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Metapod And Its Attacks

By Anonymous

There are weak Pokemon, but there is one that is a lot similar to another species of Pokemon. This Pokemon is known as Metapod. Metapod is a bug type Pokemon and isn’t very popular to even use when you first start your Pokemon journey. Metapod is similar to, probably equivalent to Kakuna. Kakuna is a bug type Pokemon who is just about the exact some Pokemon as Metapod, but slightly different. Metapod’s only attack it can get is known as Harden. Harden is an attack in which the Pokemon raises it’s own defense stat. Now this attack is completely useless if you don’t have any other attack that can be used. This will make it harder to defeat Metapod, but using Harden too many times can leave to it running out of power points, which are used to keep number of how many times you can use an attack. When these power points run out the Pokemon will have to use Struggle, Struggle is a fairly weak attack that will make the Pokemon that is out of power points attack, but it will lose health points, or HP, in the process by getting hit by recoil.

Running out of power points isn’t the only way to use Struggle, if the opponent trick the Pokemon by using Encore or an attack of that nature, and Disable, this will make it so the Pokemon can’t attack at all, resorting in it using Struggle. What does Metapod have in common with Kakuna anyway aside from having the same basic structure and body? Well Metapod’s pre-evolved form, Caterpie can get String Shot and Tackle, when it evolves into Metapod it will also know Tackle and String Shot. It will learn Harden as a Metapod. While Kakuna’s pre-evolved form, Weedle, can get String Shot and Poision Sting. It will evolve into Kakuna and will learn the attack known as Harden.

The only difference between these two is Metapod can get Tackle and Kakuna can get Poison Sting. Metapod is probably the strongest out of the two because Tackle does more damage than Poison Sting, but if Poison Sting poisons the Pokemon, Metapod and Kakuna have equal power.

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EV training Part 1

By Jack Snell

Effort Values (EVs for short) are what help determine what stats your Pokemon gain when they level up. EVs are similar to EXP in that your Pokemon will gain them when the battle finishes, but there are three key differences.

Wild Pokemon give off a specific number of EVs.
EVs will boost stats, as opposed to EXP, which only grows your Pokemon to its next level.
There is a limit to the amount of EVs your Pokemon is capable of gaining, which has very little to do with the level it’s at.

Each Pokemon gives off a specific number of EVs. Let’s start with an example: you’ve started the game with a Snivy and just recently fought a Lillipup you found in the grass. Along with the 20 or so EXP points your Snivy gained, it also gained a EV point in Attack. Why? Because Lillipups give off 1 EV point in Attack when you defeat them. Each Pokemon gives off a certain number of EVs in a certain stat.

Here’s a few example of what EVs what Pokemon give off:

Purrloin gives off 1 EV in Speed.
Audino gives off 2 EVs in HP.
Sawsbuck gives off 2 EVs in Attack.

As you can see, fully evolved Pokemon tend to give off more EVs, just as they give off more EXP. A Pokemon’s level has nothing to do with how many EVs you gain — a level 10 Pokemon gives 2 EVs just like a level 50 one does.

Let’s move on to the next bullet point: EVs will boost stats. This one is a little more complicated.

In a nutshell, Pokemon will have higher stats if they have more EVs in the respective stat. At level 100, every 4 EVs that a Pokemon has gained in a stat will raise that stat by 1 point. Let’s say you were to defeat 4 Purrloin; at level 100, your Pokemon would have 1 point higher Speed than it would if it didn’t fight any Purrloin. Fight 8 Purrloin, and you’ll have 2 points higher Speed.

You don’t have to wait until level 100 before you see the effects of EV training — you’ll receive a proportionate bonus based on your level, and it is usually gained gradually, not all at once. In other words, you might not see every level up giving you +5’s and +6’s for your stats, but over time, your Pokemon will be stronger than it would be if you weren’t EV training it.

There is a limit to the amount on EVs you can gain, which brings me to the third bullet point: You can only have a maximum of 510 EVs on one Pokemon, and no more than 255 on any stat. And since 4 EVs are worth 1 stat point at level 100, and 4 does not go equally into 510 or 255, then you don’t have to completely fill up those numbers.
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Pokemon Black Review

By Jack Snell

If you’re on the outside looking in, the Pokemon series probably looks like the same game marketed with minor changes over and over for 15 years, each time to fresh brood of gullible children in a money spinning attempt. It’s not a fair or correct assumption, but I can understand the thought.

