Pokemon Focus: #160 - Feraligatr

Introduction

Ah, Feraligatr, the Pokemon whose actual name is so long it won't fit in 12 characters. He was our first starter, and a key member of our team early on. However, for the past generations Feraligatr somewhat suffered by having a huge Attack stat but no STAB to take advantage of it. As such, 4th Gen's biggest gift to it was the physical-special split, giving the Pokemon some physical Water attacks to work off of, and become a truly threatening force. In a way, Feraligatr resembles Gyarados, though it's not quite as beastly as that behemoth. It's still quite powerful, though.

Capture/Training

Starter, pick or trade, soft-reset if you want, yada-yada.

Actually, training a Totodile might be a bit difficult, as it doesn't really learn any physical Water attacks until pretty late. That's not to say it doesn't get any physical attacks at all, and between Bite/Crunch, Ice Fang, Slash, and assorted other moves it can learn, it can manage fine as a Water-typed general physical attacker. However, you will likely have to wait until late-game, upon acquiring Waterfall, for this Pokemon to really gain some power.

Other than that, there aren't any real big tricks. Totodile evolves into Croconaw at Lv. 18, then into Feraligatr at Lv. 30. Delaying that final evolution 21 levels to learn Superpower 12 levels earlier is an option. That's all.

Stats

85 HP, 105 Atk, 100 Def, 79 Sp. Atk, 83 Sp. Def, 78 Spd

Decently bulky, and good strength.

For the most part, re-focus EVs out of Special Attack. More Attack and Speed is good.

Abilities

Torrent is the Water-starter standard. It boosts Water attacks by 50% at Feraligatr's last third. This can either be a nice bonus or part of an intentional strategy to become a truly threatening sweeper.

Moves

Feraligatr is a physically-oriented Pokemon, and one of the best things it could ask for in the generation shift was physical Water attacks. Waterfall is great in this regard; decent power plus the ability to Flinch opponents is perfect for a primary physical attack. Aqua Tail is another option, but its accuracy and lack of secondary effect keep it from being the best choice. Aqua Jet strikes first and is a great addition to any moveset. A novelty Feraligatr might use Surf or Hydro Pump to surprise special-defense-weak physical walls.

Feraligatr also has a beautiful list of secondary physical attacks. Return combines well with Water in general, as the combination is resisted by few Pokemon at the moment. Flail is an alternate Normal attack, and works well with moves like Substitute. Crunch hits Ghosts and Psychics hard, while Superpower is a unique move that can hurt badly, though the drop in Attack and Defense afterwards isn't that nice. Focus Punch can find its way onto Substitute-based sets. Low Kick is an alternate Fighting-type attack that can trip up heavier foes. Earthquake is a classic, as always. Rock Slide also has a nice flinch rate. Water and Ice always go well together, so it goes without saying that Ice Punch is a solid choice. Dragon Claw and Outrage hit Dragons if you don't want an Ice attack.

If you really want some special attacks, in addition to a Water attack, you have Ice Beam, Dragon Pulse, Focus Blast, and Ancientpower (for the six-stat boost).

A great way to kick up the power of Feraligatr's attacks is with some power-boosting moves. Swords Dance is a straight kick to Attack, while Dragon Dance takes advantage of Feraligatr's decent bulk to build up Attack and Speed, making it something similar to Gyarados.

All things considered, Feraligatr is a very straightforward Pokemon. It has other support moves, but for the most part anything that does not contribute directly to its offense can be ignored. As such, the last move of note is Substitute, which combines well with its ability as well as giving it some protection from status and a shield to hide behind as it Dances up.

Moveset 1: SubDance
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance/Swords Dance
- Waterfall/Aqua Jet
- Return/Flail

Sub, do some dancing behind the Sub, then attack. Water+Normal provide great coverage in this regard. For best effects, use a pinch-berry. Salac works well with Swords Dance for an extra boost of Speed, while Liechi works with Dragon Dance for an extra Attack kick.

General Moveset
- (primary Water attack)
- (secondary attack)
- (secondary attack)
- (boosting move)/(secondary attack)

Earthquake and Ice Punch are two good choices for secondary attacks; alternately, one could use Return and Aqua Jet, as Water and Normal have great neutral coverage. Throw in either Dragon Dance or Swords Dance, and start sweeping! Or throw on a Choice Band and a fourth move.

Items

Aside from those already mentioned, Life Orb works well to power moves and lower Feraligatr's HP into Torrent range. Leftovers is good if Feraligatr plans on staying in for a while. A Salac Berry can also be mixed with Swords Dance for extra Speed.

Effective Movesets

1. Dragon Dance

- Dragon Dance

- Waterfall

- Ice Punch

- Earthquake

2. Swords Dance

- Swords Dance

- Waterfall

- Return

- Aqua Jet

3. SubDD

- Substitute

- Dragon Dance

- Waterfall

- Return

4. Choice

- Waterfall

- Ice Punch

- Crunch

- Earthquake

5. SubLiechi

- Substitute

- Dragon Dance

- Waterfall

- Flail

Future Sight

Feraligatr got little in the way of new moves, but it got a cool Dream World ability. Encourage boosts the power of any move with a beneficial secondary effect by 30%, in exchange for dropping said secondary effect. To put this in perspective, Waterfall is now a base 104-power physical Water attack with STAB and perfect accuracy (albeit no longer with a Flinch chance). Yes, it is more powerful than Surf, Earthquake, and Return. Other moves, like Crunch and Ice Fang (maybe Ice Punch depending on future developments), also get this nifty boost. As an additional bonus, Life Orb recoil is also negated if such moves are chosen... while the Life Orb boost remains...

Pokemon Focus: #157 - Typhlosion

Introduction

The second of the GSC starters. The big new draw for Typhlosion this time around is Eruption. This move has a killer base 150 power at full health, and with Typhlosion's great Special Attack and Speed, plus some help from a Choice Scarf, it can easily trailblaze its way through teams. Of course, it has other Fire-type attacks to play with, and is a decent choice on its own, but Eruption is what really brings it out of mediocrity.

Capture/Training

It's a starter. Pick it, or trade for it. Soft-reset if you want a female or one with a good nature. That's all for getting one.

Cyndaquil evolves into Quilava at Lv. 14 and into Typhlosion at Lv. 36. Strangely enough, there is no difference in the levels Quilava and Typhlosion learn moves, so just evolve them as soon as possible.

Statistics

78 HP, 84 Atk, 78 Def, 109 Sp. Atk, 85 Sp. Def, 100 Spd

When it comes to abusing Eruption, you need two things: you need to be powerful, and you need to be fast. Typhlosion nicely covers both those bases. Base 109 Special Attack and Base 100 Speed are great at doing what they need to do: hit hard and hit fast before your opponent can strike to weaken your Eruption. That said, Base 84 Attack isn't horrible, either, and gives Typhlosion an alternate outlet for damaging special walls.

Stat distrubution, then, needs to go to make these two stats even better. A Choice Scarf-user doesn't strictly need the Speed as the Scarf will boost that up nicely, so if that's the plan, throw some EVs into Attack to run a mixed set, and use a defense-stat-hindering nature if possible. Otherwise, max Special Attack and Speed, and try going for a Modest or Timid nature.

Attacks

For a primary Fire attack, look no further than Eruption. At full health, this move has a whopping 150 base power. Of course, as you get hurt, that power decreases, forcing you to switch to other Fire attacks, making Typhlosion a case where having two primary Fire attacks is justified; good thing Typhlosion can learn practically every single Fire attack in existence. Flamethrower and Fire Blast both work in this regard, depending on whether you want power or accuracy. Lava Plume is yet another new option for Typhlosion; its main draw is a nice 30% chance of inflicting a burn. Overheat is another great option for low-HP Typhlosion, especially with a Blaze boost, at which point the move becomes even stronger than Eruption. It works best on Choice-item sets. Heat Wave is best in 2-vs-2 battles. With all these options, Blast Burn is almost a non-option as Eruption has the same power (at full health) and much less drawback, while Overheat is almost as powerful at low health without turning Typhlosion into set-up bait. If you really want physical Fire attacks, Typhlosion has those too, namely Fire Punch and, probably more importantly, Flare Blitz.

