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Ask a Question Thread - READ FIRST POST

Zachmac

Well-Known Member
Wait... what? I thought Hidden Power was just some useless move?

Eek.
At it's most powerful, it reaches 70 power...but it's ability to be any type can be essential. For example, Latios has a difficult time taking down Ferrothorn. Pretty much all of the thing's good moves, Dragon Pulse, Thunderbolt, Surf, ect, do very little damage to it. Hidden Power fire, on the other hand, can usually put a huge dent in it.
 

ChaosBlizzard

Crit Happens.
I have no clue. I am going off of the VGC '12 Glaceon Choice Specs set-up as the VGC's are the only ones telling me what IVs I actually need.

I'm assuming you mean this. The reason they list specific IVs there is so you can get that specific type of Hidden Power; in that case, Ground. If for some reason you want to deviate from the listed moveset and not give it Hidden Power, then the IVs don't matter past the point of "have good IVs."
 

CaptPonyholder

New Member
I'm assuming you mean this. The reason they list specific IVs there is so you can get that specific type of Hidden Power; in that case, Ground. If for some reason you want to deviate from the listed moveset and not give it Hidden Power, then the IVs don't matter past the point of "have good IVs."

Ah, but that is what confuses me. What constitutes good IVs? If I was going to go for a Lilligant, what IVs would I need to specialize in?

Still learning, I kind of miss the day back in first grade where all you had to do was catch an assortment of 6 pokemon from a list of nearly 250 and just complement each other's movesets. Not have to worry about IVs/Evs/Abilities/Natures.

Oh well, it should get easier over time.
 

CaptPonyholder

New Member
At it's most powerful, it reaches 70 power...but it's ability to be any type can be essential. For example, Latios has a difficult time taking down Ferrothorn. Pretty much all of the thing's good moves, Dragon Pulse, Thunderbolt, Surf, ect, do very little damage to it. Hidden Power fire, on the other hand, can usually put a huge dent in it.

Ah. Whenever I used it before, it did very little damage as I had no idea what type it was. I only just played the stories of each game since Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald. So I haven't kept up with all the moves, types, changes, or hell: Most of the 4th generation pokemon.
 

ChaosBlizzard

Crit Happens.
Ah, but that is what confuses me. What constitutes good IVs? If I was going to go for a Lilligant, what IVs would I need to specialize in?

Ok, honestly, let me give you a little advice that will simplify things a lot for you. IVs almost don't matter except for two very specific cases.

1. The type and base power of Hidden Power is determined by your IVs. If you want a specific Hidden Power, you have to make sure all six IVs come out to a spread that yields that.
2. The only stat you ever need to get to a specific number sometimes is Speed, because Speed is the only stat where a one-point difference can actually matter. There's no functional difference between 300 Attack and 301 Attack; there is a very big difference between 300 Speed and 301 Speed if your opponent also has 300 Speed. Many of the more carefully calculated EV spreads you'll read about have the number of Speed EVs that they do because they are calculated such that they put you at a certain amount of Speed at Level 100. Those spreads are calculated assuming that you have a perfect 31 in the Speed IV however. If that's not the case, the spread, as least its Speed component, is misleading you. You can compensate for an imperfect Speed IV by adding a comparable amount of Speed EVs to the spread so that you still hit that final amount correctly, but you have to be aware of that.

Outside of those two cases, IVs are mathematically negligible when you look at how much they contribute to the final amount. An IV of 31 versus an IV of 20 is going to hurt your stat by about 10 points, out of what is typically several hundred. IVs are super important when talking about Speed, and 100% critical when talking about getting a certain Hidden Power, but they are really not as important as most people make them out to be when talking about everything else. If you can get 20+ in most of your stats and 31s in the stats you put EVs into, that's all you should worry about, really.
 

OceanicLanturn

Non non non!
Should I go with Bug Bite or Silver Wind for a Scizor with Technician?

Bug Bite for a few reasons.