Pokemon reinvents itself to a greater or lesser extent every three years or so, but half-steps like Platinum and remakes like HeartGold muddy the distinction between generations. And where Silver and Gold’s astonishing sprawl of new features more than justified their existence (and their re-release last year), Diamond and Pearl’s more timid adjustments to the formula were less defensible.

It’s about time for a spring-clean, and Pokemon Black and White are exactly that. Game Freak has abandoned the guaranteed brand recognition of Pikachu and his 500-odd friends for an entirely new cast of 156 quirky, endearing, and occasionally disturbing monsters. It’s difficult to overstate how unexpectedly brave this is for a heavyweight Japanese series; imagine Capcom releasing a new Street Fighter without Ryu and Ken. It signals an eagerness to break with the past, a new spirit of regeneration.

Over the course of 70 hours, Pokemon Black and White has surprised me over and over again. The last time I could say that about a Pokemon game, I was still carrying around a Charizard-adorned pencil case.

Here’s the first surprise: it looks brilliant. Evidently Game Freak has finally hired some new graphic designers. Pokemon’s monster design has always been exceptional, but otherwise the graphics were rarely better than tolerable.

The new Pokemon designs however uninspired particularly compared to the original 151, do grow on you, I for example have developed some new favourites, in Hydreigon, Tepig, Chandelure, Sandile, Tepig etc. Some of the Pokédex descriptions are wonderfully weird.

Now the battles come alive with entertaining monster animations, the cities are constructed of distinctive 3D buildings, and towns are connected by towering bridges that stretch over sparkling water and reveal distant skyline vistas. The sprites are bright and crisp, long grass sways in the wind, and the world’s weather changes along with the seasons once every real-time month. Fittingly for what might be the DS’ last heavyweight titles, they’re among the best-looking on the platform.

And the second surprise: you don’t always know what’s next. Yes, you know that you’ll make the familiar pilgrimage from town to town, collecting gym badges and eventually facing the Elite Four, but it’s all about those new Pokemon.

Wander into the grass in a new area and you genuinely have no idea what you’re about to meet. When a Pokemon evolves, you’re excited about what it might become. New moves make you raise an eyebrow and read the description. It all feels new again, and it makes such a difference. There’s not a Pidgey or Rattata in sight.

This sense of reinvigoration extends across the whole of Black and White. Game Freak is as willing to re-evaluate and throw out its out-dated traditions as its bloated cast. The biggest change is the distribution of experience points: monsters now get a far bigger share of EXP when they defeat foes stronger than themselves. This not only evens out the process of building a strong, balanced team, it makes over-levelling impossible. Grinding – what little there was of it – has been completely eliminated.
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Pokemon Starters

By Jack Snell

Every journey has a beginning. A point of reference one can use when measuring how far the hero has come during the course of their adventure. For Sir Arthur, his beginning was pulling a sword from a stone. For Link it was heeding the call for help of a young princess Zelda. For Ash … it was choosing a Poke Ball

Decisions, Decisions…

Everyone Remembers Their First Love

For me it was choosing Charmander in Pokemon Red <3 Still my favourite starter of all time. To the untrained eye, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander from the original games were just blobs of pixels accompanied by an indecipherable MIDI screech. But to me, and countless others, they were so much more.3

To me, this little, orange/red lizard was my very first (but definitely not last) Pokemon friend. The first monster I would ever train, travel with, bond with, and watch evolve before my eyes. He was my constant companion during my introduction to the world of Pokemon and, more importantly, during my perilous and probably-best-forgotten middle school days. While I would go on to have new starters that I also cared for in future installments, nothing would ever quite measure up to my first Pokemon love.

Charizard, I choose you!

The Ties That Bind

For myself and any other gamer who set out from Mom’s house to become the Pokemon League Champion, our starter was an integral part of the experience. This is because, in Pokemon, your starter is your constant companion. It’s the only monster in your party who is with you from the moment you first leave your small town and step out into the wild grass where untold mystery and adventure awaits. It’s the one who you watch grow from barely being able to take down a Pidgey or Bidoof to completely destroying anyone foolish enough to stand in your way.

The only way to punish a pesky Bidoof is by making it your HM slave

Also, in the beginning of the games, you literally rely on your starter of choice for survival, at least until you catch more Pokemon. But even after more Pokemon are available and a starter can theoretically be put out to pasture, your starter is the one you’ve learned to count on and trust, so most trainers choose to keep it as the most powerful member of their team throughout the course of the game, even when other Pokemon with better stats become available.