As for other options, there aren't a whole lot. Solarbeam is a neat option, and works best on a Sunny Day set. Focus Blast is horribly inaccurate, but could hit some opponents. Extrasensory is a cute little attack that it gets as an Egg Move in HGSS, and works best when it is facing Fighting and Poison types, particularly the Fire-resistant ones. That's it for special attacks, really, aside from Hidden Power of course. Swift might be an option if in-game evasive foes are giving you headaches.

Typhlosion has a nice physical moveset, and while it shouldn't go completely physical, a couple of physical attacks to complement its special attacks can help keep it from being walled. Earthquake rears its earth-shattering head once again, while Focus Punch works great with proper prediction. Other than that, there's Thunderpunch, Rock Slide, Return, Quick Attack, Shadow Claw, and Low Kick. Pick one if you need it. A utility Typhlosion can Covet items from foes, if you wish.

There aren't too many other moves to support Typhlosion's attacks, but what ones there are tend to be particularly helpful. Sunny Day works like a charm for boosting both its Fire attacks and Solarbeam. Substitute combines well with the above as well as a generally good way for it to lower its HP safely into Blaze range. It can also cripple foes with Will-o-Wisp, if it doesn't want to take chances with Lava Plume. Howl can work on a mixed Typhlosion. That's about it, really.

Moveset 1: Choice Eruption
- Eruption
- (secondary Fire attack)
- (secondary physical attack)
- (secondary attack)/Howl

This set works best with a Choice Scarf. Mixing physical and special attacks allows Typhlosion to strike at any special walls that try to stop it. It also works great as a lead. At any rate, watch as your opponents cower in fear of base-150-power STAB Eruptions, then as they manage to attack you down past the 33% mark, Blaze activates and your secondary fire attack starts tearing through your opponents just like your Eruptions used to. Secondary attacks are recommended to keep Typhlosion from being stopped by Fire-retardant foes.

Moveset 2: Sunny Day
- Sunny Day
- (primary Fire attack)
- Solarbeam
- Substitute/(secondary attack)

There are two ways to play this set. One way is very traditional. Use Sunny Day, and strike. The other way is: use Substitute, throw in a Sunny Day when you can, then once you get below 33% and activate Blaze, start burning things up. Bonus points if you use a Petaya Berry for extra oomph.

Items

Choice Scarf works best with set 1, making sure Typhlosion strikes first and allowing you to devote some EVs to Attack to help its physical strikes. Choice Specs could work for an all-Special set, but Typhlosion doesn't really have that many Special Attacks.

Petaya Berry was mentioned as going with Substitute on the Sunny Day set. Otherwise, Leftovers is a solid choice.

Pokemon Focus: #154 - Meganium

Introduction

Here, we begin our special HeartGold/SoulSilver coverage before the game comes out in America. The focus of these next several Pokemon Focus columns will be the 2nd-gen starters, and then the key legendaries of the generation.

We begin with the three starters. HGSS offers one of the harder choices of starters this time around. Before, these starters were considered the weakest of the starters, and even now, they aren't the best of the bunch. However, all of them have gotten major improvements in the generation shift. Meganium got better Grass-type attacks, Typhlosion got all sorts of new explosive toys for it to play with, and Feraligatr got physical Water attacks to use his superior Attack stat for. Perhaps an evaluation of all three is in order to help with that choice.

First up is Meganium. Being the Herb Pokemon, it makes sense that its special power revolves around aromatherapy... and indeed, its main use will be in Aromatherapy. The move cures the entire party of status conditions and is especially useful in-game on long stretches when a quick status-heal is needed, but is also really useful in the heat of battle. All things considered, Meganium functions best as a defensive team supporting Pokemon, and works well to that regard. However, given that it has Overgrow and Swords Dance, it might not be a slouch in the offensive department, either...

Capture/Training

Well, what's to say about Chikorita. It's one of THE starters for HG/SS. Pick it, or pick another one, but if you don't choose it from the get-go, you'll have to trade for it. Simple as that. Soft-reset for a good nature or for a female one if you wish.

Chikorita normally evolves at Level 16 into Bayleef and consequently at Level 32 into Meganium. This is one possible case, though, in which delaying evolution for a *long* time, while making things generally more difficult, might be worthwhile in the end, if only for gaining access to the invaluable Aromatherapy move earlier, at Level 42. (In contrast, Bayleef learns it at Level 50, and Meganium at Level 60.) Normally, delaying evolution for 26 levels just to learn a move eight levels earlier is not recommended, but having an Aromatherapist in the party is extremely valuable in general travel and so the earlier it can be learned, the better.

Statistics

80 HP, 82 Atk, 100 Def, 83 Sp. Atk, 100 Sp. Def, 80 Spd

Those stats look familiar, don't they? Turns out, they're exactly like Venusaur's base stats, only with Defense and Special Attack switched. The result is that Meganium is a very defensive Pokemon, good for support roles. Stat distribution will likely lean towards a defensive build, though an offensively-built physical Meganium is an option due to Swords Dance.

Abilities

Overgrow is once again the standard. That said, Meganium's defensive build means it won't really be using the strategy much as it will be more likely to heal itself than try to take advantage of the boost. There is one set that uses it, though.

Moves

There's not much to say regarding Meganium's Grass moves. On the Special side, you have Energy Ball, which is pretty much going to be its best bet as a defensive support Pokemon best wants a consistent move with no drawbacks. Other than that, there's the full set. Leaf Storm is there for pure power, though on a Pokemon that might want to stick around for a while, it's not exactly the best choice. Solarbeam is good with sun support. Grass Knot is good if Meganium expects to go up against heavier foes. Giga Drain could potentially work on Meganium, restoring some of its health as it holds up against foes, though the lack of power and PP isn't the best. Meganium does have a nice physical option, though: Seed Bomb. The move works best if combined with Swords Dance. If you're getting frustrated with in-game dodgy foes, Magical Leaf is there for your accu-strikes.

Meganium's special secondary moveset consists of... not much. Ancientpower isn't bad; it hits a number of Meganium's weaknesses for decent damage and if the stat boost kicks in, it will really help Meganium out. Other than that, it really just has Hidden Power to work with. Meganium has a couple more physical options to work with. Earthquake is always a good move, and fits well on a physical set. Of course, Return works pretty well, too. Meganium also has access to Body Slam, which trades in Return's raw power for some possible paralysis support. Flail is an odd move, but can quickly become extremely powerful under the right circumstances.

For a more specialized attack, there is Counter. Nature Power can conjure up assorted attacks like Tri Attack that have varying utility, depending on the environment.

Meganium has a massive support moveset, but special attention must be brought to its specialty move, Aromatherapy. This move heals all the status conditions on the team, and makes Meganium an invaluable team supporter. Team support is also available in the way of the screens, as Meganium can throw up both Reflect and Light Screen. (Meganium can use Safeguard too, although Aromatherapy is usually good enough to counter status.)

Meganium provides its own healing with Synthesis. As a defensive Pokemon, it can easily hold out against opponents with the move. On that note, providing Sunny Day support is optional, but usually best left to others on the team. Leech Seed is an alternate way of healing that also saps health from an opponent. Ingrain is interesting, but it does keep Meganium from switching out, which isn't good if it's running a support role. On a Swords Dance set, though, it adds a barrier against being phazed out.

Toxic is an alternate way to disrupt a foe, and Meganium could potentially just try to hold out against it in the process. Worry Seed could potentially mess up a Pokemon reliant on its ability. GrassWhistle is Meganium's only other disruptive option. 55% isn't particularly appealing, but it is still a 55% chance of shutting down a Pokemon.

Meganium can protect itself with Protect. It's also good at making Substitutes. If you think your opponent will try to disrupt you, throw up a Magic Coat.

Finally, Meganium has one way of making itself an offensive threat, and that is Swords Dance.

Moveset 1: Support
- Aromatherapy
- Light Screen/Reflect
- (primary Grass attack)
- Leech Seed/Synthesis/Body Slam/Toxic

To provide support to teammates, throw up a Screen, or use the extremely useful Aromatherapy. Energy Ball is recommended as a reliable way to hurt opponents while you're supporting the team. Other support moves are options in that last slot.

Moveset 2: SubFlail
- Substitute
- Seed Bomb
- Flail
- Swords Dance

A potentially deadly combination, best used with a Salac Berry. Swords Dance, Sub to activate the Berry, then start sweeping. Flail becomes ridiculously powerful, while Seed Bomb, combined with Overgrow, ends up becoming more powerful than Leafeon's Swords Danced Leaf Blades. Something truly to fear...

