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Glen-i

Getting into Competitive Pokémon

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Quite new to competitive, but did some online ranked battles (singles) in game recently. Managed to get to Rank 5 and then really started to struggle to get a win.

I'd like to become half decent at Pokemon battles, so I've been watching some videos on competitive battling and hopefully I've picked up a few tips. I'm gonna start practicing on Pokemon Showdown soon, and hopefully after a few weeks I'll have enough experience to build and use a team in game that can get me to Master Tier!

*Is fully aware it's probably not that easy xD*

Edited by Sckewi
*online* ranked battles

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I just encountered the most bizarre strategy in a ranked doubles battle. My opponent (using all shiny Pokémon BTW *cough* bloody cheat *cough*) sent out Lucario and Whimsicott, the Whimsicott then proceeded to attack the Lucario with a multi hit move and every single hit raised the Lucario’s attack stat, meanwhile it was taking hardly any damage at all! :o It ended up with a 4x attack boost from a single turn (I imagine it could have even been 5) then he Dynamaxed it and basically tore my entire team to shreds! :laughing: 

Afterwards I checked his team out, to try and see how he did it. Basically the Whimsicott has no attack IVs at all, but maxed speed and defense, plus it’s holding a focus sash, and the Lucario has an ability that raises its attack when hit with a dark type move.

2 questions...

How the hell is this guy only in Poké Ball tier 4? :heh:

And how the hell are you supposed to counter a tactic like that? ::shrug:

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3 minutes ago, RedShell said:

I just encountered the most bizarre strategy in a ranked doubles battle. My opponent (using all shiny Pokémon BTW *cough* bloody cheat *cough*) sent out Lucario and Whimsicott, the Whimsicott then proceeded to attack the Lucario with a multi hit move and every single hit raised the Lucario’s attack stat, meanwhile it was taking hardly any damage at all! :o It ended up with a 4x attack boost from a single turn (I imagine it could have even been 5) then he Dynamaxed it and basically tore my entire team to shreds! :laughing: 

Afterwards I checked his team out, to try and see how he did it. Basically the Whimsicott has no attack IVs at all, but maxed speed and defense, plus it’s holding a focus sash, and the Lucario has an ability that raises its attack when hit with a dark type move.

2 questions...

How the hell is this guy only in Poké Ball tier 4? :heh:

And how the hell are you supposed to counter a tactic like that? ::shrug:

*Throws a Whimsicott and Ditto into the Pokemon Nursery and razzes it up and down the bridge until it hatches so I can copy the above.

:D

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9 hours ago, RedShell said:

I just encountered the most bizarre strategy in a ranked doubles battle. My opponent (using all shiny Pokémon BTW *cough* bloody cheat *cough*) sent out Lucario and Whimsicott, the Whimsicott then proceeded to attack the Lucario with a multi hit move and every single hit raised the Lucario’s attack stat, meanwhile it was taking hardly any damage at all! :o It ended up with a 4x attack boost from a single turn (I imagine it could have even been 5) then he Dynamaxed it and basically tore my entire team to shreds! :laughing: 

Afterwards I checked his team out, to try and see how he did it. Basically the Whimsicott has no attack IVs at all, but maxed speed and defense, plus it’s holding a focus sash, and the Lucario has an ability that raises its attack when hit with a dark type move.

2 questions...

How the hell is this guy only in Poké Ball tier 4? :heh:

And how the hell are you supposed to counter a tactic like that? ::shrug:

Wow, that's the first time I've ever heard of Beat Up not being utter crap. If they didn't have a full team of shinies, I'd respect them.

Man, that's inspired. But just off the top of my head, An Imposter Ditto with Quick Powder would really ruin the Lucario's day. Because the Lucario has to get attacked for the boost to happen, it can't use a Focus Sash.

Lucario is weak to Fighting moves, and seeing as any Physical based Lucario will have Close Combat, there isn't much it could do. And then the Ditto becomes the unstoppable monster.

Lucario has decent speed, but it's not unassailable. A good Sweeper with the right move can take it down, no matter how crazy it's Attack is. For example, Charizard is a great counter to Lucario, not to mention Excadrill, and seeing as it's a Doubles Battle, it'd struggle against Glass Cannons. Get two of those Pokémon out and there wouldn't be much the Lucario can do. Well, unless it has Extreme Speed or Bullet Punch, but it Dynamaxed, so priority moves do nothing.

Failing that, Roar or Haze would put a dampener on that strategy, resetting the Lucario's stats. Or if you saw that Beat Up strategy coming, you could pre-emptively block it with Weezing's Neutralising Gas ability.

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10 hours ago, RedShell said:

And how the hell are you supposed to counter a tactic like that? ::shrug:

Take the cartridge out of the Switch and play something else :p 

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8 hours ago, Glen-i said:

An Imposter Ditto with Quick Powder would really ruin the Lucario's day.

I just happen to have one of those. :) Think it’s holding a choice scarf though, is quick powder a better option?