A starter is also significant in that it’s the one who you chose. The one you looked at and decided was the best pick for you, whether it was because it was cute or badass looking, or you just adore fire types, like myself. Whatever the reason, you chose that one, and that alone makes it special. And whether one of the original trio was your first or one of the newer ones was, the bond between a serious Pokemon trainer and their first starter is an indelible one.
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Pokemon Attacks And Natures #2

By Harry Ackerman

Everywhere you see articles and charts etc, on what a Pokemon’s best nature would be, but what if your Pokemon doesn’t have that one specific nature then what are some other good natures for it? In article I’ll talk about other good natures, bad ones, and some really good moves (or at least in my opinion) for each Pokemon to have. 🙂

Just keep in mind this isn’t 100% accurate because the most beneficial nature for a Pokemon to have can be highly dependent on what moves you teach it.

This time I’ll talk about Serperior, Zoroark, Charizard, and Umbreon. 🙂

So first of all Serperior,

Serperior’s base Attack and base Special Attack are both equal, so it’s up to you which you base it’s attacks around, or you can use both stats if you want. Speed is Serperior’s best stat though so any Nature that is boosting speed is probably going to be good for it, unless it’s lowering the type of attack (physical or special) that your Serperior uses the most, then not so much.

Unfortunately Serperior doesn’t learn many cool moves while leveling up and has a terrible overall move set. They’re aren’t many awesome TM or HM attacks it can learn either. You could teach it Aerial Ace to get rid of the bug types that would try to take a bite out of Serperior, and of course you’re going to want to teach your Serperior Leaf Blade or Giga Drain (both it learns by leveling up). I taught mine both, which is always an option as well. 😉 Also if you can manage to teach Serperior Glare (which can only be taught by breeding) that’s an awesome move because it can even paralyze a ground type Pokemon since Glare is normal type.

If you can some how get a Serperior or one if it’s evolutions from the dream world that’s awesome too, because of the Pokemon’s dream world ability Contrary (hopefully there will be a special event soon to get one). Contrary makes moves that lower stats raise them instead, and vice-versa. In which case it would be very beneficial for your Serperior to have a Special Attack boosting nature, because with Contrary you have to teach your Serperior Leaf Storm (which is learned at level 62). Because with that ability each time you use Leaf Storm instead of it lowering your special attack like it normally would, it raises the stat instead. Just think how powerful that attack would get after a couple uses?

Next Zoroark,

Zoroark has very high Attack and Special Attack stats (higher Special Attack) but sadly very low defenses. I’d find it best for your Zoroark to have a neutral nature if it doesn’t have a nature recommended by something/someone. If a stat is boosted though, the best one would probably be Special Attack. As for the lowered stat you do not want it to be one of Zoroark’s defenses, and definitely not it’s physical defense (i made that mistake… 🙁 ).

As for attacks, despite Zoroark’s higher Special Attack it learns ALOT of physical moves while leveling up. In fact Zoroark doesn’t learn a special attack until level 64 when it learns Night Daze. But some good moves to teach it when leveling up are Foul Play, and Night Slash.

Just because Zoroark doesn’t learn a special attack until level 64 doesn’t mean having a Special Attack boosting nature wouldn’t be beneficial. Zoroark can learn a few awesome moves with TMs that a dark type couldn’t normally learn; one of them being Flamethrower.

Some other good TM moves to teach Zoroark are Shadow Ball, Aerial Ace, and if you want Focus Blast (or Low Sweep if you want a physical fighting attack). Aerial Ace works well to get rid of any annoying Fighting or Bug type that would try to hurt Zoroark, and then the variety of attack types coupled with Illusion can catch really your opponent off guard.
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Pokemon Kanto Region – Sixth Gym

By Anonymous

The sixth gym is in Saffron City, it is close to Celadon City. You just beat Koga and can head from Fuchsia City to Saffron City. Now Saffron City, like most of the other towns, has some other things you can do. Saffron City has a fighting dojo where you fight fighting type Pokemon trainers, if you beat them all you can get a Hitmonchan or a Hitmonlee. Saffron City is also home of Silph Co. Silph Co. invented almost everything you can get from Pokeballs to Potions. Team Rocket raids the place and you need to fight them off. You also meet you rival there and he challegnes you to a battle. There is someone in the building that is so grateful that you saved Silp Co. that he gives you the water type Pokemon Lapras. You must have no more then 5 Pokemon in your party when you receive the Lapras.