Moveset 3: Swords Dance
- Swords Dance
- Seed Bomb
- Earthquake
- (secondary physical attack)/Synthesis/(support move)

Not too much to say here. No real general movesets exist, as they will all be variations of the above three movesets.

Items

Leftovers is a great choice for the defensively-built Meganium, while the SubFlail set should use a Salac Berry to outspeed foes.

Pokemon Focus: #3 - Venusaur

Introduction

All things start somewhere, and when it comes to Pokemon, it all starts with #1, Bulbasaur. Or, as far as competitive Pokemon goes, it all starts with #3, Venusaur. The first starter we are covering, and conveniently right before our coverage of the 2nd Gen starters, is also the first Pokemon family in the National Pokedex. How does it fare competitively? It has a great list of attacks, can hit from either side of the attack spectrum, and stands up to enemies fairly well. Venusaur might not be the most powerful starter or the most powerful Pokemon ever, but it fares quite well and does not disappoint as the first of all Pokemon.

Capture/Training

The only way to get a Bulbasaur is to get it as a "starter" from Professor Oak, after beating all 16 Gym Leaders. There is obviously a choice that has to be made between it and Squirtle (Charmander isn't in the running this time). Soft-resetting to get a good nature or to get a female one is fine.

The standard evolutionary path of Bulbasaur is Ivysaur at level 16 and Venusaur at level 32. Delaying Ivysaur's evolution for 7 levels to learn Synthesis 6 levels earlier is a fair proposition. Also, Bulbasaur is the only member of the line who can learn Seed Bomb, although a stronger physical option does exist.

Statistics

80 HP, 82 Atk, 83 Def, 100 Sp. Atk, 100 Sp. Def, 80 Spd

Very well-rounded stats, and particularly good Special stats, allow Venusaur to fill a large variety of roles on a team. As such, there is no single stat-distribution plan for it.

Abilities

Overgrow is the standard ability for any Grass starter. It kicks up the power of Venusaur's Grass-type attacks 1.5x on its last third of health. Definitely a useful ability.

Moves

Venusaur has a large number of options for a primary special Grass attack. Energy Ball is its most reliable option, and likely its best option if it expects to stay in battle for a long time. Leaf Storm, on the other hand, hits extremely hard at first, but it will drop its Special Attack afterwards. If Venusaur decides to play with the big boys, Grass Knot will trip them up for heavy damage. Petal Dance got a power boost and is now more powerful than Energy Ball, but its locking and confusion effects aren't particularly savory. Solarbeam works well with sun support. Finally, Venusaur can be taught Frenzy Plant, although the move is only good in-game where Venusaur can switch out after getting its knockout. Venusaur's special-type Poison attacks are much more limited, and consist pretty much exclusively of Sludge Bomb. However, the move is definitely a powerful one that can put the hurt on opposing Grass-types, as well as hit for neutral on several types.

Don't think for a moment, though, that Venusaur can't attack physically. Base 82 Attack might not seem like much, but Venusaur has access to Swords Dance, which can kick its Attack levels up quite a bit. As if that weren't enough, Venusaur can be bred to know Power Whip, which is a deadly attack, to say the least. Base 120 power really helps make up for any kind of lack of power Venusaur otherwise has. That said, its accuracy isn't the best (though 85% isn't horrible), so Seed Bomb is a more accurate alternative. (Venusaur has no physical Poison attacks.)

Venusaur doesn't really have any other special attacks to use, other than Hidden Power, of course. It does have a couple of other physical attacks it can use, namely Earthquake and Return, both of which are classics. Skull Bash is an odd choice; while it does hit for decent damage, it takes a turn to charge, allowing for a Pokemon to set up. Its only real saving grace is its Defense boost. Venusaur can also learn Nature Power, which can pull up a large variety of attacks. Of note is that, in a building, Nature Power will bring up the fun Tri Attack, which provides it with another special-type move and has the bonus of being able to inflict all sorts of crippling status conditions; helpful if Sleep Clause is in effect and an opponent has already been put to sleep.

Venusaur can also learn Knock Off, which isn't really an attack, but it does have the fun effect of ruining opponents' item-based strategies.

Venusaur has access to a nice list of support moves. Most important are its disruptive moves, most notably Sleep Powder. 75% isn't bad at all for a sleep-inducing move, and Venusaur's great for using it to shut down its counters. Venusaur also can learn Leech Seed, which really messes with its opponents' longetivity as well as help with its own. Toxic is another crippling option, albeit somewhat less popular.

Venusaur can also Roar away opponents who try to stat-boost on it too much.

It's been mentioned before, but Swords Dance is absolutely critical to Venusaur's success as a physical attacker. Veunsaur's only option for boosting its Special Attack is Growth. Whether it is of any use is questionable, but a bulky-enough Venusaur could potentially set up nicely.

Venusaur could provide Sunny Day support, especially with Sleep Powder providing an opportunity to knock out its counters for a moment.

On that note, Venusaur can heal itself with Synthesis. While it obviously synergizes well with sunlight, even without sun, it is a good source of healing that helps with its bulkiness. Venusaur can also use Substitute to good effect, especially as a way of lowering its HP below that 1/3-mark for Overgrow activation.

If you're worried about opponents trying to switch out of your Sleep and Leech Seed attempts, you could try to Block them. (Of course, you could also just let them switch, but first have a teammate set up Stealth Rock and other entry hazards to punish them for doing so.)

Finally, if you're worried about opponents Roaring or Whirlwinding your Swords Dances away, you could try to Ingrain to keep them from doing so.

Moveset 1: Sunny Day Support
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
- Solarbeam
- Sunny Day

This moveset is less for Venusaur and more for its teammates. Being able to sleep an opponent makes setting up Sunny Day even easier. Obviously, a Heat Rock goes well with this set.

General Moveset
- (primary Grass attack)
- (secondary attack)
- Sleep Powder
- (secondary attack)/(support move)

I don't think there's a Venusaur set that doesn't use Sleep Powder. It's a pretty key part of what makes it so effective. Even Choice sets have it as an option, as it's not hard for Venusaur to switch out after it's put someone to sleep. Anyways, this set can go either all physical (Power Whip + Return/Earthquake + Swords Dance), all special (Energy Ball/Leaf Storm + Sludge Bomb + Hidden Power/Nature Power/support move), or mixed (Power Whip + Sludge Bomb + Leaf Storm/Earthquake/support move).

Items

Life Orb kicks up Venusaur's power, and if you want, the damage can be healed off with Leech Seed or Synthesis. Choice Items only require three attacks; the fourth slot can go to Sleep Powder, as mentioned above. Leftovers also nicely increases Venusaur's staying power.

Effective Movesets

1. Special Attacker

- Leaf Storm

- Sludge Bomb

- Sleep Powder

- Synthesis

2. Swords Dancer

- Swords Dance

- Sleep Powder

- Power Whip

- Return

3. Physical Attacker

- Power Whip

- Earthquake

- Sleep Powder

- Synthesis

4. SubSeed

- Sleep Powder

- Leech Seed

- Substitute

- Sludge Bomb

5. Mixed

- Sludge Bomb

- Power Whip

- Sleep Powder

- Synthesis

6. Choice Specs

- Leaf Storm

- Sludge Bomb

- Nature Power

- Sleep Powder

7. Mixed Choice Scarf

- Sludge Bomb

- Leaf Storm

- Power Whip

- Earthquake

Future Sight

Chlorophyll is Venusaur's new Dream World ability, and it allows him to become ridiculously fast under sunlight.

Growth now increases both Attack and Special Attack by one stage, two in sunlight.

Both are welcome changes and allow Venusaur to become extremely threatening under sun.

Catch Rate & Catching Guide

The Formula

The following variables are involved in the catch rate:

Catch Rate (C): Set for the species of Pokemon attempted to capture. Varies from 3 to 255.

Ball Rate (B): Depends on type of ball used.

HP Factor (H): Let M = Max HP, and C = Current HP. H = (3M-2C)/(3M) = 1 - 2/3(C/M)). For the sake of this guide, we will use the HP Ratio, R, as defined as C/M = R, so H = 1 - 2R/3. Thus, the smaller R is, the larger H is and the better the capture rate.

