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Visit the following links for our latest game-writing | | projects! | | | | www.facebook.com/SLFAQS | www.facebook.com/vinh3im | '~.____________________________________________________________,~' ___ ___ ____\ \_ \ \ \___ \_ \ | | \_ \__ \ | \___ | / \__ \ / super_luigi16, vinheim & cheatmasters.com present... \ \ / / \ \/ / \ / __ __ \ / \_\_\_\_ | | _/ ,'\ \ \ \ \ | | / / _.--. ____ ,' _\ ___ ___ ____ \ \ \ \| |/ /_,-' `. | | /`. \,-' | \ / | | \ |`. \ /\ __ \ '-. | / `. ___ | \/ | '-. \ | | \ / \. \ \ | __ | |/ ,,'_ `. | | __ | \| |\ \ / / \ \/ /,' _`.| ,'/ / / / | ,' _`.| | | \ \/ / \ ,-/ / \ ,' | \/ / ,`. / / \ | | \ / \ \| \_/ | `-. \ `' / | || \_/ | |\ | \ / \ \\ / `-`.___,-'| |\ /| \ / | | | / \ \ \`.__,'| |`-._ `| |__| \/ | `.__,'| | | | / \ \_.-' |__| `-._ | '-.| '-.| | | / /\ \ `' '-._|/ / \ \ / / \ _______________________________________________________________________________ _____ ___ ___ |_ _| / _ \ / __| | | A B L E ( (_) ) F ( (__ O N T E N T S _____________|_|_____________\___/_______\___|_________________________.;^`:.| 1. Introduction ................................................ [vs1000] || 1. Contents ................................................. [vs1001] || 2. About the Guide .......................................... [vs1002] || 3. About the Authors ........................................ [vs1003] || a. Contact Us ............................................ [vs1004] || 2. Game Basics ................................................. [vs2000] || 1. Controls ................................................. [vs2001] || 2. Pokmon Basics ........................................... [vs2002] || a. Pokmon: An Overview .................................. [vs2003] || b. Type Chart ............................................ [vs2004] || c. EVs and IVs ........................................... [vs2005] || d. Pokmon Ins & Outs .................................... [vs2006] || e. Pokmon Battles ....................................... [vs2007] || f. Getting More Pokmon .................................. [vs2008] || g. About the Pokmon World ............................... [vs2009] || 3. Team Building ............................................ [vs2010] || a. Picking & Choosing .................................... [vs2011] || b. Synergy ............................................... [vs2012] || c. Walkthrough Pokmon Advice ............................ [vs2013] || 4. Pokmon Slang ............................................ [vs2014] || 3. Walkthrough ................................................. [vs3000] || 1. The First Badge .......................................... [vs3001] || a. Opening ............................................... [vs3002] || b. Aquacorde Town ........................................ [vs3003] || c. Vanivelle Town ........................................ [vs3004] || d. Route 1 | Vanivelle Pathway ........................... [vs3005] || e. Aquaconde Town II ..................................... [vs3006] || f. Route 2 | Avance Trail ................................ [vs3007] || g. Santalune Forest ...................................... [vs3008] || h. Route 3 | Ouvert Way .................................. [vs3009] || i. Santalune City ........................................ [vs3010] || j. Route 22 | Dtourner Way .............................. [vs3011] || 2. The Second Badge ......................................... [vs3012] || a. Route 4 | Parterre Way ................................ [vs3013] || b. Lumiose City .......................................... [vs3014] || c. Route 5 | Versant Road ................................ [vs3015] || d. Camphrier Town ........................................ [vs3016] || e. Sharbonneau Castle .................................... [vs3017] || f. Route 7 | Rivire Way ................................. [vs3018] || g. Route 6 | Palais Lane ................................. [vs3019] || h. Parfum Palace ......................................... [vs3020] || i. Route 6 | Palais Lane ................................. [vs3021] || j. Route 7 | Rivire Way ................................. [vs3022] || h. Connecting Cave | Zubat Roost ......................... [vs3023] || i. Route 8 (Cliff) | Marauille Coast ..................... [vs3024] || j. Ambrette Town ......................................... [vs3025] || k. Route 9 | Spikes Passage .............................. [vs3026] || l. Glittering Cave ....................................... [vs3027] || m. Ambrette Town II ...................................... [vs3028] || n. Route 8 (Ocean) | Marauille Coast ..................... [vs3029] || o. Cyllage Town .......................................... [vs3030] || 3. The Third Badge .......................................... [vs3031] || a. Connecting Cave | Zubat Roost ......................... [vs3032] || b. Route 10 | Menhir Trail ............................... [vs3033] || c. Geosenge Town ......................................... [vs3034] || d. Route 11 | Miroir Way ................................. [vs3035] || e. Reflection Cave ....................................... [vs3036] || f. Shalour City .......................................... [vs3037] || g. Tower of Mastery ...................................... [vs3038] || h. Shalour City II ....................................... [vs3039] || i. Tower of Mastery II ................................... [vs3040] || 4. The Fourth Badge ......................................... [vs3041] || a. Route 12 | Fourrage Road .............................. [vs3042] || b. Azure Bay ............................................. [vs3043] || c. Coumarine City ........................................ [vs3044] || 5. The Fifth Badge .......................................... [vs3045] || a. Route 13 | Lumiose Badlands ........................... [vs3046] || b. Kalos Power Plant ..................................... [vs3047] || c. Lumiose City II ....................................... [vs3048] || 6. The Sixth Badge .......................................... [vs3049] || a. Lumiose City III ...................................... [vs3050] || b. Route 3 | Ouvert Way .................................. [vs3051] || c. Route 22 | Dtourner Way .............................. [vs3052] || d. Ambrette Town III ..................................... [vs3053] || e. Route 8 (Ocean) | Marauille Coast ..................... [vs3054] || f. Cyllage City .......................................... [vs3055] || g. Route 14 | Laverre Natural Trail ...................... [vs3056] || h. Laverre City .......................................... [vs3057] || 7. The Seventh Badge ........................................ [vs3058] || a. Pok Ball Factory ..................................... [vs3059] || b. Route 15 | Brun Way ................................... [vs3060] || c. Route 16 | Melacolie Path ............................. [vs3061] || d. Dendemille Town ....................................... [vs3062] || e. Frost Cavern .......................................... [vs3063] || f. Route 17 | Mamoswine Road ............................. [vs3064] || g. Anistar City .......................................... [vs3065] || 8. The Eighth Badge ......................................... [vs3066] || a. Lumiose City IV ....................................... [vs3067] || b. Lysanadre Labs ........................................ [vs3068] || c. Geosenge Town ......................................... [vs3069] || d. Team Flare Secret HQ .................................. [vs3070] || e. Route 18 | Valle troite Way & Terminus Cave ......... [vs3071] || f. Couriway Town ......................................... [vs3072] || g. Route 19 | Grande Valle Way .......................... [vs3073] || h. Snowbelle City ........................................ [vs3074] || i. Route 20 | Winding Woods .............................. [vs3075] || j. Pokemon Village ....................................... [vs3076] || k. Snowbelle City II ..................................... [vs3077] || 8. Elite 4 .................................................. [vs3078] || a. Route 21 | Dernire Way ............................... [vs3079] || b. Victory Road .......................................... [vs3080] || c. Pokmon League ........................................ [vs3081] || 4. Post-Game ................................................... [vs4000] || 1. Postgame: The Basics ..................................... [vs4001] || a. Vaniville Town ........................................ [vs4002] || b. Lumiose City .......................................... [vs4003] || c. Kiloude City .......................................... [vs4004] || d. Friend Safari ......................................... [vs4005] || e. Anistar City .......................................... [vs4006] || f. Lumiose City II ....................................... [vs4007] || 2. Legendary Pokmon ........................................ [vs4008] || a. Zygarde | Terminus Cave ............................... [vs4009] || b. Mewtwo | Pokmon Village .............................. [vs4010] || c. Birds | Roaming ....................................... [vs4011] || 3. Waterfall-Accessible Areas ............................... [vs4012] || a. Route 22 | Dtourner Way .............................. [vs4013] || b. Chamber of Emptiness .................................. [vs4014] || c. Route 16 | Mlacolie Path ............................. [vs4015] || d. Frost Cavern .......................................... [vs4016] || e. Couriway Town ......................................... [vs4017] || 4. New Fossils .............................................. [vs4018] || a. Glittering Cave ....................................... [vs4019] || b. Ambrette Town ......................................... [vs4020] || 5. Looker Sidequest ......................................... [vs4021] || a. Lumiose City .......................................... [vs4022] || b. Lysandre Labs ......................................... [vs4023] || c. Lumiose City II ....................................... [vs4024] || 5. Supplementary Info .......................................... [vs5000] || 1. Pokmon Locations ........................................ [vs5001] || a. Central Dex ........................................... [vs5002] || b. Coastal Dex ........................................... [vs5003] || c. Mountain Dex .......................................... [vs5004] || 2. MoveDex .................................................. [vs5005] || a. Bug Moves ............................................. [vs5006] || b. Dark Moves ............................................ [vs5007] || c. Dragon Moves .......................................... [vs5008] || d. Electric Moves ........................................ [vs5009] || e. Fairy Moves ........................................... [vs5010] || f. Fighting Moves ........................................ [vs5011] || g. Fire Moves ............................................ [vs5012] || h. Flying Moves .......................................... [vs5013] || i. Ghost Moves ........................................... [vs5014] || j. Grass Moves ........................................... [vs5015] || k. Ground Moves .......................................... [vs5016] || l. Ice Moves ............................................. [vs5017] || m. Normal Moves .......................................... [vs5018] || n. Poison Moves .......................................... [vs5019] || o. Psychic Moves ......................................... [vs5020] || p. Rock Moves ............................................ [vs5021] || q. Steel Moves ........................................... [vs5022] || r. Water Moves ........................................... [vs5023] || s. TMs/HMs ............................................... [vs5024] || 3. ItemDex .................................................. [vs5025] || a. Pok Balls ............................................ [vs5026] || b. Medicine .............................................. [vs5027] || c. Hold Items ............................................ [vs5028] || d. Evolutionary Items .................................... [vs5029] || e. Key Items ............................................. [vs5030] || f. Fossils ............................................... [vs5031] || g. Battle Items .......................................... [vs5032] || h. Vitamins .............................................. [vs5033] || i. Berries ............................................... [vs5034] || j. Miscelaneous .......................................... [vs5035] || 4. Mega Evolution ........................................... [vs5036] || a. Mega Evolution: An Overview ........................... [vs5037] || b. Mega Stone Locations .................................. [vs5038] || 5. Battle Chateau ........................................... [vs5039] || 6. Closing ..................................................... [vs6000] || 1. Version History .......................................... [vs6001] || 2. Legal .................................................... [vs6002] || 3. Contributing ............................................. [vs6003] || 4. Acknowledgements ......................................... [vs6004] || || END TOC ||_____________________________________________________________________________|* USE CTRL + F OR APPLE + F IN COMBO WITH THE SHORTCUT TO JUMP TO THE SECTION * ____ ____ ____ ____\ \ / /_______________________________________________________\ \ / / \ \/ ///\\\ \/ / \ /// 1.0 [vs1000] \\\ / / \\\ Introduction ||| | / /\ \\\_______________________________________________________||| |/ / \ \| | _______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1.1 C o n t e n t s [vs1001]_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to our guide for Pokmon X and Pokmon Y! This guide should and willcover everything pertinent to a complete walkthrough for either version of thegame, including all relevant information about the overworld compiled inchronological order, item lists, Pokmon locations, and other useful tidbits ofinformation. You can get a general idea of what is in this guide by simplylooking at the Table of Contents (TOC) on top. That TOC will also allow you tojump to said section with nifty little shortcuts. Anyway, both of us are veryproud of this guide, and we hope that you will use this resource to itsfullest--if there is anything that we can improve, please let us know! We lovehearing feedback! Without further ado, let's get on with the (Pokmon) show!_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1.2 A b o u t T h e G u i d e [vs1002]_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our Pokmon X/Y guide is essentially a place to go for anything and everything/specifically/ about Pokmon X and Y. This means that we only put in what'srelevant to your experience in this game. By extension, this should makeeverything easy to find, which can be a major detriment to other informationsources (like Serebii) that try to tell you everything about everything. Anyway, this guide can basically be divided into three major sections: how-to-play (team building, controls, and so on), the walkthrough (beginning-to-endwith no spoilers whatsoever), and the supplementary info (move lists, Pokmonlocations, and so on). Each major section serves its own use and is henceformatted in its own way. In this guide, we've tried to make everything as easy on the eyes as possible.Some may view plain text as unappealing--we see it as a strength toartistically and functionally present information in a manner that allows usmore control over how you view the information. Hopefully you see this as well.Anyway, much of the information in this guide is presented from our ownexperiences, though some of it may be derived from other sources and presentedmore clearly. This guide is also assembled with the help of a variety of people, mostimportantly those who directly contribute to us via email, FaceBook, PM, orwhatever other method you can think of. Regardless, we find guide-writing to bemore of a collaboration between author and audience, so be sure to get in touchwith one or both of us if you think we can improve this guide. Some various guide-wide indiosyncrasies you may see are SL's affinity forPok- balls, vin's affinity for hating Pokballs, and our constant banteringusing these little carrots (!): Yo, vin, we're doing these, right? This guide is being assembled in plain text formatting (.txt) with variousword processors such as NotePad and MetaPad._______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1.3 A b o u t T h e A u t h o r s [vs1003]_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!This is our 15 minutes of fame in this guide, so please excuse our short self-promotion/feeling-sappy sequence! \ vinheim \ Hey guys how's it going? vin here bringing you a In-depth walkthrough for thehighly anticipated Pokmon game for the 3DS, Pokmon X & Y. This game brings ina ton of new features that you'll be enjoying throughout the game. Officially,I've been writing since 2004, but only started posting my guides until 2006,reason why is that I was still unexperienced with computers and ended up losingall my info because of virus problems. The guides that I lost go from 2 Golden Sun guides, 1 for Dragon Quest 8 forthe PS2 and a part of Tales of