Once you make it to the final floor of Silp Co. you will meet the president. And I think the Team Rocket boss is there and you have to fight him first. After he leaves the Silp Co. president will give a Master Ball. As you should know, a Master Ball is a Pokeball that never fails. That’s just about it for Saffron City, now let’s head to the gym. In the gym there is a teleporting type of puzzle if I remember right. There are several platforms you can walk on and you teleport to a new room. If done correctly you’ll teleport into the room with the gym leader Sabrina. The main status condition you should worry about is confusion. Sabrina knows telekinesis and is a Psychic Pokemon Master.

You’re in for an intense battle! The first Pokemon she send out is a Kadabra, just be careful, psychic types usually have good special attack. Once the Kadabra is taken down she sends out a Mr. Mime. The Mr. Mime would probably go down fairly easily. Then she’ll send out a Venomoth you should be able to take it down with a fire Pokemon. The final Pokemon she has is her strongest, it is a level forty three Alakazam. This shold be hard to take down. If you happen to succeed you will get the Marsh Badge. Only two more gyms left and you can challenge the Kanto Pokemon League!

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Pokemon Kanto Region – Fifth Gym

By Anonymous

You just beat the Celadon City gym which is the fourth gym in the Kanto region. What next, what place is the fifth gym? You best have a bicycle for getting around now! In order to get to Fuchsia City you must have a bicycle for the simple fact that you have to go through Cycling Road. Cycling Road is a giant downhill slope that will take you from Celadon City to Fuchsia City. Many bikers will stop you along the way and challenge you to a battle. They are sort of strong but if your Pokemon are at good levels and were able to beat the fourth gym leader you should be able to handle it. By the time you arrive to Fuchsia City you should be able to head straight to the gym. However you might want to check out the Safari Zone.

The Safari Zone is a place where you can capture certain Pokemon. There is a fee to enter and you have to use Safari Balls to capture the Pokemon. You can’t just attack them, you actually can’t attack them sadly. You must throw bait. It’s not as bad as it sounds, it is actually not bad at all seeing that these Pokemon are pretty rare. But you should go and check out the fifth gym now. The fifth gym is a poison type gym. This really does give you a good hint that you will need Antidotes and Full Heals to cure your Pokemon of the poison status condition, because it does get in the way. This gym can be a pain because there is an invisible wall that you have to work your way through, meaning if you get caught in this maze you can end up fighting even more trainers.

Once you arrive to the gym leader, Koga be ready to face him, he is a ninja! Koga has four Pokemon, I believe it is the most so far, I think the last gym leader had three. The first Pokemon he will use is a Koffing, just play your cards right and you can defeat it, then he has a Muk, just take it down the same way as you did the Koffing and you can get it. He will then use another Koffing which is the same level as the first Koffing so I guess just battle it the same way. And the best for last, his strongest Pokemon is a Weezing. It is at level fort three. Everything should be going fine as long as you have the full heals or antidotes. At most you would probably have to use a healing item like a Super Potion. After beating Koga you will get the fifth badge, the Soul Badge. You only have three more to go, the next gym is in Saffron City!

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Pokemon Kanto Region – Fourth Gym

By Anonymous

The fourth gym in the Kanto region is located in Celadon City. Celadon City is either the biggest town in Kanto or the second. You should now have the Boulder Badge, the Cascade Badge, and the Thunder Badge. This must mean your in Vermillion City. It is now time for you to head to Celadon City. In Celadon City there is literally a lot to do. For starters, the game corner is in Celadon City. The game corner is just a bunch of mini games and you earn coins. You can also just buy coins but the prizes are great. Such as the TM Flamethrower or the TM Ice Beam. Ice Beam is a powerful Ice type attack that can be taught to some Pokemon. Flamethrower is a powerful fire type attack that can be taught to some fire type Pokemon and even some Pokemon that aren’t fire type. The game corner is definetly something you should consider messing with when your in Celadon City. There is also a building where you can get the Tea. The Tea is what you give the gate guards to let you pass. I believe there is a few trees you need to use Cut on in order to enter the fourth gym.