For the purposes of this guide, we will only use 3 different R levels, and as such 3 different H values. At Full HP, R = 1, and as such H = 1/3. At half HP, R = 0.5, and H = 2/3. At 1 HP, R will be close to 0, and as such H will be close to 1 (and will be calculated as H = 1 for the guide).

Status Factor (S): S = 1 for normal, S = 1.5 for paralysis or poison/burn, and S = 2 for sleep or freeze. Obviously, Poison and Burn should only be used on Pokemon immune to their effects (which pretty much means only Clefairy), and freezing is unreliable, so sleep and paralysis will be the main factors.

The success rate, X, is approximately calculated as such:

X = C*B*H*S/255

This is not an exact number, but it is a good approximation for our purposes.

The Ball Rates

Poke Ball: 1 - The bread-and-butter Poke Ball. It's good to always have a lot of these handy, as even with their low catch rate, they can be used with perfect or near-perfect results under the right conditions. Note that the Premier Ball is equivalent to the Poke Ball in all but looks.

Great Ball: 1.5
Ultra Ball: 2

Two other commonly-used balls. The Ultra Ball, though, shouldn't ever really see much use as the specialized balls are cheaper and have greater catch rates under the right conditions.

Heal Ball: 1 - This ball is used early-game, where caught Pokemon go straight to the party.

Dusk Ball: 4 if nighttime or in cave - Probably one of the more useful specialized balls, the Dusk Ball can practically guarantee captures at night, and are probably the most useful balls to use against Legendaries. Just make sure to do all your capturing at night with these.

Nest Ball: 3 if Pokemon is level 19 or lower, 2 if Pokemon is between levels 20 and 29 - Might be useful if going hunting for low-level Pokemon and you want to save Dusk Balls or Love Balls.

Net Ball: 3 if Pokemon is Water or Bug type - Good for Water and Bug types.

Quick Ball: 4 if used in first 5 turns, rate decreases by 1 every turn afterwards - Another very useful ball, particularly if all you need to do to capture the Pokemon is paralyze it, or even if it's possible to just catch it at full health (or just one False Swipe is needed).

Repeat Ball: 3 if you already have that species of Pokemon - might as well use it if the condition applies.

Timer Ball: increases by 1 every 10 turns, to a max of 4 at 31 turns - If you can drag out a battle that long, use it, but otherwise it's not that effective.

Safari Ball, Sport Ball: 1.5 - These are used in specific areas. Notable in that, in the Safari Zone, all Pokemon must be caught at full health, while in the Bug Catching Contest, your chances of winning greatly improve if the Pokemon is caught at full health. So in these cases, you will likely be dealing with H = 1/3.

Fast Ball: 4 if Pokemon can flee from battle - The first of Kurt's special balls, this is the ball to be used on Roaming Pokemon. There's a fair amount of them, so stock up and have fun.

Friend Ball, Luxury Ball: 1 - The reason to use these balls is as such: a Pokemon caught with a Friend Ball will start out with a base happiness of 200, while a Pokemon caught with a Luxury Ball will grow in happiness twice as fast. In both cases, it makes any kind of friendship-based evolution, as well as getting max Happiness for Return purposes, much easier.

Heavy Ball: Unique - This Ball has a special modifier, in that, instead of a multiplier, it adds a value to (C*B*H*S) before being divided by 256. Don't ever use it on a Pokemon under 220 lbs, as that actually makes the capture rate worse. Otherwise, it's +20 if the Pokemon is between 440 and 660 lbs, and +30 if the Pokemon is more than 660 lbs. Because of how the math works out, it turns out this ball probably won't see much use over the multiplier balls except against the legendary Pokemon that are over 44o lbs. and have a really low catch rate. More on that later.

Level Ball: 2 if your Pokemon is higher level than the opponent, 4 if your Pokemon is over twice the level of the opponent, and a whopping 8 if your Pokemon is over four times the level of the opponent - As you can see, this ball can reach ridiculously high catch rates... though never against a level 25 Pokemon. Still, if trying to catch a low-level but low-catch-rate Pokemon, this ball could be really useful.

Love Ball: A massive 8 if your Pokemon is of the opposite gender - Quite possibly the most useful ball for everyday catching. As long as you have at least one Pokemon of each gender, you can guarantee yourself that huge catch rate. However, it won't work on genderless Pokemon, including... most legendaries. As it turns out, this is the single best ball to use against Latias and Latios...

Lure Ball: 3 if the Pokemon was fished up - Pretty much the same as the Net Ball, except it only works on fished-up Pokemon.

Moon Ball: 4 if the Pokemon evolves via Moon Stone - In other words, used to capture Nidorina, Nidorino, Clefairy, Jigglypuff, and Skitty.

And finally...

Master Ball: 255 - A.K.A. insta-catch.

Poke Balls by Catch Rate

255: Master Ball
8: Level Ball (>4x opponent's level), Love Ball (opposite gender)
4: Dusk Ball (night/caves), Quick Ball (within first 5 turns), Timer Ball (after 30 turns), Fast Ball (fleeing Pokemon), Level Ball (>2x opponent's level), Moon Ball (evolves w/Moon Stone)
3: Quick Ball (6-10 turns), Nest Ball (under level 20), Net Ball (Bug or Water-type), Repeat Ball (already have target species), Timer Ball (after 20 turns), Lure Ball (fished-up)
2: Ultra Ball, Quick Ball (11-15 turns), Nest Ball (level 20-29), Timer Ball (after 10 turns), Level Ball (> opponent's level)
1.5: Great Ball, Safari Ball, Sport Ball
1: Poke Ball, Heal Ball, Friend Ball, Luxury Ball

Capture Formula Recap

X = C*B*H*S/255, where:
C = capture rate of Pokemon
B = ball's capture rate
H = 1/3 if Pokemon is at full health, 2/3 if Pokemon is at half health, and 1 if Pokemon is at 1 HP
S = 1.5 if Pokemon is paralyzed, 2 if Pokemon is asleep, and 1 if Pokemon has no status

Capture Plans

Checkpoint 1: C = 255

The easiest Pokemon to catch. Here are the ways to guarantee or near-guarantee a capture:

Rate-3+: Throw at max HP
Rate-2: Status, and throw at max HP, OR bring to <1/2 HP and throw
Rate-1.5: Sleep, and throw at max HP, OR status and bring to <1/2 HP, OR bring to 1 HP
Rate-1: Status and <1/2 HP, OR 1 HP

As a note, even at full health, a rate-1 ball still has a 1 in 3 chance of catching the Pokemon. If using a Safari Ball at max health, you're looking at a 50% chance of catching the Pokemon.

Checkpoint 2: C = 190

Still not too hard. To guarantee a capture (or get near):

Rate-4+: Throw at max HP
Rate-3: Status OR 1/2 HP
Rate-2: Sleep OR 1/2 HP
Rate-1.5: Status and 1/2 HP OR 1 HP
Rate-1: Sleep and 1/2 HP OR Status and 1 HP

If using a Safari Ball, capture rate is about 37%; Sport Ball + sleep = 75%.

Checkpoint 3: C = 120

Here, it gets a little harder:

Rate-8: Throw at Max HP
Rate-4: Status OR 1/2 HP
Rate-3: Sleep OR 1/2 HP
Rate-2: Status and 1/2 HP OR 1 HP
Rate-1.5: Sleep and 1/2 HP OR 1 HP
Rate-1: Sleep and 1 HP

At max HP, a Safari Ball has about a 23% capture rate, while a Sport Ball with sleep has a 47% capture rate.

Checkpoint 4: C = 75

At this point, options for guaranteeing captures become limited.

Rate-8: Status OR 1/2 HP
Rate-4: Status and 1/2 HP OR 1 HP
Rate-3: Sleep and 1/2 HP OR Status and 1 HP
Rate-2: Sleep and 1 HP

Rate-1.5: Max of 88% with Sleep and 1 HP. Safari Balls have about a 15% chance of working; Sport Balls succeed 29% of the time with Sleep.
Rate-1: Max of 59% with Sleep and 1 HP.

Checkpoint 5: C = 45

A common checkpoint as the generally-hardest tier of Pokemon to catch outside of legendaries and a couple of special cases. It is very difficult, though not impossible, to guarantee a capture here.

