Black 2/White 2 EV Update

Just a small update for the new games and where the good spots for EV Training are.

HP: Route 8, you'll either encounter Palpitoad or Stunfisk, both of which give you 2 HP EVs.
Attack: Dragonspiral Tower, you'll encounter only Golurk on the 2nd floor, and he gives you 2 Attack EVs.
Defense: Relic Castle, you have a 60% chance of encountering either Sandshrew or Yamask, both of which give you 1 Defense EV. There is no definite place to encounter a Defense EV Pokemon.
Sp. Attack: Celestial Tower, on the 1st floor you will encounter only Litwick, which give out 1 Sp. Attack EV.
Sp. Defense: Virbank City, if you surf you will encounter only Frillish, which give out 1 Sp. Defense EV.
Speed: Route 19, while surfing you will encounter only Basculin, which give out 2 Speed EVs.

I got this information from the website listed below. Best of luck, breeders!

Brock out.

http://nuggetbridge.com/breeding/ev-training-hot-spots-in-black-2-white-2/

Audino, the Hearing Pokemon

I saw this image posted by a Facebook page named "Team Rocket" and after I finished laughing a few minutes later, I decided to look Audino up and see what I could make with him. Audino actually has the stats of a decent wall. So here's a build that plays up to that potential.

Fling
Sweet Kiss
Attract
Wish or Rest

EVs: 252 HP, 128 Defense, 128 Sp. Defense

Hold the Burn Orb, and use Fling the first turn in. Now the opponent is Burned, so he'll lose HP over time and have 50% less Attack. Sweet Kiss will Confuse the target, and Attract will infatuate it(assuming it's the opposite Gender). Wish or Rest is for healing, which one is up to you.

How to get this Audino?

(1) Breed a male Togetic that knows Sweet Kiss and Wish with a female Audino(both learned via level up). Aim for the Regenerator Ability, and a Sp. Attack-reducing Nature.
(2) Teach Attract and Fling(and Rest if you want that in stead of Wish) to Audino via their respective TMs. Attract can be taught to Audino via level up as well, at lv15.

It makes for a good stalling wall, confuse and infatuate so you don't get attacked often, and burning to weaken and drain your opponent's health. The only problem is that the Burn Orb goes away so it only really works against one target, and does not work against Fire-types at all. But even then, you can still fall back on the Confusion damage, or just stall like crazy until they Struggle, all of those attacks have a lot off PP. One substitution worth considering is swapping Attract for Covet, so that you can steal the target's item and Fling it at them for more damage(unless it's a berry, in which case hold on to it).

Questions, comments, etc.?

Brock Out.

Black 2/White 2 New Breeding Mechanics

Black 2 and White 2 were recently released worldwide, and with them comes some new breeding mechanics that you should probably be aware of. This information comes from Serebii.

Nature Breeding:

Before, if a Pokemon held an Everstone, its Nature had a 50% chance of being passed down to the Egg. Now in B2/W2, it is a 100% chance of it being passed down. So breeding for Nature's has been made easier. If both parents hold the Everstone, the chance is 50% for either parent's Nature.

Ability Breeding:

Before, a Pokemon had a 50% chance of receiving either of its Abilities(or of course 100% if it can only have one Ability). Now, they have given the female parent a bigger role, that is, whatever Ability the mother has, the Egg has an 80% chance of having that Ability(or whatever Ability the Egg would have that would become that Ability, the example Serebii gives is a Venonat's Compound Eyes Ability becoming Tinted Lens as a Venomoth.). With a Ditto, the chance goes back to 50% for both. 


As for Dream World Abilities, the mother must have the DW Ability, and if it does, the Egg has a 60% chance of hatching with that Ability, and 20% for each of the other two.

Nurseries:


This is a new mechanic, that unlocks after you beat the Elite Four and you get your Join Avenue up to level 15. You will be able to purchase items that decrease the hatching time of the Eggs in your party.

http://serebii.net/black2white2/breed.shtml

Brock Out.

Lickitung, the Licking Pokemon

Well, this guy just looks like a pervert in the making, but....he has a use.

Belly Drum
Thief
Rest
Rollout(will be replaced with Explosion)

EVs: 252 HP, 160 Attack, 96 Defense (maximize HP, give a good hunk to Attack, and give to defenses based on IVs/Nature)

Lickilicky is the only Pokemon that gets a STAB from Explosion, which already has 250 power, so that's 375 power after the STAB. Belly Drum maximizes your Attack stat, which means physical attacks have their power quadrupled. So that 375 power becomes 1500. Now have it hold the Normal Gem to double that. 3000 power with a single attack. There is no typo there, my friends. 3000 power is still 750 with a 1/4 resistance, and 750 is the equivalent of 5 Hyper Beams. Catch your breath while I tell you how to get this A-bomb.

