King of the Bugs! Countering Yanmega

Yanmega was once one of the most commonly seen Pokémon on teams seen on Battle Revolution's online feature. His ability, Speed Boost, makes him faster on every turn AND he's capable of using Hypnosis. To an unprepared team, Yanmega can spell certain doom.



Enter the Yanmega killers. These three insomniacs can't be put to sleep by Yanmega, two are capable of slowing him down with Paralysis, and all three resist his most common attacking move, Bug Buzz. In Stadium Style battles, these guys can really shut Yanmega down.

Many people still use Yanmega. I can tell you personally that if you don't have a counter for this monstrous bug, he'll probably end up doing severe damage to your party. Any of these three counters are useful, and Stealth Rock certainly gives Yanmega trouble, due to 4x weakness. Also take note that Yanmega's base speed is actually pretty average, and when it appears he may not out speed his opponent initially, he may use Detect or Protect for a free Speed Boost. Take away that free boost by putting up a Substitute, using Agility, or trying something else devious.

Rivals! Variety!

A rival in Pokémon training is a good thing to have. By comparing your trained Pokémon and battling style to theirs, you can often pinpoint flaws in your team and devise new strategies. All it takes is a healthy thirst for competition and desire to improve yourself.

When you have rivals that you battle regularly, you may find yourself hard-pressed to surprise them. Having a team of regulars is fine, but a variety of Pokémon that you can use in your team always gives you an advantage over regular opponents.

Some of the trainers I've battled with have been very faithful to a regular party of six Pokémon, and my variety of trained Pokémon almost always overpowers them. Especially during rematches.

Think of it like this... if your opponent knows what is coming, they can plan ahead for your team. Battling you may become like preparing for an in-game Gym Leader or Elite Four Trainer. Don't make it so easy for them!

I always try to break what my rivals use regularly, so they're forced to rethink even their most basic strategies.

Johnny's PokéReview #2: Toxicroak

"Neurotoxin"

#454 - Toxicroak, the Toxic Mouth Pokémon
Ability: Dry Skin (Recovers HP in rain, loses HP in sun, absorbs water, weak to fire)
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 6 Def or Spdef
Hold: Focus Sash
-Sucker Punch
-Bullet Punch
-Pursuit
-Snatch

Neurotoxin exists for the very purpose its name implies: to screw with both yourself and the opponent. Optimized towards mind games rather than brute force, it can counter anything...assuming you choose the right move.

Sucker Punch is for when the opponent uses an offensive move. Hit em with a strong attack.

Bullet Punch covers offensive status moves like T-Wave. While you'll still be hit, they'll take damage, and ensures the opponent can never be safe regardless of what they use.

Pursuit is for if they foolishly decide to switch out, with the bonus of working even if they don't.

Lastly, Snatch steals healing and other support moves, which works well with Sucker Punch, as the latter is expected on Toxicroak, whereas Snatch isn't very common.

This moveset creates a scenario where the opponent cannot do ANYTHING without the possibility of being screwed. All they can do is limit the damage. This has the bonus of working best against psychics and ghosts, two things Toxicroak has trouble countering without Sucker Punch, and who might be tempted to set up on Toxicroak, or switch out to avoid the punch.

This also hast he benefit of working even once the opponent knows it's moveset (perhaps even working better), as long as the user doesn't brandish it against pokémon resistant to dark or steel, or heavy hitters (such as choice users) who exclusively use one type of attack.

EVs are for HP and Attack since not only does Dry Skin recover HP in rain, but all moves are priority, with the sole exception of non-switch Pursuit, so speed is useless. Focus Sash allows it to continue living, and as it's designed for optimal use in rain, sandstorm and hail aren't as much of a problem. Entry hazards are negated by the rain's recovery, thus ensuring that the focus sash won't be wrecked by Stealth Rock (which he resists). He even has the benefit of absorbing Toxic Spikes, and Dry Skin allows him to absorb water-attacks, giving him the bonus of Water Absorb.

All in all, Neurotoxin isn't intended to be a heavy hitter. He isn't meant to carry his own weight. His mission is simple: screw with your opponent and their walls and more frail sweepers. He is there for fun, and is not meant for "serious" OU-style teams. He probably won't win any battles for you, and may even be a dead weight at times. But damn is he fun, and really, isn't that what Pokémon is all about?