Symphonia. I write for a wide array of games,going from shooters to RPGs, whichever game I like, I just write for it. I gotinto co-writing with Bkstunt, who is an awesome writer and a wonderful person.I now get a chance to write with another awesome guy, and that's superluigi.We've talked a lot lately and this guide got us even closer :). So yeah, tag along as we bring you hopefully the best guide you can find forthe game, which is a blast to write and we have fun in the process. Cheers :) \ super_luigi16 \ Hello, everyone, my name is super_luigi16, though most people call meSuperLuigi or SL for short! I've been writing guides for almost two years now--it feels like its been a lot longer, trust me. My first guide was for MarioKart 7 (which I recommend getting if you haven't already), though I've writtenabout a dozen more for mostly Nintendo games on the DS, Wii, Wii U, and 3DS. Irecommend you check those out if you need help with a variety of Nintendofirst-parties. Anyway, I'm super happy to be working with vinheim, my esteemedco-inhabitent of FCB. He also happens to be a pro at ASCII, but don't tell himthat or he'll think you're lying. ;) But, yeah, working with vin is a total blast as we both tend to have a morelighthearted way of writing, whilst putting the pedal-to-the-metal with thingslike tables and other supplementary info. I'm also surprised that he wants toput up with a total FAQing noob like me--especially when it comes to plain txtguides like these as I usually write FFAQs. Eh, I guess you have to learn fromthe best to be the best, right? Rrrrrright? /\| 1.3.a Contact Us [vs1004] | \___________________________________________________________________________/ Like us on FaceBook for easy access to both authors and for continual updatesabout our respective progress, upcoming guides, and updates! www.facebook.com/SLFAQS |&| www.facebook.com/vinh3im If you would like to use other means of communication, see the followingtable: ___ _ _ / __|___ _ _| |_ __ _ __| |_| (__/ _ \ ' \ _/ _` / _| _| \___\___/_||_\__\__,_\__|\__|____________________________________||||| Contact Means | vinheim | super_luigi16 ||_________________|________________________|_______________________|||||| Email | vinheim @ gmail | super_luigi16@hotmail ||-----------------|------------------------|-----------------------|| Facebook | facebook.com/vinh3im | facebook.com/SLFAQS ||-----------------|------------------------|-----------------------|| Website | vinheim.webs.com | superluigi16.webs.com ||-----------------|------------------------|-----------------------|| YouTube | vinheimk | r1h9i9n5e ||_________________|________________________|_______________________| ____ ____ ____ ____\ \ / /_______________________________________________________\ \ / / \ \/ ///\\\ \/ / \ /// 2.0 [vs2000] \\\ / / \\\ Game Basics ||| | / /\ \\\_______________________________________________________||| |/ / \ \| | _______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2.1 C o n t r o l s [vs2001]_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This section is intended to inform you about the control schemes used in bothPokmon X and Pokmon Y. Because Pokmon is an RPG (Role-Playing Game), eachbutton or input has quite a bit of functions, so we've tried to correctlyassociate button to status to function: to match the input to the environmentto the output. _____________________________________________________________________________|||||| Input | Status | Output | Notes ||___________|____________|____________|_______________________________________||||||| | | Move | Repeatedly tapping in one direction || | Field | (Skates) | allows you to dash. Spinning makes || Circle | | | you do tricks! || Pad |------------|------------|---------------------------------------|| | | Move | || | Menus | Cursor | A stylus/touch input may also be used.||___________|____________|____________|_______________________________________|| | | | || | Field | Move | Holding "B" allows you to run! || D-Pad |------------|------------|---------------------------------------|| | | Move | || | Menus | Cursor | A stylus/touch input may also be used.||___________|____________|____________|_______________________________________|| | | | || | Field | Inspect | Varying outcomes based on object. || |------------|------------|---------------------------------------|| A | Menus | Select | || |------------|------------|---------------------------------------|| | Dialogue | Continue | Holding "B" will speed through speech ||___________|____________|____________|_______________________________________|| | | | || B | Menus | Back | May also deslect. ||___________|____________|____________|_______________________________________|| | | | || X | Menus | Open/Close | General Menu. ||___________|____________|____________|_______________________________________|| | | | || L/R | Field | Toggle | Settings can make the L = A || | | Menu | ||___________|____________|____________|_______________________________________|| | | | || Start | Menus | Open/Close | Wifi Menu. || Select | | | ||___________|____________|____________|_______________________________________|| | | | || Stylus | Menus | All | Is much more efficient than using || | | Functions | buttons for most situations. ||___________|____________|____________|_______________________________________|_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2.2 P o k m o n B a s i c s [vs2002]_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, for those of you who are new to Pokmon (or those who are familiar butwant to refresh their memory), this section serves as a general overview ofjust what Pokmon is. In this section, we take you from the most basic premiseof Pokmon games in general to the concept of maximizing your Pokmon'sstrength. Use each of the subsections in this section to their fullest. /\| 2.2.a Pokmon: An Overview [vs2003] | \___________________________________________________________________________/ Firstly, let's talk about Pokmon. This game is a tactical turn-based RPG inwhich you command pocket monsters or "Pokmon." These Pokmon can be trained upfrom cute-little "monsters" to extreme, lean KOing machines. This isaccomplished by leveling up your Pokmon from the measly low levels at whichyou will likely find him or her (most Pokmon have genders) up to level 100; itis very time-consuming to level up to 100. Anyway, Pokmon come in all shapes,sizes, forms, and types, which all affect a myriad of stats that determinethings like who goes first, how much damage an attack does, and which Pokmonmatch well or poorly against other Pokmon. Let's talk about these stats for a minute: there are six stats, each of whichdetermine a different aspect of your Pokmon's aptness for battle: HP, Attack,Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. o HP is rather self-explantory: it stands for "hit points," which means thatit is equivalent to the amount of health that your Pokmon has. Pokmon withhigher HP can take more damage before they faint or are "knocked out" (KOd).When a Pokmon is KOd, it must be switched out to another Pokmon or you lose;fainted Pokmon must be revived to be able to battle. o Speed, is not paired with another stat, so we'll cover it here. Speed iseven easier to understand: Pokmon with higher Speed stats go first; those withlower Speed stats go later. Speed, however, can be messed around with quite abit due to the existence of certain "Priority Moves." Basically, Priority Movesare moves that bypass the Speed Stat and force a Pokmon to go earlier or laterthan the opposing Pokmon as per the move's nature. For more on Priority Moves,see the MoveDex! The last four stats come in pairs: the "physical" stats, Attack and Defense,and the "special" stats, S. Attack and S. Defense. The former two can bethought of as pertaining to moves that physically harm another Pokmon; thelatter two can be used to refer to moves that harm through means likepsychokinetic powers or projectiles or "beams" and "auras." Anyway, Attack isto Defense as Special Attack is to Special Defense: each pair of stats worksoff of each other to produce the amount of damage taken from a single move.Many things also affect the damage dealt, and we'll give you a basic rundown ofthose here:- Base Power: Each move has a base power that determines its strength in relation to other moves.- Status Ailments: Certain status ailments decrease attack, and other statuses can lower or raise attack or defense.- STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus): If the Pokmon is the same type as its attack, the damage dealt will be increased by 1.5x.