Anyway, it wasn’t on my team for that particular match, as I was testing some of the Galar Pokémon for the next competition. Speaking of which, are you up for another doubles battle today, say at 5pm?

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10 minutes ago, RedShell said:

I just happen to have one of those. :) Think it’s holding a choice scarf though, is quick powder a better option?

Anyway, it wasn’t on my team for that particular match, as I was testing some of the Galar Pokémon for the next competition. Speaking of which, are you up for another doubles battle today, say at 5pm?

Quick Powder has the same speed boosting effect as Choice Scarf, except for the fact it doesn't lock you into a move. Which frees your Choice Scarf up to use with a different Pokémon.

Amazing, right? The downside is that it only works for Ditto. Good thing Ditto is amazing with a speed boost.

I believe some wild Dittos hold them. Have a Pokémon with the Super Luck ability (like Unfezant) in the front of your party to double the chances of finding one.

Yeah, I'd be up for another Galar only test run at 5.

Edited by Glen-i
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Eiscue is fast becoming one of my favourite Pokémon. Tough, yet still ridiculous/cute in appearance. :D

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Wonder if anyone can help with some EV's (think it's EV's I get confused between the two). 

So I have a load of Carbos, Iron and the others to boost these stats but I'm a bit confused with how they work. 

Take my Ferrothorn, for example. 

I have bred loads and now I have a 5 perfect stat Ferrothorn but want to boost it further with the other values. 

But how many of each vitamin would I give it? Do I even give it one of each or do I just focus on certain ones? 

It's speed I don't care for as it has Gyro Ball but the other stats? It's confusing. Same with the poke job glitch which I believe does the same thing just probably quicker and less dollah. How many times do I send it on a job to maximise it's stats? 

This is the last piece of the puzzle that's struggling to set in my brain hah so any help would be great! 

Edited by Aneres11

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EVs are bit tricky to explain so I'll try to summarise.

You can give a total of 510 EVs per Pokemon. 4 EVs = 1 stat and the maximum per stat is 252. So in theory you can 2 stats with 252 and then 1 stat with 4 EVs. Which actually leaves you with 2 EVs that get wasted. Why Game Freak did this I have no idea.

Generally you want to give the EVs in stats that best suit the Pokemon and the role you want it to have. E.g. physical sweepers you want to put the EVs in Attack and Speed and then the rest probably in HP. You don't always have to do that kind of spread, you can put them into whatever stats you want, just make sure that you're actually getting a benefit from it.

For Ferrothorn which is a defensive Pokemon, you'll want 252 in HP and then probably Special Defence to patch it's lower base stats or if you want a super defensive one in defense, but then in Defence. It still won't take a fire attack so watch out for those. :heh:

The vitamins give 10EVs in that stat, so you need to use 26 to max the stat, but the last one will only give 4 EVs meaning you've wasted 6. In this case the feathers that drop on the bridge on Route 5 give 1 EV so you can use them to give the rest, or just eat the loss. You can also battle other Pokemon to gain EV in certain stats. You'll have to lookup what gives what EVs though.

If you give a Pokemon the Power item, then 1 day will give them the max EVs. Other 1 day was something like 92 or 94 or some odd number.

The nice thing about the most recent generations is that you can't go over 252EV so it's hard to mess up. There are berries that lower EVs though if you do, or change your mind later.

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3 minutes ago, Ike said:

EVs are bit tricky to explain so I'll try to summarise.

You can give a total of 510 EVs per Pokemon. 4 EVs = 1 stat and the maximum per stat is 252. So in theory you can 2 stats with 252 and then 1 stat with 4 EVs. Which actually leaves you with 2 EVs that get wasted. Why Game Freak did this I have no idea.

Generally you want to give the EVs in stats that best suit the Pokemon and the role you want it to have. E.g. physical sweepers you want to put the EVs in Attack and Speed and then the rest probably in HP. You don't always have to do that kind of spread, you can put them into whatever stats you want, just make sure that you're actually getting a benefit from it.

For Ferrothorn which is a defensive Pokemon, you'll want 252 in HP and then probably Special Defence to patch it's lower base stats or if you want a super defensive one in defense, but then in Defence. It still won't take a fire attack so watch out for those. :heh:

The vitamins give 10EVs in that stat, so you need to use 26 to max the stat, but the last one will only give 4 EVs meaning you've wasted 6. In this case the feathers that drop on the bridge on Route 5 give 1 EV so you can use them to give the rest, or just eat the loss. You can also battle other Pokemon to gain EV in certain stats. You'll have to lookup what gives what EVs though.

If you give a Pokemon the Power item, then 1 day will give them the max EVs. Other 1 day was something like 92 or 94 or some odd number.

The nice thing about the most recent generations is that you can't go over 252EV so it's hard to mess up. There are berries that lower EVs though if you do, or change your mind later.

Thank you Ike. :)

Jesus Christ it is not simple that is it?!! 

I need a lie down. 

So let's say I want to do as you suggest and give Ferrothorn the max in Sp Def and HP. Would I therefore have to give it 26 of both HP up and Iron (or whatever highers Sp Def) to do this? And then the rest wherever? 