Rate-8: Sleep OR 1/2 HP
Rate-4: Sleep and 1/2 HP OR Status and 1 HP
Rate-3: Sleep and 1 HP

Rate-2: Max 71% with Sleep and 1 HP.
Rate-1.5: Max 52.9% with Sleep and 1 HP. Using a Safari Ball, you are looking at about a 6% capture rate. Good luck with that. With a Sport Ball and a Pokemon to put the target to sleep, that rate jumps to 12%.
Rate-1: Max 35% with Sleep and 1 HP.

Checkpoint 6: C = 3

The single hardest checkpoint. Most of these Pokemon are legendaries, though you also have to deal with Beldum/Metang at this catch rate...

It should be noted that ensuring a capture here is nearly impossible. In fact, it's impossible to have a capture rate over 20% with these beasts! The closest you can come is to bring the Pokemon to 1 HP, sleep it, and use a rate-8 ball, all of which will result in a decent 19% catch rate. However, that is only practical with Latias and Latios, on whom a Love Ball can be used.

Here are various catch rates using a rate-4 ball:

9.4%: Sleep and 1 HP
7.1%: Paralyze and 1 HP
6.3%: Sleep and 1/2 HP
4.7%: Paralyze and 1/2 HP OR 1 HP
3.1%: Sleep OR 1/2 HP
2.4%: Paralyze
1.6%: Throw at Max HP

Oh, and if you're trying to catch a Beldum in the Safari Zone, you'll be working with a 0.6% capture rate... good luck with that. >_>

Heavy Ball evaluation

How does the Heavy Ball fit into all this? It adds up to 30 to the value of C*B*H*S. Now, B will automatically be set to 1, so the question when comparing this ball's worth to a rate-4 ball is: does a x4 multiplier "add more" than 20 or 30 to this value?

Let's take a look at four examples with a mathematical analysis.

Snorlax:

Catch rate: 25. Gendered, so the comparison is to the even-greater Love Ball. At 1 HP while asleep (extremely difficult if Snorlax has Leftovers), the Love Ball clearly wins out, being able to guarantee the capture, while a Heavy Ball only has a 31% chance of capture. What about at lower HP levels, or without a status? After all, that Snorlax sure loves to Rest... Well, a sleeping Snorlax at full health is caught 52% of the time by a Love Ball... whereas the Heavy Ball only has an 18% chance of capturing. Even at full health without a status, the Love Ball clearly wins out, with 26% success vs. 15% with the Heavy Ball. So no use here.

Groudon/Kyogre:
With a catch rate of 5, it turns out that, with Sleep and 1 HP, a rate-4 ball and a Heavy Ball both have the same capture rate: 16%. It should then also be noted that, if the Groudon/Kyogre is any bit healthier than that level, the Heavy Ball will win out. For example, a rate-4 ball will catch a 1/2-HP sleeping Groudon with a 10% success rate; a Heavy Ball will catch it with a 14% capture rate. So here, a Heavy Ball has the advantage.

Take a look at some other Heavy Ball markers:

Paralyze and 1 HP: 15%
Paralyze and 1/2 HP OR 1 HP: 14%
Sleep OR 1/2 HP: 13%
Paralyze: 13%
Throw at Max HP: 12%

One thing to notice about the Heavy Ball is that, because of the additive nature of its bonus, there really is little difference in throwing one at full HP and throwing one at 1 HP and Sleep, so it is essentially an "effortless" ball.

Lugia/Rayquaza:
Catch rate of 3, but the Heavy Ball only adds 20 to the catch value. How does that work out?

Turns out, even with only a 20 increase, the Heavy Ball performs better than a rate-4 ball at Sleep and 1 HP, giving a 10% chance of capture as opposed to the 9.4% chance for a rate-4 ball. Of course, this difference only gets greater the less the target has been weakened...

As before, there isn't a huge amount of difference between a Heavy Ball thrown at full health. A full-health, no status Lugia or Rayquaza will have a catch rate of 7.8%. That catch rate will increase somewhat linearly depending on how much the target is weakened.

Arceus:
In the off-chance that Arceus can be captured in HG/SS, it is looking at similar catch rates to Groudon and Kyogre against the Heavy Ball. In particular, thrown at max HP, a Heavy Ball has a 12% chance of capturing Arceus.

Pokemon Focus: #248 - Tyranitar

Introduction

Tyranitar, the pseudo-legendary Pokemon of 2nd Gen, and it remains one of the game's most powerful non-legendary Pokemon. In fact, it arguably only got better in 4th Gen, thanks to having a new, powerful physical Rock move, Crunch going physical and now working off its high Attack, and Sandstorm giving the Rock-type a 1.5x boost to Special Defense. This Pokemon is simply a beast, and can easily become one of the most threatening Pokemon on our team.

Capture/Training

The only place to catch Larvitar in the original Gold/Silver was way into the late-game, in Mount Silver. The same is more or less true in HG/SS, though they also appear in the Safari Zone (although about as rare and likely more difficult to catch; a 45 catch rate isn't exactly easy to deal with). So yeah, don't expect to get a Tyranitar for a while... unless you trade one over from Diamond.

With a 5% appearance rate, they're not exactly common, either. Probably best to catch one and deal with the nature you have, since even if you get stuck with a Modest or Timid one, a special-attacking Tyranitar is plenty viable.

Larvitar evolves into Pupitar at Lv. 30, then to Tyranitar at Lv. 55; yeah, it evolves very late. Partially because of such late evolutions, delaying these evolutions is wholly unnecessary; Pupitar learns its last important move, Stone Edge, one level before it evolves.

Statistics

100 HP, 134 Atk, 110 Def, 95 Sp. Atk, 100 Sp. Def, 61 Spd

Yeah, absolutely monstrous stats. That 134 Attack is killer, and remember that that already-above-average 100 Special Defense only gets kicked up a notch by the Sandstorm Shield. 95 Special Attack is hardly a slouch, either, and makes Tyranitar capable of fighting on the Special end, as well. Speed is the only weak stat, and even that can be fixed thanks to Dragon Dance, if necessary.

Stat distribution can go any of many ways. Have a Tyranitar that just isn't up to snuff with its physical prowess? Make it a surprise Special Attacker. Have an unusually fast Tyranitar? Use Dragon Dance or a Choice Scarf and watch it outrun most of the competition. All things considered, there really isn't such a thing as a "bad" nature for Tyranitar. Along the same lines, there is no such thing as a single EV set for it, either.

Abilities

Sand Stream is Tyranitar's only ability. It creates a sandstorm of indefinite length. At this point, it's probably a good idea to note exactly how a Sandstorm works, what are its benefits, and what are its disadvantages.

Sandstorm inflicts 1/16 of total HP in damage to any non-Rock, Ground, Steel, Sand Veil, or Magic Guard Pokemon, including your teammates. This can really wear down your opponents, but on the flip side, it just as easily can wear down your own Pokemon. It should be noted that, with Leftovers, the Sandstorm damage will be canceled out, unless the Pokemon is on its last 1/16th of health, since the Sandstorm damage will hit first and knock it out. Building your own team around Sandstorm likely includes having a couple extra Sandstorm-immune Pokemon (perhaps another Rock-type), having Pokemon that can more or less weather the storm, or having Pokemon who can replace the weather with something else.

Sandstorm also increases the Special Defense of any Rock-type by 1.5x. This is both a blessing and a curse; while Tyranitar and your other Rock-types will enjoy the protection, enemy Rock-types will only become that much harder to take down.

Finally, Sandstorm cuts the power of Solarbeam in half, and makes Synthesis, Morning Sun, and Moonlight restore only 1/4 HP. If you have Pokemon who rely on these moves, it's best to have someone who can replace the weather with sunlight. That, or just don't rely on those moves.

Moves

Primary Physical attacks? Stone Edge and Crunch, of course. Both hit hard and will be among your primary ways of dealing damage. Payback is an alternative Dark option if you don't mind Tyranitar eating an attack first (and it likely won't mind). On the Special side, Dark Pulse is an option, and a plenty viable one as Tyranitar does have a passable Special Attack stat. If you really want a special Rock attack, you'll probably have to make do with Ancientpower.