- Type Matchups: The typing of the move, when compared to the typing of the receiving Pokmon, can affect the strength of the move. Obviously this comes out to some wonky forumla that we don't really careabout. We'll talk about what this all really means to you in the next section,Team Building. Anyway, those last two might not have made sense; after all,we've only /mentioned/ type, we haven't discussed what it is. Every Pokmon has a type. Some even have two types. These "types" can bethought of as "elements," if you so choose. There are 18 types in total,ranging from fire and water to fairy and dragon. Each type has a positive ornegative matchup against a few other types, though it will likely be neutral toa majority of them. Moves also have types, meaning that a move can have a favorable matchupagainst the opposing Pokmon. Some type matchups make obvious sense; forinstance, if we use a water move (like Bubble) against a fire-type Pokmon(like Charmander), we can deal 2x the amount of damage we would have ordinarilydealt. Moreover, if our water-type move matches the type of the Pokmon usingthe move (i.e., the Pokmon is a water-type), the damage will be increased byanother 1.5x of the original power. This means that you're crappy water-type move like Bubble could 2.5x strongerthan it originally was! Furthermore, because Bubble is a special-attack, wehave to use the special attack and defense stats. If we're using a Pokmon witha high special attack (like Mudkip) against a Pokmon with low special defense(like Charmander), the damage will be even higher; vice-versa, if we're using aPokmon with low special attack (like Buizel) against a Pokmon with highspecial defense (like Gardevoir), the damage dealt will be lower. Anyway, so just how do all of the types match up? Check out the next sectionfor our complete type table! /\| 2.2.b Type Chart [vs2004] | \___________________________________________________________________________/ The following chart shows you how every move type pairs up against the variousdefending types. To make the chart easier to read, we've decided to only denotematchups that /aren't/ neutral--those that are your ordinary 1.0x damage dealt.A pairing where the defender only receives 0.5 times normal damage is usuallyreferred to as a "resistant" typing while the move is "not very effective"(NVE). A pairing where the defender receives receives 2.0 times normal damageis usually referred to as "weak," while the move is "super-effective" (SE).Finally, a pairing where the defender does not receive any damage is referredto as "immune," while the the move is referred to as "null." Furthermore, I have abbreviated some of the types below; of those are that areabbreviated, here are their elongated names: Norm = Normal, Fght = Fighting,Psn = Poison, Grnd = Ground, Ghst = Ghost, Stl = Steel, Watr = Water, Grss =Grass, Ele = Electric, Psy = Psychic, Drag = Dragon, Fry = Fairy. Finally,some other miscellaneous notes: o If the defender has multiple types, the move's effect on each individual type can be multiplied together to get the overall effect. For instance, a grass type attack is both SE against ground (2.0x) and rock (2.0x), meaning that the defender will receive 4.0x normal damage. There is no common name to refer to such matchups. o If a Pokmon is immune to an attack, it will also not be subject to other effects of the attack. o One attack, Curse, is ??? type. Its typing is irrelevant, though, as it only inflicts status ailments. o Certain types are extraordinarily weak (Ice, Bug, etc.), while others are stronger/more resistant (Steel, Water, etc.). Keep that in mind when developing a team. D E F E N D I N G T Y P E \ D | N | F | F | P | G | R | B | G | S | F | W | G | E | P | I | D | D | F \ | o | g | l | s | r | o | u | h | t | i | a | r | l | s | c | r | a | r M \ | r | h | y | n | n | c | g | s | l | r | t | s | e | y | e | a | r | y \| m | t | | | d | k | | t | | e | r | s | | | | g | k | |||||||||||||||||| Norm| | | | | |0.5| |0.0|0.5| | | | | | | | | ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Fght|2.0| |0.5|0.5| |2.0|0.5|0.0|2.0| | | | |0.5|2.0| |2.0|0.5A ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---T Fly | |2.0| | | |0.5|2.0| |0.5| | |2.0|0.5| | | | |T ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---A Psn | | | |0.5|0.5|0.5| |0.5|0.0| | |2.0| | | | | |2.0C ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---K Grnd| | |0.0|2.0| |2.0|0.5| |2.0|2.0| |0.5|2.0| | | | |I ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---N Rock| |0.5|2.0| |0.5| |2.0| |0.5|2.0| | | | |2.0| | |G ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Bug | |0.5|0.5|0.5| | | |0.5|0.5|0.5| |2.0| |2.0| | |2.0|0.5 ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Ghst|0.0| | | | | | |2.0| | | | | |2.0| | |0.5| ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Stl | | | | | |2.0| | |0.5|0.5|0.5| |0.5| |2.0| | |2.0T ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---Y Fire| | | | | |0.5|2.0| |2.0|0.5|0.5|2.0| | |2.0|0.5| |P ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---E Watr| | | | |2.0|2.0| | | |2.0|0.5|0.5| | | |0.5| | ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Grss| | |0.5|0.5|2.0|2.0|0.5| |0.5|0.5|2.0|0.5| | | |0.5| | ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Ele | | |2.0| |0.0| | | | | |2.0|0.5|0.5| | |0.5| | ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Psy | |2.0| |2.0| | | | |0.5| | | | |0.5| | |0.0| ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Ice | | |2.0| |2.0| | | |0.5|0.5|0.5|2.0| | |0.5|2.0| | ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Drag| | | | | | | | |0.5| | | | | | |2.0| |0.0 ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Dark| |0.5| | | | | |2.0| | | | | |2.0| | |0.5|0.5 ----|---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- Fry | |2.0| |0.5| | | | |0.5|0.5| | | | | |2.0|2.0| /\| 2.2.c EVs and IVs [vs2005] | \___________________________________________________________________________/ Finally, let's shed some light on the "hidden stats" in Pokmon (well, thehidden stats that actually affect your Pokmon... there are a lot of hiddenstats that affect other things). EVs and IVs both affect your Pokmon's coresix stats, but they do so in different ways. Firstly, EVs, or Effort Values, is the easier of the two to understand and tomanipulate. Basically, "Effort Values" implies its own properties... when yourPokmon battles, it gains EVs upon defeating Pokmon. These EVs directlycorrelate into a minor stat increase, awarded at the next level-up, to the stataffected by the EV. The ratio is 4:1, so that means for every four (4) EVsgained, you earn a stat increase of one (1). Different Pokmon give outdifferent EVs and different amounts of EVs upon being defeated; for instance,Bulbasaur gives out one S. Attack EV while Venusaur gives out two S. Attack EVsand one S. Defense EV. As you can tell, the amount of EVs awarded usuallycorrelates to both the Pokmon's individual strengths (the Bulbasaur line isespecially strong with special attacks/defense) and the Pokmon's actualstrength (Venusaur is much stronger than Bulbasaur, so it gives out more EVs). Well, let me backtrack a bit; we were lying when we said that EVs are a"hidden stat." They /used/ to be hidden; in Gen VI, they are now visible.However, we usually still refer to them as such because of their mysteriousnature and the weird way of increasing EVs. Anyway, EVs sound great and all(hey, I can I have infinite stats, right!?), but they have a cap. You can onlyattain 510 EVs, and you can only reach 252 EVs in one stat before they startbecoming irrelevant. Hence, most trainers attempt to carefully track their EVswith all sorts of different tracking methods. Ordinarily, when we want to talkabout EV splits on the Internet, we'll often refer to them like this: Tyranitar 252Attack/200Speed/56HP EVs can be more easily trained via Super Training, which is covered in theWhat's New? section. IVs are a truly hidden stat, and they are largely uncontrollable unless youare hacking (which is not possible at the moment). By "largely," we mean that,unless you are willing to spend hours and hours on end, you will never, everbe able to get your IVs half-perfect, let alone perfect. Basically, IVs arebase stat bonuses assigned to your Pokmon upon hatching (see Ins & Outs) orupon creation (e.g., when battled in the wild, in-game traded, etc.). Once saidPokmon has been created, it will have inherent stat bonuses that will becomemore and more apparent over time. At level 100, these stat bonuses can be ashigh as 31 or as low as 0; hence, all IVs are assigned on a scale of 0-31. IVs affect each of your core stats, and every Pokmon has its own IV "spread."What we mean by that is, while your Pokmon has a core stat spread with thingslike HP at 120, etc., that Pokmon also has a spread of IVs with