Is that how it would work? 

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3 minutes ago, Aneres11 said:

Thank you Ike. :)

Jesus Christ it is not simple that is it?!! 

I need a lie down. 

So let's say I want to do as you suggest and give Ferrothorn the max in Sp Def and HP. Would I therefore have to give it 26 of both HP up and Iron (or whatever highers Sp Def) to do this? And then the rest wherever? 

Is that how it would work? 

Nope. :laughing:  And it's a lot easier these days. When people say every Pokemon game looks the same, it's because they are looking at the surface. A lot of the changes are under the hood. The whole IV thing put me off a bit with legendaries as I didn't want to end up with a weak Pokemon but with Hyper Training they've made it so you can worry less.

Yep, 26 HP Up and Zinc. And then 1 Iron for Defence. Like I said the 26th HP Up , Zinc and iron will only give 4 EV so if you're worried about money try one of the other methods.

Oh, if you go on a Pokemon's summary on the stats page and press X or Y (can't remember which) the graph changes to show the EVs. If the stat is sparkling then that stat is maxed out.

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2 minutes ago, Ike said:

Nope. :laughing:  And it's a lot easier these days. When people say every Pokemon game looks the same, it's because they are looking at the surface. A lot of the changes are under the hood. The whole IV thing put me off a bit with legendaries as I didn't want to end up with a weak Pokemon but with Hyper Training they've made it so you can worry less.

Yep, 26 HP Up and Zinc. And then 1 Iron for Defence. Like I said the 26th HP Up , Zinc and iron will only give 4 EV so if you're worried about money try one of the other methods.

Oh, if you go on a Pokemon's summary on the stats page and press X or Y (can't remember which) the graph changes to show the EVs. If the stat is sparkling then that stat is maxed out.

Brilliant - thanks!! 

I have been doing this now every night for about a week and a half (or since I was crying in here about my Pokémon being rubbish til you all told me about EV / IV training :laughing:) so I cannot WAIT to get the team set and try them out. 

Chances are, I'll lose all my matches again haha but it's kind of fun learning all this at the same time. I've never looked at Pokémon like this before and I am enjoying it a lot. 

I don't have any 6 perfect stat Pokémon, apart from my Ditto, but most have 4 perfect which should be ok, right? 

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7 minutes ago, Aneres11 said:

Chances are, I'll lose all my matches again haha but it's kind of fun learning all this at the same time. I've never looked at Pokémon like this before and I am enjoying it a lot. 

I don't have any 6 perfect stat Pokémon, apart from my Ditto, but most have 4 perfect which should be ok, right? 

You'll get better once you start playing and learning what match ups work best and speed tiers and all that jazz.

Generally you only really need 5 perfect IVs. As long as you second imperfect stat isn't an important one and it's still fairly high (IVs range from 0 to 31) then the difference is minimal.

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Well. 

After taking an age to get a team together, I have won 6 in a row now and got myself to Poke Ball tier! 

UwJcLjc.jpg

:D

So big thanks to all you guys for your help. @Ike @Hero of Time @RedShell @Glen-i appreciate your posts guiding an absolute beginner to competitive Pokémon to 6 straight wins! :D

I'm sure I'll lose any minute now, but the team are doing the trick so far! 

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Man I love Greedent. :D

Belly Drum, Sitrus Berry + Cheek Pouch ability and he is a BEAST. 

Especially if I Trick Room with Runerigus first. 

He's fast becoming my favourite to battle with! 

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Anyway, Competitive battles aren't full of idiots, so I want to take my slightly edited team and give it a test run.

Anyone wanna battle me in a Double Battle later on today?

Edited by Glen-i
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11 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Anyone wanna battle me in a Double Battle later on today?

I’m up for that. Surprise surprise. :hehe: 

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18 minutes ago, RedShell said:

I’m up for that. Surprise surprise. :hehe: 

How about 7pm?

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19 minutes ago, RedShell said:

Ok.

Right, my team is in the Battle Box now. I'll start a Double Battle room.

Code is 3682.

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Good battle @RedShell. Even if you cheekily used the shiny I gave you against me.

If that Stone Edge missed, I probably would've lost. It was that close.

Edited by Glen-i
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11 minutes ago, RedShell said:

Good game @Glen-i. You certainly trained your Seismitoad better than I did. :D 

I was thinking to myself. "He knows I have Water Absorb, is he expecting me to use the Charizard as bait for a water attack heal?" But you went for it anyway, called that wrong.

I take it you kept Swift Swim? I went for Water Absorb because I'd rather have Sandstorms going. But Swift Swim gels well with your Dynamax Eiscue, which still terrifies me.

Plus I've got this video and it's funny.

Oh BTW, I'm still open to any other N-E trainers that want to have a crack.

Edited by Glen-i

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41 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

I take it you kept Swift Swim?

I think so, yeah. Not actually spent much time preparing that Pokémon TBH, I just thought it would be fun to have the shiny Seismitoad siblings encounter each other in a battle. :grin:

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