1. Silver Wind has low PP at base 5. Also, unlike Bug Bite, it's secondary effect is like 10% and may not be as helpful as say, cancelling a berry.
2. Silver Wind is special, while Bug Bite is physical. Scizor has higher attack and its special attack is quite bad.
3. Silver Wind doesn't get the boost from any of its boosting moves. Bug Bite gets boosted from SD.

However, U-Turn is also a plausible option over Bug Bite in certain situations, like Choice Band, where you don't want to get permanently locked into Bug Bite (as steels are far from few in OU, while you're definitely gonna switch if Heatran comes into play) but Bug Bite is better for SD sets.

Hope this helps.
 

redcharzard

Semi-competitive
Okay, that makes sense then.

My only question now is: How do I get my Eevee's to breed the correct IVs? For example: Eevee 1 is Female with IV's specializing in Health, but weak in SpD and SpA. However Male Eevee 5 is strong in SpA at 30 (what I need), but weak in SpD. Would the offspring keep the SpD and HP or would it still be completely random?

Also: How the hell have I gone through 15 eevee's all being male? It should be 50/50 for Male/Female right? Am I THAT unlucky? Is there any easy way to assure that I get a Female? Is there a secret to getting a quiet nature as well?

Eevee's gender ratio is either 75/25 meaning 75% of the time it well be male or 87.5 to 12.5 meaning 87.5% of the time it well be male.

As for passing done the IVs you can equip the power items used for EV training to pass down the IV associated with the stat that the item gives additional EVs to. Example I have a Eevee with max s.atk IVs and I want to pass that down to its offspring so I equip it with power lens which increases the amount of s.atk EVs I get when I EV train. This makes it so I have a much better chance at passing done the correct IV(not 100% chance more like 75 or 80% chance of passing it down.) You can only do this with 1 stat at the time as using the power items on both pokemon well result in them negating each other. After that you have to hope you get lucky. Normally when you breed 3 random stats from the 2 pokemon in the daycare are picked and passed down to the offspring if the same stat is picked from both pokemon like both have their s.atk picked then one is passed down at random. With the power item you remove 1 of the 3 random stats that you pass down for the selected stat to be passed down so its all luck from there.

To pass down natures you can equip the Eevee that has the correct nature with an everstone which well give it a 50% chance of passing down the nature of the pokemon holding it if you are breeding in b/w or any older game while in b2/w2 it is 100%. You can use both a power item and everstone to pass down the nature from one parent and the IV from another.
 

TheGreaterLucario

Well-Known Member
Sup guys, TheGreaterLucario here. Coming up this coming week for me is the Texas State VGCs. I'm wondering if any of you guys here on the forums can give me any helpful strategy tips. So far, the only real GOOD Pokemon I have in my Party is my Multiscale Dragonite with extremely high Attack stats and a physical build (Aqua Tail, Fire Punch, Dragon Rush and Stone Edge). I'm also thinking of using a Rhydon (with a pro-Defense Nature) holding an Eviolite knowing Megahorn, Avalanche, Rock Blast and Rock Climb (which I'm planning to change). So, any tips?
 

Zachmac

Well-Known Member
VGC question, are hazards significant enough to justify stealth rocks>protect on a landorus t?
In VGC? Hazards are good in single battles, but a complete waste of time in doubles. In most battles, pokemon aren't swapped out at all, and when they are, only one moves. Stealth rocks is especially bad since it hardly does any damage to most pokemon.

Protect, definitely.
Sup guys, TheGreaterLucario here. Coming up this coming week for me is the Texas State VGCs. I'm wondering if any of you guys here on the forums can give me any helpful strategy tips. So far, the only real GOOD Pokemon I have in my Party is my Multiscale Dragonite with extremely high Attack stats and a physical build (Aqua Tail, Fire Punch, Dragon Rush and Stone Edge). I'm also thinking of using a Rhydon (with a pro-Defense Nature) holding an Eviolite knowing Megahorn, Avalanche, Rock Blast and Rock Climb (which I'm planning to change). So, any tips?
It's best that you make a team that's prepared for the top threats. For example, you'll want a reliable way to take out Cresselia, Hitmontop, and Latios. I don't play VGC much, so I don't know much about top threats, but you could always check their counters list on Smogon. Though, you'll probably need someone else to tell you who the top threats are.