1) Breed a female Lickitung that knows Rollout with a male Snorlax that knows Thief, Rollout, and Belly Drum. Aim for the Ability Own Tempo and a Sp. Attack-lowering Nature.
2) Raise the baby Lickitung to lv2 and replace Rollout with Explosion via TM48.

A small flaw is that Explosion is Normal, so it cannot affect Ghost-types. However, Thief after using Belly Drum has 160 power, and is super-effective against Ghost-types, making it 320 power, so that helps with that. And it helps that Ghost-types are more about their offenses than their defenses. Rest is there for support against those scarce defensive Ghost-types.

This is essentially a one-hit KO for the enemy, and is useful against those Pokemon that just won't die(have you ever fought a Milotic? Those guys are nearly impossible to kill in my experience).

Is it semi-clear I'm a fan of sacrificing my own men to inflict damage on the enemy? Would you believe I'm not Japanese? Was that racist stereotyping? Do you have any questions or comments? Here's a hint: the answer to all of those questions are the same.

Brock out.

Venonat, the Insect Pokemon

Alrighty, who loves Bug-type Pokemon? ME NEITHER!!! But let's do one anyhow. Here's a Venonat:

Giga Drain
Quiver Dance
Baton Pass
Signal Beam

Well, it's fairly straight-forward. Quiver Dance is there to up your Special Attack and Special Defense and Speed. Signal Beam confuses. Giga Drain heals. Baton Pass is there to preserve the effects of Quiver Dance. You'll be fast enough to get it off if you're low on health and want to pass on the effects to another Pokemon. 

How to get him:

1) Breed a male Surskit that knows Giga Drain(Gen IV TM or Dream World move only) and Baton Pass(learns at lv43, but only as a Surskit, not a Masquerain) with a female Venonat/Venomoth.

2) Aim for an Attack-lowering Nature, either Bold, Timid, Modest, or Calm. Either Ability is fine, it is up to preference, I'd probably go for Shield Dust and a Nature, just to maximize it's low Defense.

3) Level up the spawn to teach it Signal Beam and Quiver Dance.

EVs: Spread as you will, but I'd put it between his HP, Defense, and Sp. Defense.

I think the best way to use this guy is to pump up the Quiver Dance as much as you can, and then Baton Pass to the Cottonee I posted a while ago. That Whimsicott becomes a force to be reckoned with after it uses Cotton Guard twice. 

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome. 

Brock out.

Aipom, the Long Tail Pokemon

Monkeys are freaking awesome. Especially this one.

Fake Out
Double Hit
U-Turn
Acrobatics

EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP

Hold a Normal Gem, and have the Technician Ability. Observe Fake Out. This Attack is guaranteed to make the opponent flinch if it hits. Between the STAB, Technician, and the Normal Gem, Fake Out will deliver a blow of 180, AND make the target flinch, allowing you to deliver another attack without worrying about fainting beforehand. A Double Hit will do 2 hits of 61 power each, so that isn't bad. Acrobatics will have a power of 165 now that you are no longer holding the Normal Gem. U-Turn will only have 70 power, BUT it will switch you out, meaning you can use Fake Out again later in the battle. Keep in mind that Ambipom has a respectable Attack stat.

To get the little simian of destruction, just...

1) Breed a female Aipom with a male Smeargle that knows Double Hit, U-Turn, Acrobatics, and Fake Out.
2) Aim for the Run Away Ability(it will become Technician upon evolving) and an Adamant Nature.

Double Hit is really only there so Aipom can evolve at lv 2, after that, you're free to get rid of it for something else, perhaps Low Sweep or Covet. Just remember his purpose is to kill on the second turn. If you don't think you'll kill the target on the second turn, it is recommended that you use U-Turn in order to get out of there. Ideas and thoughts and so forth are always welcome.

Brock out.

Spheal, the Clap Pokemon

First, I'm sure "Clap" refers to the action, so get your mind out of the gutter. Now this guy is designed as a bulky powerhouse.

Hail
Aqua Ring
Blizzard
Earthquake

EV's: 252 HP, 128 Defense(or Attack), 128 Sp. Defense(or Sp. Attack)

To get the little sphere of never-ending destruction...

1) Breed a male Seel that knows Aqua Ring, Hail, and Blizzard with a female Spheal until you get a male.
2) Teach the hatchling Earthquake via TM.
3) Breed that male Spheal with the female Spheal(because incest is fun!). Aim for a Speed-reducing Nature and the Ice Body Ability.