Once you enter it will look like a complete garden. This is because the fourth gym is a grass type Pokemon gym. You will have to fight several trainers before you can get to the leader. I suggest you bring some Paralyze Heals, Full Heals, Antidotes, whatever you can to cure some status conditions. Because with some grass type Pokemon in this gym, they have some attacks like Stun Spore Sleep Powder and Poison Powder they can use that can be a nuisance on your part. Upon arriving to the leader, Erika. You should make sure your Pokemon are at full health and then challenge her to a match. The Pokemon are getting stronger for the gym leaders. Her first Pokemon is a Victreebel if you have fire type Pokemon now is the time to shine. Her second Pokemon is Tangela, which should be fairly easy to take down. The final Pokemon you have to fight is a Vileplume. Be careful because this Vileplume knows Stun Spore and Sleep Poweder. If you beat Erika you will get the Rainbow Badge. You will also now have half of the Kanto badges. Only four more to go and you can challenge the Kanto Pokemon League! Next up is the gym in Fuchsia City!

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Pokemon Kanto Region – Third Gym

By Anonymous

You just beat the second gym in Cerulean City. Now it’s time to head for the third gym! The third gym is located in Vermillion City. There are a lot of sights you should see before you head straight to the gym. You need to remember that the gym leaders get stronger and you always need to be prepared. The first place I suggest you seeing in Vermillion City is the SS Anne. It’s a famous ship and its huge. You can fight a lot of trainers and that will help you get stronger. Just check every door in the ship in a handful of them there is a trainer that will battle you. About the time when your outside the captain’s door you will bump into your rival again. Your rival will challenge you. He got a lot stronger since last time so be prepared. If you successfully beat him you can enter the captain’s room.

In the captains room there is not much besides the steering wheel and the captain. Speak to the captain. He will give you the HM Cut. Cut will allow you to cut the tree blocking the entrance to the third gym. Once you leave the SS Anne the ship itself will be departing. Now you can head on over to the third gym. This gym is sat up fairly strange. There are trash cans or at least what looks like trash cans. And a switch in every one. You have to hit the three correct switches in the right order. That will unlock the door to the gym leader. The gym leader is Lt. Surge. He trains electric type Pokemon.

Just to mention, the third gym is an electric type gym. Lt. Surge will open the battle with a Voltorb, you should be able to take it down quickly. You probably wouldn’t have any problems with Lt. Surge unless you chose Squirtle, electric type Pokemon have an advantage over water type Pokemon. The second Pokemon he sends out is a Pikachu. The Pikachu should go down if you don’t let it take advantage over you. The final Pokemon and his strongest is a Raichu. The Raichu may take a while, but you can do it in the end if you keep trying. If you successfully beat him, Lt. Surge will give you the Thunder Badge. You have three badges now, the next gym is in Celadon City!

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Pokemon Kanto Region – Second Gym

By Anonymous

The second gym you will find in the Kanto region is in Cerulean City. You just beat Brock the first gym leader in Pewter City and now your ready to fight the second gym leader! Not yet, you still have to get to Cerulean City. After you leave Pewter City you should find yourself arriving by a cave area pretty soon. This cave is known as Mount Moon. Mount Moon is a tricky place, a lot of trainers would want to challenge you and you might even run into a few Team Rocket grunts. Throughout Mount Moon you will find many Pokemon, mainly rock type or ground type. But you can also run into a Clefairy, the Clefairy’s home is Mount Moon so you might encounter a few in Mount Moon. Towards the end of Mount Moon, or I should say when your around the exit you will see two fossils. The Dome fossil and the Helix fossil I believe.

Choose one on your way out and start heading to Cerulean City! Now that your in Cerulean City your rival might appear to challenge you, it is about time don’t you think? The least battle you had was way back before you beat the first gym! Once you defeated him you should take a look around, the Nugget Briidge has lot of trainers you can challenge to help your Pokemon get stronger to fight the gym leader. If you successfully beat all of the trainers on Nugget Bridge you get a Nugget. A Nugget is an item that you can sell and get a lot of money. Bill the creator of the Pokemon Storage System in the Kanto region lives at the end of a patch east of the end of Nugget Bridge.

Well let’s get down to the second gym. It is a water type Pokemon gym. Meaning all the Pokemon you fight in the gym are water type. If you chose Charmander, it might have a bit of trouble. Water type Pokemon have an advantage over fire type Pokemon. You will fight a few trainers in the gym and then you can challenge the leader of the gym, Misty. Misty has a Staryu and a Starmie, Starmie is the evolution of Staryu as you would have guessed. Take out the Staryu as fast as you can because the strongest of Misty’s Pokemon is the Starmie. If you successfully beat Misty, you will be rewarded with the Cascade Badge. Now you have two badges and can head to Vermillion City, where the third gym in the Kanto region is waiting.

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