Prof. Oak's Lab: The Q&A Thread - USE THIS

[BaPr]

When two Pokemon know the same move, the offspring also knows the same move. Does this mean I can get two Espeons that know trick room to breed to make an Eevee with trick room?

 

[Respectre]

There are conditions; if both parents know a move that the baby is capable of learning through its own list of level ups (I.E., Marill learns Play Rough through level up, but if both parents know it, it will be born with it).

Eevee is not able to learn Trick Room through level up and thus will not be born with it.

Speaking of which, Trick Room is a TM move and TM/HM moves are no longer inheritable anyways.

 

[BaPr]

In a double/triple battle, does quick guard protect against teammates? Like, if one of my pokemon uses quick guard and my other pokemon uses fake out on the quick guard user (they are on the same team), does it still protect? I have a technique I wanna try, but I need to know this before trying.

 

[Respectre]

It does protect against a teammate's priority move that is aimed at it. I say this based on the fact that Wide Guard protects a Pokemon from its teammate's own spread moves such as Surf and Earthquake.

 

[BaPr]

I wanted to help my friend level up his pokemon, but he isn't that far into the game, so he hasn't collected all the badges yet. Since the Pokemon are his to begin with, can I still level them to high levels with the pokemon still obeying?

 

[MewtwoMaster2002]

I wanted to help my friend level up his pokemon, but he isn't that far into the game, so he hasn't collected all the badges yet. Since the Pokemon are his to begin with, can I still level them to high levels with the pokemon still obeying?

Yes, they will obey him as long as he is the OT and they have his ID.

 

[Aurane]

Hey there. I need some advice on building a trick room team around Mega Ampharos. So far, I have Talonflame & Azumarill- but I don't know who should be the Trick Room user. Any suggestions?

 

[BaPr]

I would suggest Trevenant. It is a nice switch in for Azumarill and Talonflame when against electric attacks and for ground type attacks for Ampharos. It is bulky enough to set up trick room without getting OHKO'd and it has harvest which is helpful. You also have a few options on what moveset and EV's to give it to benefit your team. Other Pokemon that can do trick room are Slow bro/king, Porygon2, Gallade, Gourgeist, and Reuniclus.

 

[yoshi8984]

[Somewhat of a bump]

I would like to know, when putting in defensive EVs, but you want to make your Pokemon capable of taking both physical and special hits, is it better to just dump EVs into HP, or split up EVs between SpD and Def? (Assuming the Pokemon's HP and defensive stats are not lopsided like Blissey, lol)

Like let's say I had a bulky physical attacker, but it's not exactly quick. I invested into max Attack. Let's say its defensive stats were Base 90/80/80.
Should I dump 252 EVs in HP, or do I split up EVs between Def and SpD, like 128 SpD and 124 Def, for example?

 

[Z'zgashi]

It depends on the stats of the Pokemon youre using. Also, the way game calculates damage is based off HP * Def (or SDef), so if you use your 90/80/80 as an example, this is how it would work (assuming all stats are also at 31 IVs):

Base 90 HP w/ 31 IVs = 321
Base 80 Def/SDef w/31 IVs = 196

So since 252 EVs is an additional 63 points, just add the 63 to the total stat and do the math from there.

Taking that into account, here's a comparison between your options to show the difference:
HP 252 / Def 0 / SDef 4 = Def: 384*196 = 75,264, SDef: 384*197 = 75,648, 75,264+75,648 = 150,912 combined defensive ability
HP 0 / Def 124 / SDef 128 = Def: 321*227 = 72,867, SDef: 321*228 = 73,188, 72,867+73,188 = 146,055 combined defensive ability

So 252 HP is better for covering both physical and special attacks, or at least for a base 90/80/80. You can apply this math to any set of stats to see which is better.

 

[Dairantō Smash Brothers]

If you breed a Ditto with a foreign Pokemon (another language), you're more likely to get a shiny. Correct?

 

[Firus]

If you breed a Ditto with a foreign Pokemon (another language), you're more likely to get a shiny. Correct?

This is the case with any Pokemon -- as long as they're from different regions -- but yes.

 

[Substitution]

So, a sibling of mine wanted to get into competitive Pokemon. But wants knowledge on how to get competitive. And I know next to nothing about how to play competitive. The only tips I know are to know how Pokemon works, how the metagame is, and get to know how the community works. And Smogon is a great place to start. Other than that, I know next to nothing.
Does anyone have any tips?

 

[MewtwoMaster2002]

So, a sibling of mine wanted to get into competitive Pokemon. But wants knowledge on how to get competitive. And I know next to nothing about how to play competitive. The only tips I know are to know how Pokemon works, how the metagame is, and get to know how the community works. And Smogon is a great place to start. Other than that, I know next to nothing.
Does anyone have any tips?