Much like with the Snover I posted, this build performs best in Hail. Blizzard will never miss(and of course have that lovely STAB, pushing it to 180 power), and Ice Body will recover some of your HP each turn. Aqua Ring will also recover some of your HP each turn. Earthquake is another powerful attack that takes care of two of your weaknesses. Between Blizzard and Earthquake, you are super-effective against 9 types, not too shabby for just two attacks. Have it hold Leftovers to further increase it's healing ability, or perhaps a Life Orb if you go more for the powerhouse version, in which case the Aqua Ring and Ice Body would be compensating for the HP lost from Life Orb.

So that's the Clap Pokemon. On a side-note, I've now officially touched on at least 1 Pokemon of each of the 17 types. Woot. Any comments/suggestions?

Brock out.

Scyther, the Mantis Pokemon

I think we can all agree that Scyther ranks high amongst the coolest pokemon. To many he is just another sweeper. But if you're smart enough to be reading this, he is a GOD.

Fury Cutter
Aerial Ace
Endure
Reversal

EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP

How do you get this tank of a bug? Simply.

1) Breed a female Scyther with a male Heracross that knows Reversal, Aerial Ace, and Endure. Aim for a Jolly or Adamant Nature and the Technician Ability.
2) Level up to learn Fury Cutter.

Hold the Eviolite. This will give Scyther greater defenses than his evolve form. Do not evolve him. Although Scizor has 20 more Attack power, his Speed is lowered too much to really make it work, and the Defenses are met with the Eviolite. Fury Cutter will receive a STAB and a Technician bonus. Use it once, its power will be 45, then 120, then 120(it loses the Technician bonus after the 2nd turn because the base power would exceed 60), then 240 after that until you change moves. Aerial Ace will have 135 power and never miss, so that's a useful attack in many scenarios. Use Endure if you think you will be killed, you'll go down to 1 HP. When you have 1 HP, Reversal's power is maxed, at 200. And since Scyther has beautiful Speed, you'll likely get to use Reversal on the enemy before he can kill you. And he can keep using that on any pokemon the opponent sends out afterwards, just keep killing with Reversal. Scyther's high Attack stat will make for incredible power on any of his attacks.

Screw Arceus, you worship Scyther now! Any questions/comments?

Brock out.

Timburr, the Muscular Pokemon

Looking for a powerhouse, something powerful but also something that can take a hit? You need Timburr!

Mach Punch
Hammer Arm
Payback
Dig

EVs: 252 Attack, 252 HP, 4 Defense

How can we get this adorable destruction machine? Easily, that's how.

1) Breed a female Timburr with a male Infernape that knows Mach Punch, Payback, and Dig.
2) Aim for an Adamant Nature, and the Sheer Force Ability. Level up the spawn to learn Hammer Arm.

Between those 4 moves, he'll be super-effective against 10 different types. Be certain to have Timburr hold the Life Orb. Hammer Arm is a powerful Fighting move that will lower your Speed, one of his lesser stats that's not worth anything anyhow. Between the STAB, Sheer Force, and Life Orb, Hammer Arm will deliver a blow of 254 power. Mach Punch will let you attack first, and between the same 3 effects will have 102 power. That attack will get you out of some tight situations since you can deliver a fairly powerful attack before your opponent can react. Payback is there for the Ghost types, mostly, it will have 169 power, assuming you attack after the opponent. Dig will have 135 power(Though you may want to teach it Earthquake instead, for 169 power, but Conkeldurr will have to learn that via TM because Timburr cannot). And keep in mind that Conkeldurr has a beautiful Attack stat.

Why hold the Life Orb? Because Sheer Force has a hidden little effect. It will negate the damage taken while holding the Life Orb while still giving you the 30% attack bonus. It has to do with how the damage bonus is applied during the attack and the damage is taken after the attack, I don't quite understand it, but it works.

So enjoy the powerhouse Timburr! Questions/comments?

Brock out.

Miscellaneous Breeding Notes

If you've been reading the blog from the beginning, then you know just about everything there is to know. This post is merely going to wrap up the loose ends that I left out because, on their own, they cannot make for a good update.

Baby Pokemon

Baby Pokemon were introduced in Generation II, and were released in the following Generations as well. These are often not found in the wild, while their evolutions are. Baby Pokemon cannot breed until they evolve. They include....

Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Togepi, Tyrogue, Smoochum, Elekid, Magby, Azurill, Wynaut, Budew, Chingling, Bonsly, Mime Jr., Happiny, Munchlax, Riolu, and Mantyke

Some of them can simply be bred for, but some can only be bred if the mother holds one of the Incense items.   To get an Azurill, the Marill/Azumarill parent must hold the Sea Incense. To get a Wynaut, the Wobbuffet parent must hold the Lax Incense. To get a Budew, the Roselia/Roserade parent must hold the Rose Incense. To get Chingling, the Chimecho parent must hold the Pure Incense. To get a Bonsly, the Sudowoodo parent must hold the Rock Incense. To get Mime Jr., the Mr. Mime parent must hold the Odd Incense. To get Happiny, the Chansey/Blissey parent must hold the Luck Incense. To get a Munchlax, the Snorlax parent must hold the Full Incense. To get Mantyke, the Mantine parent must hold the Wave Incense.

If you breed without the Incense items, you will not get the Baby Pokemon, but rather the next stage of evolution. Baby Pokemon often have different Egg Moves than if the Incense item was not held. Budew can learn Extrasensory as an Egg Move, but Roselia cannot learn it as an Egg Move.

Dual-Species Pokemon

4 Pokemon are actually just 2 families of Pokemon. Nidoran♀ can be bred with a compatible Pokemon, and if the result is a female, it will be Nidoran♀, but if the result is male, it will be a Nidoran♂, a different evolution line entirely. A similar result if you breed a Nidoran♂ with a Ditto.

The other family is Illumise and Volbeat. If you breed Illumise with a compatible Pokemon, a female baby will be an Illumise, but a male will be a Volbeat. Again, a similar result if you breed Volbeat with a Ditto.

And it should be noted that while a Nidoran♀ can have Eggs, Nidorina and Nidoqueen may not. No reason has been given for this, but it is just something that should be noted. Nidorino and Nidoking are able to produce an Egg.

The Dream World & Breeding

The Dream World does not have a huge part in breeding, just one thing worthy of mentioning. If you breed a female Dream World Pokemon, there is a 60% that the Dream World Ability will pass down to the Egg. It's difficult to find a female in the Dream World, only about a 25% chance. Any Dream World attacks will not carry through.

Breeding for Shiny Pokemon

In case you are unaware, a Shiny Pokemon is a Pokemon that has a different color than it's supposed to have.  The first Shiny Pokemon most all of us know of is the red Gyarados from the Lake of Rage in Generation II(and the Generation IV remakes). This Gyarados, like all Shiny Pokemon, had no special Ability, no unique attacks, he had the same potential as any other Gyarados. But he was Shiny. Shiny is rare. If you are a person who likes to have something rare, you want a Shiny Pokemon.

The mighty red Gyarados that lives in the Lake of Rage

Before Generation IV, the chance for hatching a Shiny Pokemon from an Egg was the same as your chance of finding it in the wild, 1/8192, or .01%. When the Generation IV games were created, however, the Director of the game, Junichi Masuda created a way to increase those chances dramatically. The Masuda Method, as it has come to be known as, is a way to increase the chances of getting a Shiny Pokemon through the Egg. If you breed 2 Pokemon from different language games, your chance goes from 1/8192 to 1/1639, or .06%. That may not seem like much, but it's still a better chance that may as well be taken advantage of. To make things better, come Generation V, the Masuda Method's success rate went from 1/1639 to 1/1366, or .07%.

Yeah, the chances still are not great, but you are 7 times more likely to get a Shiny Pokemon if you use this method. It was probably put into the game to make people want to use the GTS more, and that's just fine. Try to get a Ditto from another language, it may very well make your life easier. Misty got a Japanese Ditto.

Graduation

Congrats, you are now well-versed in the art of Pokemon Breeding! *"Pomp and Circumstance" plays*

There is nothing more for me to teach you. Not that I know of. If I find anything out, I will of course post it to this blog. So far, I've posted a lesson, then 2 examples of Masterbred Pokemon. From here on, unless I learn something else, it will just be example Pokemon, and if they occur, some videos of some good battles I was a part of.

You may have noticed a few changes in the format of the blog. At the bottom, you can see that there are ways to follow the blog via email, as well as buttons to share it via Facebook and Twitter. I also added a Labels display at the top-right of the blog. There are currently 2 Labels, "Breeding Guide Posts" will make the site display only the lessons, and "Masterbreeding Demonstrations" will take you to the example Pokemon. This way, no matter how many examples I put up from here on, you'll be able to quickly get to the lessons if you are new or just need a reminder.

Thank you for your continual patronage, and for boosting my ego! If you have any questions or comments on anything covered in this post, just leave a comment below.

Brock out.

Kecleon, the Color Swap Pokemon

Have you ever encountered a Pokemon who just seems to be resistant or immune to all your attacks? Here's the solution...