Dragon Rush is rather inaccurate, so use Dragon Claw instead. You team seems relatively slow, so a pokemon with Tail Wind or Trick Room may help. Though I don't think the first will help with your Rhydon's speed much.
 

Rebel562

Odd Teambuilder
I'm trying to decide on a Hidden Power for my pure Water-type Pokemon. I've singled it down to either Bug or Flying, as they both meet my needs of hitting Grass for SE damage (plus two other types, depending on which) and otherwise hitting everything for neutral damage in synergy with a Water-type STAB (if I'm correct, they both accomplish this and these are the only two Types that do). But which one should I use? (This is for present UU to OU metagame.)

Bug: fills the criteria listed above and also helps with stereotypically specially-based Psychic-types (this is a physically-defensive staller, with enough set-up to discourage switching out, which is why I want neutral coverage). However, boasts many more resistances than Flying.
Flying: fills the criteria listed above and assists with stereotypically physically-based Fighting-types, further increasing physical-defense capabilities.
 

Ðew™

Definition of insanity
I'm trying to decide on a Hidden Power for my pure Water-type Pokemon. I've singled it down to either Bug or Flying, as they both meet my needs of hitting Grass for SE damage (plus two other types, depending on which) and otherwise hitting everything for neutral damage in synergy with a Water-type STAB (if I'm correct, they both accomplish this and these are the only two Types that do). But which one should I use? (This is for present UU to OU metagame.)

Bug: fills the criteria listed above and also helps with stereotypically specially-based Psychic-types (this is a physically-defensive staller, with enough set-up to discourage switching out, which is why I want neutral coverage). However, boasts many more resistances than Flying.
Flying: fills the criteria listed above and assists with stereotypically physically-based Fighting-types, further increasing physical-defense capabilities.

Go with neither and choose fire. Neither are gonna hit ferrothorn, the bane of existance for most water types, as hard as fire. Though, to be fair, most water types do learn ice beam to hit grasses.

If you're running rain then flying is your best bet.
 

cheeselord

Largely Inactive
Also most fighting types have higher special defense anyway. But yeah go with fire or fighting.
 

T.W.I.

Undercover Rocket
Kind of a random question, but something just to entertain my curiosity.

What would be the strongest special and physical attack in the game WITHOUT stat modifying items (ex mystic water), boosting moves (ex swords dance), weather (ex rain) and type resistances? Abilities are fine.

Unless I'm wrong, I THINK:

Explosion - Lickilicky
Hyper Beam - Porygon-z (with adaptability)
 

redcharzard

Semi-competitive
Kind of a random question, but something just to entertain my curiosity.

What would be the strongest special and physical attack in the game WITHOUT stat modifying items (ex mystic water), boosting moves (ex swords dance), weather (ex rain) and type resistances? Abilities are fine.

Unless I'm wrong, I THINK:

Explosion - Lickilicky
Hyper Beam - Porygon-z (with adaptability)

would say high jump kick medicham due to pure power might be a contender, apart from that deoxys attack form psycho boost might be a contender for strongest special.
 

cheetah180

New Member
So I just battled an Exeggutor via wifi. It was faster then both my Scizor and Breloom and I've EV trained both in speed to their max. I don't understand. It used hidden power and leaf storm so neither were strike first moves. How can it be faster?
 

Ðew™

Definition of insanity
So I just battled an Exeggutor via wifi. It was faster then both my Scizor and Breloom and I've EV trained both in speed to their max. I don't understand. It used hidden power and leaf storm so neither were strike first moves. How can it be faster?

More than likely scarfed unless someone brought a hack vs you without your knowledge.
 
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