Don't just copy everything Smogon says. It makes you predictable. It's fine taking some sets and advice from there, but it's also good to be a little unpredictable and come up with something original.

 

[Substitution]

Don't just copy everything Smogon says. It makes you predictable. It's fine taking some sets and advice from there, but it's also good to be a little unpredictable and come up with something original.

All right, anything else?

 

[MewtwoMaster2002]

All right, anything else?

The best way to get competitive is to battle other competitive players and learn from experience. People have different play styles so find out what works best for you.

 

[db132]

So, a sibling of mine wanted to get into competitive Pokemon. But wants knowledge on how to get competitive. And I know next to nothing about how to play competitive. The only tips I know are to know how Pokemon works, how the metagame is, and get to know how the community works. And Smogon is a great place to start. Other than that, I know next to nothing.
Does anyone have any tips?

I know I'm a bit late on this.

One thing to note is that the wifi metagame is a bit different than the Smogon one. Many of Smogon's viable sets feature tutor moves from past generations and perfect IV legendaries with optimal natures and are often at times preparing vs opposing Pokemon with the same types of attributes. It's much harder to acquire those Pokemon with those specifications on cart opposed to simulators where everything about every Pokemon is freely at your disposal at any moment. Smogon's analysis for the most part also only prepare for things only seen in their OU tier and usually don't mention threats from lower tiers that are occasionally seen on wifi. (There isnt an actual distinction of power/usefulness between OU and UU pokemon and such with other tiers but most people tend to only use OU Pokemon in OU.) The Pokemon Global Link website has usage stats for the Battle Spot that display everything about what is most commonly seen on which Pokemon including moves, abilities, items and what beats said Pokemon most often just like Smogon's usage stats but I think it only counts rated battles. Another thing too is that 3vs3 singles is played much differently than 6vs6 singles if he didn't already know. For example, in 3vs3, the usage of items like focus sash goes way up in addition to moves like Rock Tomb and Bulldoze to punish potential switch ins while moves like Spikes and Stealth Rock are less common

 

[BaPr]

1. Is there a list somewhere that tells you what cannot be found in ORAS or XY, like event legends (Arceus, Darkrai, etc.) and just regular Pokemon. Also, if possible, one that excludes friend safari's

2. Are there any Pokemon that require past gens to learn a move? I'm asking this because the new move tutors in ORAS look like they cover it, but I just want to make sure.

 

[Ultra*HappyCharge]

So I'm on picking my last pokemon in my team and I was thought of the said two pokemon. I do want to know if which one of them is the better option for my team. Also, I play non-competitively so this is mostly for the in-game fun. Here are my other pokemon in the team:

Swampert - Water/Ground
Gardevoir - Psychic/Fairy
Hariyama - Fighting
Roselia - Grass/Poison
Altaria - Dragon/Flying(Fairy if Mega)

Suggestions and advice are much appreciated here and I allso posted this on some other boards~ TIA ^_^

 

[Rick Sure]

I personally would go for Eelektross because he has no weakness. Also, you wouldn't have two Ground types if you chose Eelektross. ALSO, Eelektross has a more diverse movepool than Camerupt. So, Eelektross for variety I guess.

 

[Firus]

@ Ultra*HappyCharge Merged your thread into this one. In the future, small questions like this should go in this thread instead of getting its own thread.

 

[Ultra*HappyCharge]

@ Ultra*HappyCharge Merged your thread into this one. In the future, small questions like this should go in this thread instead of getting its own thread.

Sorry about that, I was kinda used on Gamefaqs' ways XD

 

[Firus]

Does anybody have any confirmed data regarding DexNav "chaining" and how that works? I've been searching around and I've seen people saying it definitely increases shiny encounter rates, I've seen people saying it's a flat rate with the DexNav and doesn't increase with a higher chain unlike in fourth gen, and I've seen people speculating that there's no difference whatsoever, but nobody discussing anything but hearsay and personal experiences, not to mention that all of it seems to be months ago which gives me the impression there should be a better consensus by now. The official sites (Bulbapedia and Serebii are the ones I've looked at), meanwhile, don't say anything about shinies with regard to chaining at all.

I ask because I'm working on trying to chain for a shiny Larvesta at the moment, and I had a chain of 48 and now I'm on a chain of 113 and I've seen nothing. It may just be bad luck on my part (I admittedly have never had great luck with shinies), but if anybody has any info I would really appreciate it.

EDIT: Well, just accidentally broke the chain at 121 and I'm throwing in the towel, at least until I get the Shiny Charm. Still, if anybody can either confirm or deny if there's an increase in shiny chance wtih DexNav it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[UltiMario]

DexNav shares coding with Friend Safari: Slightly higher base Shiny Rate. Never increases, chains do nothing for shinyness.

 

[Oatmeal.]