Skill Swap
Shadow Claw
Recover
Psybeam

EVs: 252 Sp. Defense, 128 HP, 128 Defense

Kecleon is unique in that he is the only Pokemon with the Color Change Ability. If you have this Ability, your type changes to whatever you were last hit with. If you're hit with Water Gun, you turn into the Water-type, if you're hit with Rock Blast you turn into the Rock-type, and so forth. This Ability was neat, and at first glance it seems like a cool defensive Ability. But in reality, this Ability lets your opponent manipulate you so you take only super-effective hits. With this build, you can pass that hazard to your enemy!

Here's how to get this little devil...

1) Breed a female Kecleon that knows Psybeam with a male Smeargle that knows Skill Swap and Recover.
2) Teach the offspring Shadow Claw via the TM.
3) Breed the male and female Kecleon to acquire a Kecleon with the desired moveset. Aim for a Speed-reducing Nature, I would say a Relaxed Nature is best, though Sassy or Brave are fine too.
NOTE: Smeargle are the only way to get this guy in Generation V. You can use Generation IV, but note that Recover is only an Egg Move in the HeartGold/SoulSilver versions of the game, not Diamond/Pearl/Platinum versions. Remember that you would want to breed Recover into the Kecleon first, then teach it Skill Swap.

Skill Swap will allow you to trade Abilities with the target, so your weaknesses will no longer be up to your opponent, in fact, you determine his weaknesses now. Shadow Claw is a powerful Ghost-type attack. Ghost beats Ghost in this game, so you can just keep bombarding him with super-effective high-critical-chance-ing Shadow Claws, and he should be dead in no time. Psybeam is there to change a Normal-type's type, since Ghost cannot hit Normal, and there's no reason to be powerless against them. Recover is there to extend the time you're alive. Kecleon has excellent Sp. Defense, but his HP and Defense leave more to be desired. It could be a good idea to send a different Pokemon out before this Kecleon, one that can use Trick Room so that Kecleon's Speed isn't a big issue.

For those of you with Diamond/Pearl/Platinum versions, here's an alternative build for a Kecleon that works just as well...

Skill Swap
Sucker Punch
Psybeam
Drain Punch

EVs: 252 Sp. Defense, 128 Defense, 128 Attack

It works the same way, really. You use Skill Swap, but instead of just bombarding with 1 attack, you use a trio of attacks. Fighting(Drain Punch) beats Dark. Dark(Sucker Punch) beats Psychic. Psychic(Psybeam) beats Dark. Your healing comes from Drain Punch rather than Recover, which is why I swapped the EVs in this build from HP to Attack, so you get the most healing you can. You may want to hold the Big Root to better your healing, or maybe go for an item that increases your Attack power, such as the Life Orb or Muscle Band, so that Sucker Punch can get a little boost as well, your choice. This build also requires no breeding, it's just 2 TMs and some leveling up.

So that's my latest little devil. You don't have to restrict your moves to these types either, you can pick and choose your types. Grass Knot/Aqua Tail/Fire Punch for example, or Rock Tomb/Dig/Ice Punch. As long as Skill Swap is in the moveset, and you have attack types that beat each other, you can make your opponent hate life. Questions/comments?

Brock out.

Snover, the Frosted Tree Pokemon

You know how Mismagius died to kill? This guy is designed to kill AFTER death! I'm talking damage-over-time, fools! Here's the Snover that the enemy will never forget!

Toxic
Leech Seed
Blizzard
Rest

EVs: 252 HP, 128 Defense, 128 Sp. Defense

This guy is designed to drain the enemy's HP quickly. Because of his Ability, Snow Warning, a Hail storm appears and that will cause damage to the enemy(unless its an Ice-type). Leech Seed will drain the enemy's HP and heal your's. Toxic will slowly do more and more damage over time. Blizzard will never miss as long as it is hailing, and Rest will prolong your existence.

How might one get him?

1) Breed a male Oddish that knows Leech Seed with a female Snover.
2) Teach the spawn Blizzard, Toxic, and Rest via their respective TMs. Aim for an Attack-lowering Nature, either Bold, Modest, or Calm.

You set up the Toxic, then the Leech Seed, and blast the foe with a 270 power Blizzard until you need to Rest. The enemy will have lost 3/8 of his HP by your second turn, and he'd likely die by the end of the 3rd turn, 4th turn at the latest. Death by ice, poison, and grass! This is a great build to take care of those Pokemon that seem to resist all of your attacks or have built up their defenses a tad too high for you. Comments or suggestions are always welcome. Rest may be substituted, I just went with that for recovery, I also considered Ingrain, Substitute, Double Team, or whatever you see fit.

Brock out.