an HP IV atsomething like 12. Reviewing what we covered earlier, this 12 means that thePokmon will have a whopping 12 more HP than it should have if we were to addup all of the other variables. Anyway, the IV spread cannot be changed onceyou obtain this Pokmon. However, there are a variety of ways to manipulateIVs when "breeding" Pokmon, but this gets very complex and annoying, so we'lltalk more about this in another section TBD. /\| 2.2.d Pokmon Ins & Outs [vs2006] | \___________________________________________________________________________/ Remember how we mentioned breeding in the last section? Well, with a game asexpansive of Pokmon, there are a ton of things that just can't be easilygrouped together... we're going to try to cover those here. \ Breeding \ In-Game, you will eventually discover a place where you can leave Pokmon tolevel-up over time. You will be able to leave /two/ Pokmon. Why is the factthat two Pokmon are left important? Because these Pokmon can breed. Overtime, if these two Pokmon are "compatible," you may discover that thesePokmon produced an Egg with another Pokmon inside of it. Over time, this Eggwill hatch, giving you a pre-evolved Pokmon of the mother. Wait, wait, wait, so what about this "compatibility" thing? Well, in order toget an Egg, you need both a mother and a father (a male and a female, unlessyou're using a Ditto, which can breed with anything) and you need these parentsto be of the same "Egg Group." Egg Groups are groups of Pokmon that are ableto breed with each other. Pokmon can be in up to two Egg Groups, meaning thatthey can breed with a lot of other Pokmon. Moreover, some Pokmon cannot bebred, period. This "unbreedable" group includes baby Pokmon like Pichu andIgglybuff and legendaries like Yveltal and Xerneas. However, there are a /ton/ of hitches when it comes to breeding. We'll glossover a few of them here: o Ordinarily, a bred Pokmon will be the most unevolved Pokmon of the evolutionary line. However, in some evolutionary lines, it will go to the second-least evolved member of the family because of pre-evolutions. To breed to those pre-evolutions (like Pichu and Igglybuff), one of the parents will need to be holding certain items. o If both parents know a move that the child Pokmon will learn by leveling, the offspring will be hatched knowing that move. o A lot of Pokmon have "Egg Moves," which are moves that can only be learned for that Pokmon if the father knows that move. For instance, Bulbasaur can only learn Skull Bash via breeding with a father that knows Skull Bash. o The amount of time it takes to "hatch" a Pokmon varies. Hatching is induced by walking a certain amount of steps; also, certain Pokmon abilities like Flame Body will speed up the breeding process. The most efficient way to hatch is to find a long straightaway where you can bike up and down without hindrance and to have both the Egg and a Pokmon with Flame Body in the party. o There are all sorts of things that affect a Pokmon's "affinity" with another Pokmon (higher affinity = less time to breed). Having Pokmon from different trainers decreases time taken to breed. Having the same species also decreases breeding time. o Three sets of IVs are inherited from the parents: which parent and which stats are unknown until the Pokmon is hatched. The other three IVs are random. Certain stats can have their IV "forced" onto the offspring with various held items. o Bred Pokmon are naturally a "blank slate," so to speak. This means that they have no EVs and are hatched at level 1. o An Everstone increases the chance of passing an ability down to your Pokmons' offspring. This includes hidden abilities. \ Experience \ We've talked quite a bit about leveling-up, and we've graced the concept of"evolving," but we haven't quite taken the time to explain the two concepts.The most basic way to put it is the following: when your Pokmon defeatsanother Pokmon, it gains experience. Period. The amount of experience given isdetermined by quite a few different factors: what level the opponent Pokmonis, which Pokmon it is, what item is held, whether the Pokmon was traded ornot, and whether the opposing Pokmon is trained or wild. Putting these alltogether: Pokmon gain more experience when the opponent is higher-leveled,trained by a trainer, has higher "base" experience, and when the Pokmon usedis holding experience-boosting held items and was traded from another source. When a certain amount of experience is gained (this amount is dictated by thePokmon's base experience needed and its level), the Pokmon will level-up.This process of leveling-up both strengthens the Pokmon and requires it togain a comparatively larger amount of experience before leveling-up again. Overtime, leveling-up may eventually lead to evolution. "Evolution" describes thetime when your Pokmon transforms from a weaker Pokmon to a larger, morepowerful Pokmon of the same line. Evolution always occurs with the sameconditions, though these conditions will vary from Pokmon to Pokmon; forinstance Chimchar evolves at level 14 while Piplup evolves at level 16.Moreover, many Pokmon evolve in "weird" ways, hinging on concepts likefriendship or holding a specific item at a certain time during the day. More onparticular methods of evolution can be found at a variety of sources on theweb, but we do not cover it in this guide for the sake of pertinence. We do,however, cover Mega Evolutions later on in this guide. \ Held Items \ Each Pokmon can also "hold" certain items, which are assigned specifically bythe trainer. While there are tons and tons of items with many differenteffects, they usually serve to improve the Pokmon's chances in battle. Helditems, however, are better covered in the ItemDex--check it out for more info! \ Abilities \ Abilities are just that--Pokmon specific abilities. Each Pokmon has a set ofabilities that it can "pull from" upon creation; usually, this pool is just oneor two abilities, though some others are available from other sources like MegaEvolutions and the Dream World. Nevertheless, abilities generally have somesort of in-game effect, whether producing certain weather effects (Drought) orinducing status ailments (Static) or even randomly earning items (Pickup).Abilities come from far and wide, and can be very easily controlled duringbreeding as there are usually only one or two possibilities. For more onspecific abilities and their effects, check out the AbilityDex later in thisguide! \ Friendship \ While this is mostly just a breeding/evolution mechanic, friendship refers tothe bond between a particular Pokmon and the trainer. Certain Pokmon evolvewhen they have high friendship levels while certain moves have higher or lowerpower based off of the Pokmon's friendship (Return and Frustration).Friendship is an active dynamic, changing based off of various in-game events.Certain events can increase friendship: walking with your Pokmon, leveling itup, catching it in a Luxury Ball, giving it a Soothe Bell (doubles friendshipgain from other activities), and so on. Other events can decrease friendship:fainting in battle, giving herbs/bitter healing items, etc. \ Natures \ Each Pokmon also has a randomly assigned nature upon being created. These"natures" are basically indications of the Pokmon's personality, and they canactually have rather drastic effects on the core stats. Most natures add to onestat and subtract from another, leading to upper trajectories and lowertrajectories. There are, however, some natures that do not affect your Pokmonat all. All natures can be assembled into a table, like the one below. Peruseit at your pleasure! D E C R E A S E D S T A T | ( D I S L I K E D F L A V O R ) V | | | | | | | Attack | Defense | Sp. Atk | Sp. Def | Speed |_____________|__(Spicy)__|___(Sour)__|___(Dry)___|_(Bitter)__|__(Sweet)__|F||||||I A Attack | | Lonely | Adamant | Naughty | Brave |N V (Spicy)_|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|C O ||||||R R Defense | Bold | | Impish | Lax | Relaxed |E I _(Sour)_|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|A T ||||||S E Sp. Atk | Modest | Mild | | Rash | Quiet |E _(Dry)__|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|D F |||||| L Sp. Def | Calm | Gentle | Careful | | Sassy |S A (Bitter)|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|T V ||||||A O Speed | Timid | Hasty | Jolly | Naive | |T R (Sweet)_|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________| A ||||||/|\NO CHANGE | Bashful | Docile | Hardy | Quirky | Serious | | ________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________| /\| 2.2.e Pokmon Battles [vs2007] | \___________________________________________________________________________/ Up to this point, this section has mostly