Other moves to consider are:
-Fake Out for a quick priority attack. Can help wear down pokémon for later sucker punching or pursuiting, and generally just screw with them further.
-Feint, normally a pretty crappy move, can add a new dimension to Neurotoxin's mind games by adding the possibility of even hitting through protect or detect, although it may be more useful in doubles than in singles.
-Taunt, Torment, Captivate, Attract, and Swagger are other notables, for their ability to mess with the opponent, but they rely on speed, and are generally not as effective for the purpose of screwing with the opponent as the other moves.

A Sketchy Breeding Trick

Sometimes you may devise a set of moves for a Pokémon you want to hatch, only to discover your combination of Egg Moves is impossible.

For example, say you'd like an Ursaring who knows Night Slash and Close Combat. When you check what Pokémon can give those moves, you realize no one parent can send both, and you'll have to settle for just one.

But wait! There's hope!

Enter Smeargle!

Smeargle can learn any move with Sketch. (Except for Chatter)
Anyone in the Ground Egg Group can breed with Smeargle. Any female in the Ground Egg Group can have Smeargle pass any combination of Egg Moves onto hatched Pokémon. Sketch Close Combat and Night Slash and breed with a female Ursaring. The baby will have both moves!

Smeargle starts with a single Sketch on level 1 and learns a new one every ten levels, provided you've used the Sketch already in your move list. Setting up the Sketches can take a little time. Sketching your partner Pokémon in a Double Battle is certainly the best method. If you're short on TMs, Smeargle's ability to Sketch TM moves and breed them can be indispensable. Any Pokémon can have TMs they are compatible with bred into them, so keep that in mind.

By chaining from Smeargle's moves through multiple Egg Groups, you could get unusual Egg Move combinations or rare TMs to Pokémon outside of the Ground Egg Group too. Just look for someone who can breed with Smeargle that is in multiple Egg Groups, and experiment.

Keep Smeargle in mind when you encounter a problem with Egg Moves, or run out of TMs!

Breeder's Cup

The Breeder's Cup, also known as The Baby Cup, is a style of Pokémon battling where you use the youngest forms of Pokémon straight from their eggs, up to level 5.

Only the initial forms of Pokémon are allowed. For example, Pichu is allowed, but Pikachu is not. Even though Pikachu evolves into Raichu, he is not the very first form.

Single form Pokémon are not allowed. Pokémon like Tauros or Spiritomb don't evolve at all, so technically they aren't the first form of anything. As such, you cannot use them.

This is where a trainer's ability to breed really shines through. This cup relies almost entirely on breeding Egg Moves into your Pokémon.

Remember that Egg moves come from the male when breeding, and the baby will always be the same species as the female. Oh, and make sure your Pokémon are in the same Egg Group before breeding, too! Otherwise, you'll never get an egg.

Both Serebii's Pokédex and Bulbapedia outline which Egg Groups Pokémon are in and which Egg Moves they can learn. You can find links to these resources on the right side of this page.

Natures, IVs and Effort Points have little impact on Pokémon at level 5, but the small increases they give are certainly worth it. If you intend to Effort Train without passing level 5, make the most of vitamins and dividing up experience points. Using a bunch of exp. shares, or making a lot of Pokémon take part in the battle can be useful here. This can be very time consuming, especially considering you'll need to find low level Pokémon to battle for Effort Points if you want to stay under level 5.

Again, Serebii's Pokédex has lists of where to get Effort Points.

The Breeder's Cup is a real test of not only breeding skill, but strategy. Give it a try some time!

The Allure of Shiny Pokémon

Shiny, or Alternate Color Pokémon are really rare. When you run into a wild Pokémon, or hatch an egg, you have a 1 in 8192 of it being shiny. A majority of the people who I've been playing Pokémon with for years have never even seen a single one.

Shiny Pokémon are pretty awesome looking a lot of the time, so it's no wonder why people want them so bad. A shiny Pokémon in your ranks really makes your team unique.



So what happens when you're playing online with Battle Revolution, or online with the Battle Tower, and you see a team of shiny Pokémon? No one is that lucky, right? Especially when its a lot of popular shiny Pokémon, like Metagross.

A lot of people suspect hacking when they see teams like this, but I urge you to take a second look before jumping to a conclusion.

