealm.net and http://www.gamefaqs.com are the only web sites allowed to host this document.