Tyranitar has a number of other great physical attacks with which to assail enemies. Earthquake is a classic, and as a bonus, Tyranitar learns it leveling up. Through Move Tutors, Tyranitar has access to a number of other great moves. First, it can learn the full punch-trifecta of Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and ThunderPunch. Fire Punch is particularly good at smacking Steel-types around, while Ice Punch badly wounds a large number of Pokemon. That said, Tyranitar also has access to one particularly killer move for it: Aqua Tail. This move really hurts any Ground-types that run up against it, and also nicely disposes of Rock-types trying to take advantage of the Sand-shield. Superpower is another high-powered attack that can be used to take out a large number of Pokemon; it's not particularly suited to multiple attacks, though. Focus Punch is another Fighting option, and works best if you have a Substitute up (creating the famous TyraniBoah set). For some lesser options, Aerial Ace takes down Heracross and Breloom, while Brick Break can help if you're facing a screen-user.

Tyranitar has a great selection of special attacks at its disposal. It learns the trifecta of Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Flamethrower, all three of which are useful in different situations. Flamethrower can be replaced with Fire Blast for a harder-hitting Fire attack. And to make the trifecta a superfecta, there's also Surf. If you want a Ground-type attack not named Earthquake, there's Earth Power.

Pursuit is a more specialized and useful attack for Tyranitar switching in on Psychics and Ghosts: if they try to run, they'll get hit with a move of the same power as Crunch, essentially making it so they can't run. Watch out for Focus Blasters, though. Counter can give physical attackers a very nasty surprise.

Now for the various support options Tyranitar has. As a primarily offensive Pokemon, Tyranitar should focus on those support moves that directly support its offensive purposes. A great example of such a move is Dragon Dance, which simultaneously makes Tyranitar's attacks that much deadlier and helps remedy its low Speed problem. A fearful sight indeed. Curse goes the other way, by making Tyranitar's speed worse, but in exchange making it harder to take down while making it a more fearsome physical threat. If you just want to boost speed, Rock Polish works for that purpose.

As mentioned before, Substitute works well with Focus Punch. Then again, all things considered, Substitute works well in general. As a side note, giving Tyranitar max HP EVs with max-HP IVs will result in 404 HP, and hence 101 HP Substitutes that can't be broken by Seismic Toss. A Rest-Sleep Talk combo is viable, too. Stealth Rock has its use, too, especially if Tyranitar is your lead-off.

Moveset 1: TyraniBoah
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Dark Pulse/Crunch
- (secondary special attack)

This moveset was apparently the bane of 3rd Gen battling, to the point where it got its own name. Apparently, the theory was that it would counter many of the bigger threats in the game, between Focus Punch, the Dark-type attack, and the chosen special attack. This is an example of an effective mixed-attacking Tyranitar, and for full effect requires a healthy amount of attention to its Special Attack stat, while not ignoring Attack, either. Max HP is really key, though, to creating those Substitutes.

Moveset 2: Choice Specs?
- Dark Pulse
- (secondary special attack)
- (secondary special attack)
- Superpower/(secondary special attack)

A Choice Specs Tyranitar is a special sort of gimmick Tyranitar that will surprise many that try to counter it. Flamethrower is a good special attack choice for taking down unsuspecting Steel-types, while Surf and Ice Beam work well against Ground-types. If a certain Blissey tries to ruin your fun... well, Superpower might give it a surprise. Oh, and why the question mark? Because you can try something really sneaky and use an Expert Belt instead. Bluff the Choice item, then when your opponent tries to send in a counter, surprise 'em with a different attack!

General Moveset
- Stone Edge
- (primary Dark attack)
- (secondary attack)
- (secondary attack)/(support move)

As usual, four attacks invites a Choice set. Mixing physical and special attacks is certainly an option here. Pick a good set of offensive moves and you're good to go.

Items

Leftovers and Life Orb remain classics. Choice Items are always good on the four-attack sets. Expert Belt can be used well, considering the nice type coverage offered by a good selection of attacks, and can be used to bluff a Choice item and surprise an enemy. A more specific option is the Babiri Berry, used to weaken a super-effective Steel attack, and used if you're worried about Scizor's Bullet Punch.

Effective Movesets

1. Choice

- Stone Edge

- Crunch

- Pursuit

- Earthquake

Item: Choice Scarf/Choice Band

Note: Say hello to the ultimate Psychic/Ghost destroyer. Pursuit essentially ensures they won't escape certain defeat. It works better in human battles where switch-outs are more common, though. If only used in-game, Aqua Tail is a fine replacement.

2. Dragon Dance

- Dragon Dance

- Stone Edge

- Crunch

- Earthquake/Fire Punch/Aqua Tail

3. TyraniBoah

- Substitute

- Focus Punch

- Dark Pulse

- Flamethrower/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt

4. CurseTar

- Curse

- Payback

- Stone Edge

- Rest

5. MixTar

- Stone Edge

- Crunch/Dark Pulse

- Flamethrower/Ice Beam

- Thunderbolt

Pokemon Focus: #376 - Metagross

Introduction

Metagross is the other pseudo-legendary Pokemon of 3rd Generation, and for good reason. With monstrous offensive and defensive stats, a huge set of powerful moves, and weaknesses to only two types plus a huge list of resistances, Metagross is perfectly set to mow down the enemies it faces.

By the way, it is pure coincidence that we are covering the only two Pokemon to use Meteor Mash in a row.

Capture/Training

Catching a Beldum/Metang in HeartGold/SoulSilver will be difficult. They appear in the Safari Zone, but will require 70 or 30 days before they start appearing... and then, they have a catch rate of... 3. The same as the hardest-to-catch legendaries. It will be easiest to trade one over from Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, where at least they swarm. (They'll still have that catch rate of 3, though...)

The evolution into Metang is a no-brainer... the evolution into Metagross, less so. Definitely wait to learn Meteor Mash at Lv. 48, as that is one of its best attacks. The question is whether you want to learn Zen Headbutt as well; it's a delay of 7 levels to learn it 10 levels earlier, which is definitely worth it if you're using it.

Statistics

80 HP, 135 Atk, 130 Def, 95 Sp. Atk, 90 Sp. Def, 70 Spd

Those stats are definitely half the reason why Metagross is such a threat. 135 Attack is no joke, and with only two weaknesses and a huge list of resistances (and one immunity), 130 Defense is going to be hard to overcome. Its only real shortcoming is Speed, and even that can be fixed.

Since most Metagross won't be using special attacks, the safest natures are those that hinder said stat. Other than that, stat distribution will likely see things going all sorts of places depending on whether the moveset is offensive, defensive, or attempting to outspeed certain foes.

Abilities

Clear Body is its only ability, and has a number of uses both in-game and in the metagame. Most notably, it will keep Intimidate from working, which is good as Metagross definitely does not need enemies lowering its Attack stat.

Moves

When it comes to a primary attack of the Steel type, you're mainly looking at either Meteor Mash, which is powerful and comes with a decent chance at kicking Metagross's already-huge Attack up yet another notch, or Iron Head, which is less powerful but is fully accurate and can flinch a slower enemy. If you'd rather not have your Metagross be the fastest thing around, you might find use for Gyro Ball, though the other two attacks are powerful enough as they are. The Psychic side won't see much use in the competitive metagame, though in-game it is more useful. The move of choice here is, of course, Zen Headbutt, a nice physical Psychic attack that got added along with the physical-special split. While Metagross does have decent special attacks, use of Flash Cannon and Psychic should generally be left to novelty sets.

For a secondary attack, undoubtedly Earthquake is the top choice, hitting a large number of Pokemon and hitting them hard. Metagross also gets two elemental punches, Thunderpunch and Ice Punch, both of which can hit Pokemon that might otherwise give Metagross trouble. Slightly less reliable than those two is Rock Slide, which is mainly for hitting certain hard-hitting flyers. Other than that, there's Hammer Arm, which could go well with Gyro Ball since the Speed cut will increase Gyro Ball's power. That's pretty much it, though.

Metagross does have some nice options for more specialized attacks. Bullet Punch does its job as a priority move very well, and Pursuit hits where it hurts for any fleeing foe. However, the big one here is Explosion. With base 135 Attack, if Metagross is put in a corner, it can always go out with a bang.

Metagross has two secondary special attack options that can surprise foes. Shadow Ball is used in the metagame to smack Rotom; it has its uses here, as well. Grass Knot will trip up unsuspecting bulky Waters. If accessible, a Hidden Power of Fire can surprise some enemies, as well. If certain Grass/Psychics are giving you trouble (*coughCelebicough*), Signal Beam is an unusual but effective choice. Finally, it sure is a long shot, but you might just catch a Dragon or other ice-sensitive foe by surprise with... Icy Wind. Yeah.