There is a method to increase the chance at which you might encounter a shiny Pokémon. If you use the Poké Radar and capture or defeat a Pokémon that appears in the rustling grass because of it, a chain is started. Capturing or defeating more of these same Pokémon in a row keeps the chain going, and also increases the chance of your chain Pokémon appearing shiny. (You will actually see the grass sparkle wildly if it is shiny). The more you see of the same Pokémon, the greater the chance of seeing a shiny. Because running into non-Poké Radar wild Pokémon might break the chain, using Repels is usually helpful.

Although the ability Synchronize can be used to help determine a wild Pokémon's nature, IVs are still generated at random. So even using chains doesn't always create Pokémon worth battling with. Amazingly tough shiny Pokémon should always be suspect.

This page has information on the Poké Radar. I've also added Bulbapedia, an amazing Pokémon Wiki to the list of links.

Shiny Gastly, for example, can never be encountered by use of the Poké Radar. There are a lot of Pokémon like this, so when you see them in groups cheating is probably not that far off.

Move forward with discretion. Shiny Pokémon are rare, but aren't always an indicator of cheating.

Johnny's PokéReview #1: Regigigas

"Ruin Gigas"

#486 - Regigigas, the Colossal Pokémon
Ability: Slow Start (Atk and Spd halved for five turns)
Nature: Adamant, Impish, Careful
EVs: 252 HP, 128 Def, 128 Spdef
Hold: Leftovers
-Return, Fire/Ice/Thunderpunch, Earthquake, Stone Edge
-Thunder Wave
-Knock Off
-Substitute

Now, Regigigas gets a lot of hate. A TON of hate. And why? Because of his ability: Slow Start. This reduces his Atk and Spd stats for the first five turns he's out, and this is reset every time he's re-deployed! This puts his very high Base 160 Atk and base 100 Spd to waste. This much is obvious. On top of this, he lacks a few of the staple TMs that almost everything else gets: Rest and Protect.

But what people DON'T seem to see is the rest. He is one of the only bulky pokémon to get Thunder Wave AND Knock Off. He has tremendous defenses: Base 110 HP, Def, and Spdef - with the listed EVs, he can have up to 424 HP and 288 Def and Spdef at Lv100 (319 Def or Spdef with a + nature)!

While he may lack Rest and Protect, people need to look elsewhere besides "lol slow start sux." Rather than wait for it to wear off, use him in more of a bulky annoyer role! Thunder Wave and Knock Off allow Gigas to cripple the opposition as they struggle to overcome his HP and defenses with just ONE weakness (a feat Leftovers + Substitute makes harder). These two moves together can wreck a team, leaving it vulnerable for your other 5 (or two, in 3v3) pokémon to slaughter! And Return, or other 1st slot moves are there on the off chance he lasts those fateful five turns. Adamant is listed because even with NO Atk EVs and a 0 IV, he'll still have at least 325 Atk at Lv100! Some pokémon can barely REACH that number even with max EVs and IVs.

Other options? You want other options?
-Confuse Ray for further annoyance and lasting those 5 turns.
-Toxic for crippling the opponent's team further (especially walls that won't suffer much from T-wave).
-Safeguard for preventing Gigas from being burned (though Substitute can do that too).
-Psych Up for those pokémon who try and set up on Gigas (though T-wave and Knock Off may scare them pretty good).
-Swagger, to toy with physical fighting users (such as Close Combat). Swagger, then switch to a ghost!
-Rock Slide, to use with T-wave for paraflinchhax. Not the best pokémon for the job, but certainly usable, and could help those five turns pass faster.
-Drain Punch can allow him to recover some HP (especially with leftovers aid), but it's generally not a good idea to depend on him lasting all five turns, and even then DPunch is weak.

Some of the "other options" may seem novelty (such as Swagger and Psych Up), but half the fun of Gigas is that the general opinion is that he sucks so much that he can't do anything, so they can easily catch them by surprise. As it stands, though, T-wave + Knock Off is a potent combination that Gigas' incredible HP and defenses can make an excellent offense. Remember, speed and power isn't the only way to win.

Aside from that, also consider that since his only weakness is fighting, a ghost is the perfect backup. Switch to your Gengar, Mismagius, Dusknoir, Spiritomb, Drifblim, or whatever other ghost you may carry when you predict that Close Combat. Regigigas is best used to cripple the enemy and then pass the baton to the appropriate pokémon to finish the job.

Remember, rather than think what he CAN'T do BECAUSE of Slow Start, look at what he CAN do DESPITE Slow Start.