pertained to what Pokmon /are/. Nowwe're about to cover just how Pokmon interact with one another in the mostfamiliar of environments: the battlefield. Pokmon battles constitute the vastmajority of your play time and of your strategical thought. Hence, it'simportant to know how battling works. This section will give you an overview. Pokmon battles are turn-based, meaning that everyone in the battle gets aturn. As mentioned in earlier sections, the move order is most often decided bySpeed, but there are some other factors that can and will effect some of yourbattles. Anyway, each Pokmon dukes it out, attacking each other in this turn-sequence until one of the Pokmon faints or is knocked-out (the two terms areinterchangeable in this guide). In trainer battles, one must KO all members ofthe opposing trainer's team to win the battle. A trainer can have up to sixPokmon in their team, for the record. During battles, a lot of factors come into play. Firstly, all of the stats,and other mechanics mentioned above are often pertinent: IVs, EVs, core stats,abilities, natures, and so on all become an integral part of a battle.Secondly, aspects such as Pokmon type and and their moves are absolutelycritical to interpreting those stats; if a Pokmon can accurately exploit itsopponent's weaknesses in a strategic manner, that Pokmon will win. Thirdly,there are a whole bunch of battle-specific mechanics that become relevant uponentrance to the battlefield: weather, status ailments, and double/triple/rotation setups. Synergy is critical. All of these aspects come together tomake a Pokmon battle far more unique than most other RPGs. Anyway, so during battle, there are quite a few basic commands. They are: o Attack! Use one of your moves to attack, defend, inflict a status ailment, or change the field. (See the MoveDex) o Item! Use an item to recover or sabotage your opponent! (See the ItemDex) o Party! Switch to another Pokmon on your team! o Flee! You can only flee wild battles, and only when your Pokmon has higher speed. When you enter a battle, your lead Pokmon will enter. Oftentimes, we'll referto this Pokmon as the "lead," and, in competitive battling, your lead canbasically determine whether you are going to win or lose a match. Anyway, thelead is the top-left Pokmon on your Party screen. In the event that the battleinvolves two or three Pokmon from your party, the hierarchy is top-left, top-right, middle-left, middle-right, and so on. Once your Pokmon enters thebattle, it will be on you to decide where to go from there. If your setup is favorable, it would be a good idea to start instigating yourmain strategy (usually attacking) upon entry to the battle. If not, you'll wantto switch out to another Pokmon that can better handle your opponent. Thebattle will likely be a test of who has more power, though, occassionally,strategy can be relevant. In the case that your Pokmon is taking a beating,use items or healing moves to heal accordingly. Other than that basic advice,we can't really tell you much more; Pokmon is something you learn, notsomething you're taught. Pulling back to some of the battle-specific mechanics, let's talk about theweather! Basically, weather is an environmental mechanic that affects Pokmon'smoves and abilities in drastically different ways; there are four differenttypes of weather. Each type and its effects are described below! o Sunny: Sunnyness is one of the most prominent weather mechanics, and it is often induced by the move Sunny Day. It can also be started with abilities such as Drought (Groudon). When it is sunny in the field, Fire-type moves are strengthened by a factor of 2.0x while Water-type moves are weakened by a factor of 0.5x. Moreover, certain moves, like Solar Beam and Moonlight, are affected by sunny weather. A lot of Grass-type Pokmon also have abilities that strengthen them during sunny conditions. o Rainy: Raining is /the/ most common weather ailment as it is not only produced by a wide array of Pokmon but it is also common in-game (i.e., it is induced as a normal weather element when the battle begins). Rainy Day is used to create rainy conditions. While raining, Fire-type moves are weakened by a factor of 0.5x and Water-type moves are strengthened by a factor 2.0x. Some abilities are also activated with rain, such as Swift Swim. Finally, some, miscallenous moves are enhanced or deterred by rain, such as Thunder, which has its accuracy shoot up to 100% in rainy conditions. o Sandstorm: Prevalent in deserts, sandstorm conditions can be very annoying as, for every turn that Sandstorm is active, slight damage will be dealt to every non-Ground/Rock/Steel Pokmon on the field. The damage is approximately one-twentieth of your Pokmon's total HP. A variety of Pokmon can induce sandstorm simply by entering battle with Sand Stream, while other Pokmon can start a sandstorm with the move Sandstorm (confusing, right?). Some Pokmon will also benefit from their abilities that activate in sandstorm conditions. However, not that many moves or abilities hinge on sandstorm, given its rarer ocurrences. o Hail: The least common weather ailment, hail is induced in snowy fields, with certain abilities (Snow Warning), and with the move Hail. Like sandstorm, Hail deals perpetual damage to all non-Ice-type parties on the field, whittling away approximately one-twentieth of the Pokmon's health per turn. Some moves (Blizzard) and abilities (Snow Cloak) are activated under Hail, but its such a rare weather that you will not often encounter these icy conditions. The other major aspect of battling is status ailments, both core-stat-basedand otherwise. These statuses usually are afflicted on your Pokmon duringbattle, and they persist from battle to battle. They can be healed by a varietyof items, though we will not cover those until the ItemDex. Let us brieflycover each of the so-called "major" status ailments that you will likelyencounter in battle: o Poison: One of the more common statuses, Poison deals continuous damage to the Pokmon at the end of every turn. There are quite a few moves and abilities that afflict poison, most notably Poison-type moves and abilities like Effect Spore. There is also a stronger version of Poison called TOXIC, and the amount of damage it deals steadily increases over time. o Paralysis: Another common status, Paralysis limits your success of attacking to 50%. Basically, your attack has a 50% chance of being executed or not, and then the accuracy is factored in. Paralysis also shaves your Pokmon's Speed stat in half. This status is inflicted by certain Electric-type moves and abilities like Static. o Burn: Similar to Poison, a Burn status deals a slightly higher amount of damage after each turn. However, Burn is less common because there are far fewer Pokmon with abilities that inflict Burn (Flame Body) and a lower chance and prevalence of moves that can cause Burn. A Burn status also cuts your Pokmon's physical Attack in half. o Frozen: The least common status ailment, a Frozen status relegates your Pokmon to irrelevancy as it attempts to thaw. There are very few moves (and no abilities?) that inflict a Frozen status, and these moves only do so rarely. Frozen can take two to five moves to be removed, or it can be removed with Fire-type moves automatically. o Confusion: This status doesn't show up in the normal way that other statuses do, and Confusion can be gotten rid of by simply withdrawing or swapping the Pokmon afflicted with this status. Confusion gives your Pokmon a 50% chance of either attacking the correct target or attacking itself. It can attack itself even if the move used wasn't an attack. Confusion usually wears off in two to five turns, and can be very annoying. Other statuses and stat-adjusting moves crop up from time-to-time. Usually,these involve the core stats or some of the battle-specific stats. The two mainbattle-specific stats are Evasiveness and Accuracy. Evasiveness describes aPokmon's inherent ability to avoid attacks. In battle, evasiveness is usually0, but it can be increased to enhance your Pokmon's ability to evade. Inbattles with other trainers, evasiveness-enhancing moves are usually prohibitedor frowned upon as they can "break" the combat. On the other hand, Accuracy canbe adjusted. Each move already has its own accuracy stat, but a Pokmon canhave its accuracy increased or decreased, affecting the move accuracy.Basically, all of these stats--move accuracy, Pokmon accuracy, andevasiveness--come together to determine whether a move will hit or not. Battles are very complex, and it can be difficult to explore every relevantpiece of information (held items, abilities, and so on). But, in this section,we've tried to cover the core mechanics relevant