Moving on to supporting moves. It was mentioned, that Metagross's only real weakness is its low Speed, right? Well, Agility fixes that up nicely.

Metagross is mostly a very offensive Pokemon. Its job is to hit and hit hard, and possibly also hit quickly. The use of supporting moves that don't directly benefit this style is thus rarely seen. That said... Rest-Sleep Talk is a workable combo for Metagross, who will absorb most hits, thus making Rest work well. Also, Metagross can learn Stealth Rock, can Trick Choice items onto enemies, activate Gravity, and can set up Reflect and Light Screen for teammates (and itself). Those are pretty much its best supporting moves.

Other than that, it can Psych Up, dodge ground attacks with Magnet Rise, kick its defenses to the skies with Iron Defense, set up Substitutes, and... well, it has a fair amount of options, but few really strike as particularly useful when Metagross is better at just smacking around the competition.

Moveset 1: Agiligross
- Agility
- (primary Steel attack)
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt/(secondary attack)/Explosion

Well I say, this works out nicely, doesn't it? Kick up Metagross's Speed, and start going to town! This works best as a late-game sweeper, when enemies don't particularly need the heaviest of hits to go down. Meteor Mash is the obvious Steel choice, but Iron Head can work here to abuse its 30% flinch rate, in case something doesn't quite go down (or you want more accuracy).

Moveset 2: Mix-gross
- (primary Steel attack)
- Earthquake
- Shadow Ball/Psychic/Grass Knot
- (special attack)

The idea here is to prey on enemies that have high defenses but low special defenses. That, and Grass Knot has a way of tripping up certain Pokemon that might try to ruin Metagross's fun.

Moveset 3: Dual Screen
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Explosion
- Earthquake/(primary Steel attack)/(secondary attack)/(support move)

Really, all you need are the first three. Set up screens, then blow up on your opponent and get your next Pokemon in right away to take as much advantage of those screens as possible. Best to get rid of those ghosts first, though, especially if they Levitate...

Moveset 4: Gravi-gross
- Gravity
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Agility/Zen Headbutt/Explosion

My attempt at making a Gravity set. Once Gravity is active, Meteor Mash becomes fully accurate, and Earthquake can hit anyone (which means the two together pretty much have full coverage). Past that, you can kick up your speed with Agility, use a fully-accurate Zen Headbutt if you so wish, or, once you're ready, blow up and get in a teammate who can also take advantage of gravity.

General Moveset
- (primary Steel attack)
- Earthquake
- (secondary attack)/(support move)/Explosion
- Explosion/(support move)

Opportunities abound here. Four attacks, or three attacks + Trick, invites a Choice set.

Effective Movesets

1. Agiligross

- Agility

- Meteor Mash

- Zen Headbutt

- Earthquake

Note: Same as the Agiligross above, with ideal choices for moves selected, particularly the lack of Explosion since it is a non-replenishable TM.

2. Choice Band

- Meteor Mash

- Earthquake

- Zen Headbutt/ThunderPunch

- Bullet Punch

Item: Choice Band

3. Lead

- Stealth Rock

- Meteor Mash

- Bullet Punch

- Zen Headbutt/Explosion

Item: Occa Berry/Shuca Berry

Note: This is an example of a Lead set. Its job is to set up Stealth Rock for the team's use later on, as well as serve as a general scout for what the opponent has. Metagross's lack of weaknesses makes this easy, and an Element-berry, which are thankfully relatively easy to come by in HG/SS, helps out quite a bit in this regard. Explosion fits well on this set as a "suicide lead": it sets up, and then immediately blows up to remove the opponent from play as well.

4. Choice Scarf

- Meteor Mash

- Earthquake

- ThunderPunch

- Ice Punch

Item: Choice Scarf

Note: With the additional Speed, Bullet Punch isn't a necessity. Instead, go for near-full-coverage with a BoltBeamPunch combo, which, combined with Earthquake, is only resisted by Shedinja.

5. MixedMeta

- Meteor Mash

- Earthquake

- Shadow Ball

- Grass Knot

Note: Did you know Metagross can go mixed? Metagross can go mixed.

6. GraviGross

- Gravity

- Meteor Mash

- Earthquake

- Zen Headbutt

Note: Metagross's high defenses make it a great candidate for setting up Gravity. It can hit anything with Earthquake, and has fully accurate STAB Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt to back it up. This is not a set to be trifled with.

7. Tank/Dual Screen

- Meteor Mash

- Earthquake/Zen Headbutt

- Light Screen

- Reflect

Item: Leftovers/Light Clay

Note: Metagross's high defenses make it a great candidate for an all-purpose tank or a team supporter with dual screens. If using for team support, use Light Clay.

Items

Leftovers and Life Orb are classics, of course. Besides that, you have Choice items, and Light Clay if you want to use the Dual Screen set. Expert Belt can be used on the Mixed set to bluff a Choice item.

Pokemon Focus: #36 - Clefable

Introduction

Clefable, the wild card of standard competitive Pokemon battling. It has a massive movepool using all sorts of attacks and support moves, leading to a nearly infinite number of possible movesets. Completely unpredictable and extremely versatile, Clefable is certainly one of the most fun Pokemon to use. Add to that a new and really neat ability, and Clefable is one wild fairy.

Capture/Training

Clefairy can be found at Mt. Moon at night, with an encounter rate of 5% and a catch rate of 150. There's one factor that makes it easier to capture; instead of having to put it to sleep, one can attempt to poison or burn it. The Clefairy we want would have Magic Guard, and so the poison or burn shouldn't deal damage, while increasing the capture rate. (Burn is preferable as it does lower Clefairy's attack, still.) On a side note, Clefairy's family is one that has a 3-to-1 ratio of females to males. This helps for breeding certain moves (namely Wish and Aromatherapy) onto Clefairy.

If the 5% encounter rate isn't working for you, Clefairy are much more common in Sinnoh, so one can be traded from there.

Also, certain moves that Clefable would like aren't available in 4th Gen, so they have to be taught to it in 3rd Gen and then Pal Parked over. That said, it should be a Clefairy that is sent over, so that when it evolves, there is a chance that its ability will change to Magic Guard.

Statistics

95 HP, 70 Atk, 73 Def, 85 Sp. Atk, 90 Sp. Def, 60 Spd

Stats are pretty good; nothing special, but workable with Clefable's varied movesets.

With so many movesets possible, it's hard to say that any given stat should be focused on or not focused on; each set will fit different strong stats.

Movesets

Cute Charm is nice, but Magic Guard is the choice ability, preventing all sorts of indirect damage and overall being really good.

With such a varied movepool, there really doesn't exist such a thing as a "primary attack". Return is obviously there, but what might work better as a primary attack is Facade. Combine it with a Toxic Orb and you'll not only poison yourself without ever taking poison damage (and thus shield you from more crippling status conditions), but Facade then becomes a 140 base power attack with STAB. Ouch. If you're bringing in a Clefairy from 3rd Gen, Double-Edge contains all the power, but now with none of the recoil. Again, ouch. Unfortunately, nothing really exists in the way of a primary special attack.

That's hardly a huge worry, though, as Clefable's list of secondary attacks is ridiculously huge. On the physical side, Meteor Mash is one of those oddball moves that's just too cool, and has the bonus of hitting Rock-types hard. Clefable can also learn all the elemental punches, ThunderPunch, Ice Punch, and Fire Punch, the latter of which is arguably best for hitting Steel-types. It also has Zen Headbutt. As for Special Attacks... well, let's just list them off: Ice Beam, Blizzard (good for use in Hail as Clefable won't be taking Hail damage), Thunderbolt, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Focus Blast, Grass Knot, and Signal Beam. Yeah, that's a lot. Oh, and of course, a Hidden Power of your choice.

Wild-card attack options include Endeavor and, if taught to a Clefairy in 3rd Gen, Counter and Seismic Toss. That last move can easily be Clefable's primary attack, although the main difficulty will be properly teaching it to a Clefairy that will become a Magic Guard Clefable upon transfer.

Of course, these are far from Clefable's only options.