Impossible to Predict

A key aspect to winning a Pokémon match is to out-predict your opponent. You expect him to use a certain move, but he may predict that you expect that and may make another move, but you expect him to expect you to expect him to... it can make your head spin eventually. Of course, being able to predict what your opponent is going to have their Pokémon do requires a knowledge of what different species are capable of doing, and what the most popular strategies are.

Sometimes, and I'm seeing this a lot more recently, people will show up with movesets or Pokémon that seem to defy logic. These guys very often walk away with a victory because they play outside of trends seen in popular battling and make their opponents unable to predict what they're going to do.

I no longer laugh when I see Pokémon like Grumpig or Butterfree sitting on someone's team before a match. Being cocky like that has cost me too many battles, you just never know what people have up their sleeves.

Effort Training

What is Effort Training?

Effort Training is easily one of the most important parts of raising any competitive Pokémon. Doing it specializes trained Pokémon and gets the fullest potential of stats, like Speed or Attack. All experienced trainers Effort Train their Pokémon, so neglecting to do it doesn't give your team much of a chance in a competitive battle.

Where does Effort come from?

Pokémon, when either caught, recieved or hatched, start with no Effort. When you knock out any Pokémon that gives you experience points, you also get hidden Effort Points of a type and amount specific to the Pokémon you've just beaten. For example, Gastly gives 1 Special Attack Effort Point, Gyarados give 2 Attack Effort Points, and so on. You never get Effort Points from battles in the Battle Tower or with friends, only with wild Pokémon or CPU trainers outside of the Battle Tower. Also, since you can no longer get experience at level 100, no more Effort can be gained once you reach that level. All of these Pokémon give Effort to any Pokémon that was out in battle against them, just like experience. For every four of these points you accumulate in a stat, that stat gets a bump of a single point at level 100. The only way to level up without getting Effort Points you may not want is to put a Pokémon in the Day Care Center, or use a Rare Candy.

Serebii.net's Pokédex has links at the bottom to pages that list what Effort every Pokémon yields, seperated by HP, Attack and so on. I've added a link to Serebii's Pokédex to the links. Some Pokémon give points to more than one stat, so be careful.

You might be thinking you could battle Zubat endlessly until your speed reaches 999, but that isn't the case. There is a limit to the amount of Effort Points one Pokémon can accumulate. 510 is the overall limit for Effort Points, while 255 is the limit for a single stat.

255 Effort Points is 63 potential stat points. That's a lot. If you've used a Pokémon through the course of the entire game, like the Pokémon you started your game with, their effort is likely distributed unevenly across all of its stats, essentially having no use. The best way to Effort Train a Pokémon is to play to their strengths, by focusing the Effort into stats that will make it more likely to survive in battle. To get the full potential of the Effort Points, always try to train numbers that are divisible by 4. 252 Effort Points still gets that maximum of 63 stat points, so going all the way to 255 actually wastes points you could use elsewhere.

Is battling the only way to get Effort Points?

Of course, there are other ways to influence Effort Values. Effort Points don't just come from battling Pokémon, but from certain items. Vitamins from the Veilstone Department Store give 10 Effort Points a piece to their respective stat. HP UP adds to HP, Protein adds to Attack, Iron adds to Defense, Calcium adds to Special Attack, Zinc adds to Special Defense, and Carbos adds to Speed. Using these can cut down the work of effort training significantly, but you can't use more than 10 of a single vitamin. Due to the way vitamins work, you should always use them first. You can only use up to 10 in a single stat because vitamins cannot be used to increase Effort past 100 points. Even if you get 1 Attack Effort Point, you won't be able to use all 10 proteins on your Pokémon. When Effort Training, this causes extra work, so always give your Pokémon vitamins first.

There are hold items that also affect the amount of Effort Points gained in battle. The Macho Brace, when held, doubles any Effort Points the wearer receives. There are Power items you can exchange Battle Points for at the Battle Tower, and these are likely the most helpful items when Effort Training. The Power Weight, for example, gives the wearer 4 HP Effort Points regardless of the Pokémon they've just defeated, on top of the points they normally get from defeating that Pokémon. The Power Lens does the same for Special Attack, the Power Bracer gives Attack, the Power Belt for Defense, the Power Band for Special Defense, and the Power Anklet for Speed. These items are priceless when it comes to Effort Training.