to each battle. /\| 2.2.f Getting More Pokmon [vs2008] | \___________________________________________________________________________/ So just how do we get more Pokmon? Well, there are a variety of methods,though the most prevalent one is capturing Pokmon directly. Other methodsinclude trading, receiving gift Pokmon, or breeding. This section will attemptto cover the more prominent methods, though we make no claim to disemminateinfo on every possible method to get Pokmon. \ Capturing \ Obviously, this is the most direct way of earning more Pokmon. Whenever youbattle wild Pokmon (not trainers!), you have the ability to capture theopposing Pokmon with Pokballs. Pokballs are basically the contraption thathold Pokmon when they're not in battle; they are the reason why you can onlyhave six Pokmon with you at any one time... as opposed to one million. Anyway, the general idea behind capturing Pokmon is to weaken the wildPokmon to one-fourth of its health or lower, inflict it with non-harmfulstatuses like Paralysis (optional!), and then to throw Pokballs at it until itgives. Different Pokmon have varying degrees of catchableness, depending on apre-determined "Capture Rate." The game does not give you this rate in-game; inearlier generations, they were extracted from the game via hacking.Extrapolating from the data, the Pokmon community was able to deduce a formulawhich we will not tell you for the sake of clarity. Basically, some Pokmonare very hard to catch (fully-evolved Pokmon and legendaries) while others areextremely easy to catch (NFEs). The capture process is rather easy, but there are a lot of other factorsaround to complicate capturing a Pokmon. Firstly, if a wild Pokmon battle isa double battle, you must KO the undesired Pokmon before you can attempt tocatch the desired Pokmon. Secondly, there are many capture mediums, and theyhave varying effects on the capture rate; things like Great Balls and UltraBalls increase capture effectiveness while other Pokballs have other specialeffectivenesses. Consult the ItemDex for a complete listing. Thirdly, when yourPokmon get to be too high of a level to successfully weaken a Pokmon withoutKOing it, you will need the use of moves like False Swipe, which will leave thetarget Pokmon with 1 HP. \ Trade \ There are a few in-game trades, but the actual subjects of those trades arecovered in the Pokmon Locations section. Basically, the idea behind a trade isthat you get a Pokmon and the other party gets a Pokmon in return. The trademay not be objectively equal, but that's okay--it simply needs to be acceptableto both parties. However, most in-game trades require specific Pokmon inexchange for a specific Pokmon; online trades allow you trade anyone andeveryone any and every Pokmon you could conceive of; there are very few, ifany, limitations. \ Gifts \ Some Pokmon are gifted to you in-game; your starter is one such Pokmon.While there aren't too many gift Pokmon, we've given you a complete listing inthe Pokmon Locations section, so you should check it out! Anyway, the ideabehind a gift Pokmon is that it is a gift--no returns necessary. Simply takeit and run! Easy, huh? For breeding, see the above section "Pokmon Ins & Outs." We have an extensivesection on breeding there. /\| 2.2.g About the Pokmon World [vs2009] | \___________________________________________________________________________/ Thus far, we've discussed a lot about Pokmon species, but we haven't touchedon the world around Pokmon--the region, the trainers, the setup, the story,and so on. While we're not going to go spoiling anything with regards to names,spoilers, or other game-related info, we are going to give you a very generaloverview of just what Pokmon games are like. This section should frame yourexperience with Pokmon, and give you a bit of background the game cansometimes be hard pressed to provide. You control the avatar of the game. This avatar is your main portal tointeract with the Pokmon world. Oftentimes, "you" have always wanted Pokmon,but you weren't old enough or ready to venture out into the world. Shortly intothe game, your local Pokmon expert will give you your first Pokmon (astarter) in exchange for your help finding the rest of the Pokmon of theregion. Meanwhile, as you go along your adventure, you will end up developing anindestructible team of Pokmon so that you can become the strongest trainer inthe region. In order to achieve this, you will end up traversing throughvarious dungeons and beating eight "gyms." These gyms are places where trainerscongregate to improve their skills under a particular head trainer (a gymleader); they all specialize in a certain type, allowing you to easily exploittheir aggragate weaknesses (the gym leader will usually have some ways aroundthis, though). After defeating the region's eight gyms, you will be able tochallenge the Elite 4 and vie for the title of Pokmon Champion. What about the region? Well, Kalos, our new region this time around is just asdiverse as our previous realms of exploration. Basically, each region can bethought up of as a congregation of cities/towns (where basic services are),Routes (which connect towns to one another) and dungeons (which appear on someroutes or in other areas). Add these all together and you get a Pokmon region. In each town, you can expect to find various services that will becomefamiliar to you over time. For instance, the Pokmon Center will be your bestfriend; in this place, you can revive your Pokmon with Nurse Joy or buyhealing and/or battle-related items for your journey. Most towns will also havea variety of unique services that can only be found in said town--like the MoveDeleter or the Name Rater. We will cover these in much more detail throughoutthe Walkthrough--don't worry! In the field, HMs have returned to wreak havoc on your Pokmon's movesets.Basically, HMs (which are similar to TMs) allow your Pokmon to traverse fieldobstacles like water, rocky caves, or foggy conditions by circumventing (ordestroying) the impeding obstacle. Many of these impediments appear indungeons. Speaking of dungeons, these tend to be the most unforgiving parts ofthe game as you usually have extended periods of trainer and wild battles withvery little healing. Mind you, when we say "dungeons," we're usually referringto areas like caves, forests, and abandoned buildings--not castles. Of course, there is so much more that we simply cannot cover for the sake oftimeliness. Most of this section should be helpful to those new to the game;however, the next section should include useful tidbits to nearly everyone,veteran or not! Onward!_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2.3 T e a m B u i l d i n g [vs2010]_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whereas the previous section covered most, if not all, of the basics ofPokmon, this section will cover the more strategic aspects of Pokmon, such asbuilding a balanced team and choosing the right Pokmon. /This section does notteach you how to battle/. Rather, we hope that this section will give you thetools necessary to start thinking like a Pokmon trainer. /\| 2.3.a Picking & Choosing [vs2011] | \___________________________________________________________________________/There are around 450 Pokmon in the Kalos, so, obviously, picking Pokmon isone of the hardest processes in the game. Most Pokmon are very unique,complicating the process even further. How do you even go about picking /one/Pokmon, let alone six?Well, part of it is subjective judgment, the other part is objective facts.Not all Pokmon are created equal; otherwise, every battle would be solelybased on trainer skill and Pokmon level. That is not the case. There areplenty of Pokmon like Dunsparce, Zubat, and Magikarp that are utterlyunusable... then there are the Pokmon like Scizor, Lucario, Gyarados, andSkarmory that are used and adored by many. This discrepensy is not withoutmerit. Even among fully evolved Pokmon, some shine while others--likeStaraptor, Fearow, Mothim, and others--fail.Just what goes into choosing good Pokmon and starting a team? At first, werecommend that you choose based off of looks. Every Pokmon has potential (thelevel of which just varies, as described above), so you can usually activelycapitalize on said potential. Even if you choose one of the "bad" Pokmonabove, good can come from them. This is usually derived from various measuresthat you will take to optimize your Pokmon's performance in battle.In order to illustrate this scenario, let's take one of the first Pokmon wecan catch and transform it into a OHKOing machine. On Route 2, SL decides tocatch a Pidgey. Pidgeot--the final evolution of Pidgey--is decent, but it is byno means the Pokmon you'd ask to watch your back compared to the many otherPokmon in this game. But how can SL take this Pokmon from zero to almost-hero? Let's take a look:(1) Evolve Quickly: Pidgey is extraordinarily weak stats-wise (though he--yes,SL's Pidgey is a he--does learn some decent moves like Gust early on), soevolving as quickly as possible is highly recommended. SL will want to makeevolution pushes when Pidgey nears Level 18 and when Pidgeotto nears Level 36.