Is there a section for the tcg somewhere on the boards?

 

[Firus]

Is there a section for the tcg somewhere on the boards?

Just the general Poke Center area here. We don't really get enough activity here to justify a separate section for anything specific anymore.

 

[Oatmeal.]

Just the general Poke Center area here. We don't really get enough activity here to justify a separate section for anything specific anymore.

That's disappointing. You would think there would be more tcg gamers in this community.

 

[Twewy]

Why does Rumble World hate me? I'll land it perfectly on Place-You've-Never-Been-Before-Hot-Damn-Look-At-All-These-New-Pokemon: Entrance and instead it'll take me to Hope-You-Enjoy-Leaving-With-15-Wrumples-Loser: Back.

 

[Sir Gengar de Èctoplasma]

Why does Rumble World hate me? I'll land it perfectly on Place-You've-Never-Been-Before-Hot-Damn-Look-At-All-These-New-Pokemon: Entrance and instead it'll take me to Hope-You-Enjoy-Leaving-With-15-Wrumples-Loser: Back.

I know that feeling. The game is very frustrating, the balloons are expensive, having constantly to release Pokemon due to the limit and the difficulty level of challenges rises too fast. I stopped playing the game after using 4 jewels on a frustating challenge (the Garden Intruder one) and still failing it.

 

[Sir Gengar de Èctoplasma]

Sorry for the doublepost (the one below is over a week old). I have a question regarding breeding/Masuda method: If one or both parents are shiny, does it increase the chance of the offspring being a shiny?

 

[LucarioDude]

Sorry for the doublepost (the one below is over a week old). I have a question regarding breeding/Masuda method: If one or both parents are shiny, does it increase the chance of the offspring being a shiny?

Sadly, having shinies as parents don't influence the chance of the offspring being a shiny. It'd be nice if it did.

 

[Sir Gengar de Èctoplasma]

Sadly, having shinies as parents don't influence the chance of the offspring being a shiny. It'd be nice if it did.

Okay, thanks for your answer. Yeah, it'd be nice if it did, I've tried Masuda method several times (Magikarps, Honedges, Charmanders, and now Froakies) without getting any shiny, and almost every time the other parent has been shiny.

 

[LucarioDude]

Okay, thanks for your answer. Yeah, it'd be nice if it did, I've tried Masuda method several times (Magikarps, Honedges, Charmanders, and now Froakies) without getting any shiny, and almost every time the other parent has been shiny.

It's all about luck. I've tried the Masuda method with non-shiny parents and have gotten a few shinies. Unfortunately I've been trying to get a shiny Froakie since last year and even with the Shiny Charm I had no luck. I gave up after 1000 eggs, my luck is so bad.

 

[Sir Gengar de Èctoplasma]

It's all about luck. I've tried the Masuda method with non-shiny parents and have gotten a few shinies. Unfortunately I've been trying to get a shiny Froakie since last year and even with the Shiny Charm I had no luck. I gave up after 1000 eggs, my luck is so bad.

Well, I'm also trying to breed some Froakies. I doubt I'll get a Shiny, but if I get two or more I will trade you one.

 

[LucarioDude]

Well, I'm also trying to breed some Froakies. I doubt I'll get a Shiny, but if I get two or more I will trade you one.

Oh thank you, but good luck! Ironically after giving up on hatching for shiny Froakie for a while, I focused on completing the National dex and someone wanted a Chespin on GTS. I ended up hatching a shiny Chespin in the first batch. If only it was Froakie! D:

 

[Sir Gengar de Èctoplasma]

I got a shiny Arbok from GTS today. It was lv. 35 and moves were normal, but it was from Unova region, and was in a Master Ball. Since you can't catch Ekans or Arbok in BW or BW2, and breeded Pokemon will have regular Poke Ball, does that mean that it is hacked?

 

[MewtwoMaster2002]

I got a shiny Arbok from GTS today. It was lv. 35 and moves were normal, but it was from Unova region, and was in a Master Ball. Since you can't catch Ekans or Arbok in BW or BW2, and breeded Pokemon will have regular Poke Ball, does that mean that it is hacked?

Most likely yes.

 

[Sir Gengar de Èctoplasma]

Most likely yes.

Yeah, thanks for the answer. Should've guessed that it was too good to be true...

 

[Kneutronic]

Is there an easy method in figuring out how to adjust the IVs of your Pokemon if you want it to learn a proper Hidden Power type? This is probably the one thing that confuses me the most about raising Pokemon as a whole.

 

[MewtwoMaster2002]

Is there an easy method in figuring out how to adjust the IVs of your Pokemon if you want it to learn a proper Hidden Power type? This is probably the one thing that confuses me the most about raising Pokemon as a whole.

You can't really adjust IVs. You can breed IVs with Destiny Knot, but that would require a lot of luck.