Sing is horribly inaccurate, but if it lands, it will shut down a potential counter. Toxic and Thunder Wave are classic disruptors. Encore can also mess up an opponent if timed correctly. If you want to Burn an opponent, what can be done is to equip a Flame Orb (possibly taking the burn to protect yourself from status), then using Trick to send it to an opponent. Alternatively, Clefable can just Knock Off an opponent's item. Fake Tears might be able to weaken a foe to be blasted by a special attack... or it might just force a switch.

Gravity is a unique attack. It grounds Flyers and makes any move with at least 60% accuracy fully accurate. It's a team move, and works best with teammates who can abuse the accuracy boost (and perhaps Earthquake) to hit enemies really hard.

Ideally, Clefable's best method of healing itself is Softboiled, which has to be taught to a Clefairy in 3rd Gen and then Pal Parked over. If that isn't an option, it will have to do with either Moonlight or Wish. The latter is potentially good for team support, though.

On a more extreme end, Clefable can sacrifice itself with Healing Wish before fully healing a stronger teammate who can proceed to sweep opponents.

Using Protect to scout out moves is never a bad idea. Alternatively, if Clefable is leading and is using the Toxic Orb-Facade combo, the move will ensure that the poison activates. Another defensive option for Clefable is Cosmic Power, boosting both of its defensive stats for a nice little shield against attacks. Clefable can also set up Substitutes.

Clefable can protect its team with Light Screen, Reflect, and Safeguard. If the screens are used, Light Clay comes into play, as usual.

Snatch, Psych Up, and Magic Coat are more fun options with varying use for Clefable to play with.

Clefable can also set up Stealth Rock, which has a reputation of really messing with opposing teams.

Clefable's Magic Guard does not block the damage from Belly Drum, but Clefable can just heal off the damage with its healing moves. After a Belly Drum, Clefable can be expected to really go to town on enemies.

Clefable has access to both Heal Bell and Aromatherapy. The latter is generally preferable for not being blocked by Soundproof, but it is incompatible with any move that comes from 3rd gen, as it is an Egg Move. In those cases, Heal Bell should be used.

Of course, no Clefable move analysis would be complete without mentioning Metronome, easily the most fun move in the game. While the move is a pretty poor choice for serious competitive battling, it makes for fun times during casual battles, including the incredibly entertaining Metronome battles. And hey, it might just pull off a move that completely seals the fate of the battle for you.

Effective Movesets

Note: When Return is placed in a set, many times it is merely a placeholder and can be replaced with practically any offensive move.

1. Wishful Stalling
- Wish
- Protect/Cosmic Power
- (primary attack)
- Toxic/Heal Bell
Note: There are a ton of Clefable movesets available. This is one of the more specialized ones. If Toxic Spikes aren't in play already, use your own Toxic. Wish+Protect is basically the same thing as a Softboiled, but taking two turns instead of one, which is sort of the point with stalling. Hail-stalling is also an option, in which case Blizzard is a nice primary attack to go with.

2. Lv. 2 Endeavor
- Endeavor
- Protect
- Encore
- Thunder Wave

This is a sort of a joke moveset that nevertheless has potential to destroy enemies under the right conditions. First, Sandstorm, Hail, or Toxic Spikes should be in effect, or the enemy should be poisoned, so that they will be knocked out if they are brought down to a Level 2 Clefable's HP. Then, using a Focus Sash, use Endeavor, then laugh as the opponent is completely floored. Protect can be used to see if the opponent is going to try something sneaky. While unlikely to last more than one round, this Clefable is near-guaranteed to bring at least one foe to its knees. Throw this Clefable into a Trick Room, though, and you might get to pull off two KOs...

Just in case, have someone with a first-strike attack if the indirect damage method of choice doesn't work, or if something goes wrong. Having a Stealth Rock up is also a way to guarantee that, if the opponent survives the Endeavor, they won't survive if they ever switch out...

3. The Gravity of the Situation
- Gravity
- Sing/Toxic
- Fire Blast/Thunder/Blizzard/Focus Blast/Meteor Mash
- Encore/Wish

If you're looking to play with gravity, here's a good set to use. Among other things, Gravity makes Sing, previously a rather unreliable 55%-accurate move, a 92%-accurate move: a huge improvement that allows it to shut down enemies easily. Meanwhile, all those other moves, which have accuracies from 70 to 85%, now hit 100% of the time. This makes Clefable rather dangerous, to say the least. That said, Gravity is a team move, and works best if you have teammates to take advantage of the increased accuracy (and the grounding of flyers and levitators). Wish works to this extent by healing a weakened teammate, while Encore is a pre-Gravity move, used to catch the opponent doing something worthless before activating Gravity.

4. Toxic Orb Facade
- Facade
- Protect
- Meteor Mash/Fire Blast
- Wish/Moonlight
Item: Toxic Orb
A more offensive approach than the Wishful Stalling set. Use Protect mainly to activate Toxic Orb, then strike away with powerful Facades.

5. Offensive Wall-Breaker
- Return
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Moonlight
Item: Life Orb
An offensive set that mainly uses Return, but uses its alternate moves when a tough wall like Steelix or Milotic comes along to try to ruin your day. Magic Guard negates Life Orb recoil, which is awesome.

6. Physical Life Orb
- Return
- Meteor Mash/Ice Punch
- Fire Punch/ThunderPunch
- Moonlight
Item: Life Orb
Note: Recoil-less Life Orb is awesome. Note: use either Meteor Mash with Fire Punch, or Ice Punch with ThunderPunch.

7. Special Life Orb
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Moonlight
Item: Life Orb
Note: While BoltBeam is clearly the best choice here, that third slot can go to almost anything. Flamethrower, Grass Knot, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball... just choose what you want. You can even use Substitute, healing the Sub damage with Moonlight.

8. Dual Screen
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Wish/Moonlight/Healing Wish
- Return
Item: Light Clay

9. Belly Drum
- Belly Drum
- Moonlight
- Return
- Meteor Mash/Fire Punch
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers/Toxic Orb
Note: The first gives pure power. The second has more staying power. The third opens up Facade and provides status immunity.

10. Team Support
- Stealth Rock
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Return

And so many, many more possible movesets.

Items

Clefable can use Leftovers, of course, along with Light Clay if it's running a dual-screen set (which it certainly can). However, three other items stand out for Clefable's special use with its ability: Flame Orb, Toxic Orb, and Life Orb. The first two inflict damaging status on the holder, which Clefable ignores the "damaging" part of. Both have the advantage of blocking arguably worse status like paralysis, sleep, and freezing. The former should be used with special attacks (or Seismic Toss), and can be used with Trick as a way to pseudo-burn an opponent. The latter can also be Tricked, but it's generally more effective to just keep it and let loose with Facade, which will suddenly become fearsomely powerful. Finally, there's the Life Orb, a classic item which powers up all moves by 1.3x, at the cost of 10% HP per hit... but wait! Clefable won't take that 10% HP damage thanks to Magic Guard! In other words, Life Orb gives Clefable a drawback-free power boost to any of its attacks. Great stuff.

Postscript: Things that Magic Guard will block

Burn/Poison: It'll still take the attack cut, though. That said, Clefable's great for absorbing these statuses, and it can even bring them upon itself using an Orb strategy mentioned above.

Spikes/Stealth Rock: Clefable has the distinction of being the only Pokemon that is *completely immune* to Stealth Rock. In a metagame where entry hazards seems to be the big way of wearing down switch-happy teams, Clefable has one less thing to worry about.

Leech Seed, Nightmare, Ghost-Curse, Bad Dreams, trap-move damage: More examples of residual-damage that Clefable will evade.

Sandstorm/Hail: Clefable can fit onto any Sandstorm/Hail team, as it won't be taking any damage from said weather.

Recoil/Life Orb: Life Orb was already mentioned, but Magic Guard also safeguards Clefable from the recoil from Double-Edge (which it can bring over from 3rd Gen). This gives Clefable a rather fearsome primary Normal-type attack, if you're willing to try for it. Other than that, this will come into play if Metronome pulls out a recoil move.

Jaboca/Rowap Berry held by opponent: If the opponent holds either of these berries, normally it will hurt the attacker if they use a physical or special attack, respectively. Clefable's Magic Guard will keep these berries from activating.

Full-paralysis: An odd little bonus, as full-paralysis isn't really damage, but while Clefable's Speed will still be cut, if it is paralyzed, it won't ever lose a turn from full paralysis.