Though the items help, you'll have to defeat Pokémon to get the rest of the Effort Points you'll need. If your Pokémon is too weak to defeat whatever you need to battle for Effort, you can send them in first and switch to a stronger Pokémon who can take them down. The Exp. Share item also works, it gives everyone all of the Effort gained in the battle, instead of dividing it like it does with experience points. I always keep a high-level Pokémon with me when Effort Training for this purpose. It can be one you've already Effort Trained and can't get anymore points, or a Pokémon whose Effort you don't care about, and don't intend to use in competitive battles.

What if I screw up?

You can also remove Effort Points from any Pokémon, in case you made a mistake or wish to retrain, with berries that have the opposite effect of the vitamins previously mentioned. The Tamato Berry lowers Speed, the Grepa Berry lowers Special Defense, the Hondew Berry lowers Special Attack, the Kelpsy Berry lowers attack, the Pomeg Berry lowers HP and the Qualot Berry lowers defense. You get these berries from the Berry Master just west of Hearthome City.

What are the best ways to distribute Effort Points?

That's up to you. Most people who Effort Train tend to slap 252 Effort Points in the Pokémon's two best stats, and put the remaining 6 in some other stat that could benefit from a single stat point boost, like HP. However, it really depends on the Pokémon, and what you intend to use it for. Experiment!

Where are the best places to Effort Train?

I'll show you where I Effort Train. These Pokémon appear the same in both Diamond and Pearl. Make sure you have enough supplies before going out to Effort Train, and have the proper HMs.


For HP, there are Wooper on 212 South, right outside of Pastoria City. Wooper is worth 1 HP Effort Point. Bring a Surfing Pokémon, as Wooper appears more often when Surfing back and forth on the water than in the grass. These Woopers will be from level 20 to 40. A Quagsire may appear from time to time, around the same levels as Wooper. He's worth 2 Effort in HP, so take note of that if you defeat one.


For Attack, there's Gyarados on Route 229. Gyarados is worth 2 Attack Effort Points. You'll need the Super Rod to find them. Watch out for Gyarados' intimidate, which lowers your Attack. These Gyarados are between level 20 and 55.


For Defense, Geodude waits for you in the Ruin Maniac's Cave. Geodude is worth 1 Defense Effort Point, and appears at level 22. While Geodude appears most often, Hippopotas can appear from time to time. Both Pokémon are worth a single Effort Point in Defense, so don't treat them any differently.


Need Special Attack? Gastly is your man. The Old Chateau is the place to go, Gastly is the only Pokémon within its walls. He gives up 1 Special Attack Effort Point, and can be found between level 12 and 16. You'll need Cut to get to the door, so make sure you bring it.


If you need Special Defense, go see Tentacruel. He can be found on Route 223 and is worth 2 Special Defense Effort Points. He'll show up between level 35 and 45. Pelipper and Mantyke may appear from time to time, and while Mantyke can be defeated for a single Special Defense Effort Point, Pelipper should be ignored.


When you need Speed, Zubat is your best option. Bring someone who can Surf, you'll be Surfing on a lake inside the Route 207 entrance to Mt. Coronet to find these guys. Zubat is worth 1 Speed Effort Point and will show up between level 20 and 40. Golbat may show up rarely, he's worth 2 Speed Effort Points so take extra note of that if you knock him out.

Once you've gotten all 510 of your Effort Points, a woman in Sunyshore City's Marketplace will give your Pokémon an Effort Ribbon. From this point forward, your fully trained Pokémon will no longer be effected by the Pokémon he defeats and he'll be ready to battle with real opponents. Unless you remove Effort Points with berries, you can't gain any more of them once you reach 510.

A Primer

I'm going to use this blog to make posts regarding what I've experienced in the world of Pokémon battling, training tips I've picked up along the way, and current happenings in the Pokémon world, especially current trends in Pokémon and strategy use.

I don't play on any simulators, everything I write will be about the actual Pokémon games for the DS and Wii. I play outside of the established online battling metagame, finding its rules and restrictions silly and pointless. I largely play by the rules Nintendo has used in a majority of their tournaments to date. 3 vs 3 Stadium Style with all of the rules found at the Battle Tower.

My intention is that my readers will either learn something from what I've written, or try to contribute something by leaving a comment, especially if they think I've missed a step.

More to come, and soon... so keep an eye out.