(2) Optimize Pidgeot's Moveset: Pidgeot can learn Roost. That's a /big/ deal.That means we can use moves like Brave Bird and adequately deal with the recoildamage with Roost. Preferrably, we'd want at least one strong phsyical Flying-type attack. We'd also want Roost. What about our other two moves? Well, underthe best of circumstances, we'd want to give SL's Pidgeot something like U-turnfor more type coverage (Psychics, Darks, etc.). The last move could vary a lot;Heat Wave for more type coverage (Steels, Ice), Giga Impact for a very strongmove, Pursuit because of Pidgeot's speed, or even something like Toxic or Sand-Attack if we'd rather wait out our opponent, biding time with Roost.Regardless, we have at least a few ideas for SL's Pidgeot's moveset, making itas effective as possible.(3) Give Pidgeot a Held Item: Pidgeot has a /lot/ of weaknesses, so we need totry and minimize the possibility of an OHKO. Adding more coverage is certainlygood, but we still don't have many options for moves like Thunderbolt. Thunder-type moves could certainly be OHKOs. Hence, we need to deal with themadequately. A Focus Sash would be highly recommend for SL's Pidgeot as a FocusSash allows a Pokmon to withstand one attack that would ordinarily KO it.Type-resisting berries may also be a good idea.(4) Adjust as Necessary: Not every plan is perfect. We obviously need to tweakthis blueprint as we progress through the game; for instance, we might need toadd more coverage for Ice-types, so Heat Wave might be a must. We also maydecide that we never need Roost as we're either getting OHKO'd or NVE'd, makingRoost irrelevant. These are just some sample concerns; if SL finds more, heshould adapt the plan to meet /his/ needs. If all else fails, SL may need toabandon Pidgeot and try another Pokmon.Ultimately, the Pokmon shouldn't be (too much of) a hindrance to the trainer,no matter how "sub-par" or "demeaned it is in the competitive sphere. Pokmongames allow you to transform nearly any zero into a hero, so it's simply amatter of dedication.So we've chosen maybe one or two Pokmon that we like--what now? Well,constructing a team is a much more complex process as there are a lot ofdynamic, moving parts that complicate the process. So, when building a team ofPokmon, what are some of the concerns that we need to take into account? Let'suse SL for another example; his favorite Pokmon is Lucario, so we should buildhim a team around Lucario.(1) Type Coverage: Each type has different coverages and weaknesses, making thePokmon world very complex. Hence, when you're constructing a team, you need toaccurately balance types so as to cover a lot of weaknesses. If SL were to, forinstance, make an all-Steel-type team with Lucario at the helm, SL would havemassive weaknesses to Fire-types, Ground-types, and Fighting-types. Even withSteel-Flying-types (for Fighting-types), Steel-Grass-types (for Ground-types),and Steel-Water-types (for Fire-types), SL's team will still have weaknesses.Moreover, an all-Steel team would have trouble dealing with ordinary Water-types, even though Steel is not weak to Water. Hence, type coverage isnecessary. As an aside, making a solo-type-team can be a lot of fun if you're up forthe challenge! For the sake of this guide, we just want you to be most readyfor future difficulties.What Pokmon do we give SL then? Well, we give him Pokmon that (a) he likesand (b) effectively cover each other and Lucario. Our general rule-of-thumb isto have no type share amongst Pokmon--even with dual-typing. There are 18types--SL should be able to manage. Just going off of the new Kalos Pokmon,let's take a smattering of Pokmon with different types and see how they coverone another:o Lucario (Fighting/Steel) o Aurorus (Rock/Ice)o Greninja (Water/Dark) o Dedenne (Electric/Fairy)o Charizard (Fire/Flying) o Trevenant (Ghost/Grass)No overlapping types there. Though it would be extremely tedious to do so, welikely have every potential matchup covered in at least two ways, barring theweird matchups like Sableye and Bronzong. Hence, even with random luck-of-the-draw, SL can still have a pretty decent team covering a multitude of differenttypes.(2) Physical/Special Coverage: In the previous section, we discussed thedifferent stats, making careful note to distinguish Attack/Defense from S.Attack/S. Defense. In this section, we're going to apply that difference toSL's team. SL needs to have Pokmon that have a variety of functions, coveringboth Special and Physical Attacks/Defenses. For instance, Charizard is a strongphysical attacker while Trevenant is a strong special attacker. Lucario, on theother hand, is special in that he can be either a strong physical sweeper or astrong special sweeper. Generally, looking up a Pokmon's stats can give you agood idea of their specialization. Of course, you'll also need to match thesephysical/special stats to actual moves, but that's a foregone conclusion here!(3) Sweepers and Tanks: Sounds like a board game, huh? In relation to theabove, there are plenty of Pokmon that serve as either tanks or sweepers or"tactical" units. Many Pokmon have possibilites to be two of the above units,depending on how one works out the EVs and the moveset. Anyway, sweepers arePokmon that specialize on attacking quickly to OHKO or 2HKO Pokmon beforethey can take any significant damage (sweepers are generally frail). Sweepersmust have quite a bit of coverage with their moves to be of much use. Tanks, onthe other hand, attempt to absorb any damage taken with highly-resistant-typingand they attempt to "outlast" their opponent by inflicting statuses on theiropponent or by simply using one or two attacking moves. Finally, tactical unitsare essentially wild cards with many different uses; some are gambit Pokmonthat attempt to set up statuses to aid other Pokmon in the party (Trick Room,weather, etc.). Each Pokmon serves their own purpose.For instance, of the above Pokmon, Charizard, Greninja, and Lucario could beconsidered sweepers, Dedenne could be considered a "tactical" unit, and Aurorusand Trevenant could be considered tanks. We'll talk more about synergy and therelation between these Pokmon in the next section! /\| 2.3.b Synergy [vs2012] | \___________________________________________________________________________/Now the hard part. Just how do we really achieve synergy? (Dictionarydefintion: "The increased effectiveness that results when two or more people orbusinesses [or Pokmon!] work together"). Well, we achieve synergy by choosingPokmon that work well together and build off of each other. While it'simpossible to have perfect synergy amongst six very different components, wecan bring up some very easy-to-understand examples this section. In the future,we hope that you can apply these synergetic concepts to your own Pokmon teams,even in their most basic incarnations.Let's start with a very basic synergetic double battle. Our Pokmon: Gyarados(Water/Flying) and Torterra (Grass/Ground). Obviously, there are someimmunities and resistances here: Gyarados is immune to Ground, Torterra isneutral to Water, and Gyarados is neutral to Grass. Both Pokmon are relativelybulky, meaning one neutral hit should not KO either Pokmon. While both Pokmoncould be considered physical sweepers, they both double as tanks, especiallyGyarados with neutrality or resistance to sixteen of the eighteen types.The biggest bit of synergy here involves Torterra's signature Ground-type move:Earthquake. This move strikes all enemies on the field, but, because Gyaradosis immune to Ground-type moves, Torterra's Earthquake only hits the opposingPokmon. /That/ is synergy. It goes one step further: Gyarados' major weaknessto Electric-types is solved with Torterra's Earthequake, which should OHKO or2HKO most Electric-types.What about Torterra's weaknesses? Namely, to Ice-types and to Flying-types?Gyarados has amazing coverage, being able to learn both Fire-type moves (forIce-types) and Electric/Ice-type moves (for Flying-types). Gyarados also canuse Surf without worrying too much about Torterra as Torterra is neutral toWater-type moves. (Gyarados' Flying-typing is irrelevant with regards tooffense as Gyarados does not learn any Flying-type moves whatsoever. Ironic,right?).That's synergy.Weather teams are another notable example. Most weather teams share an innateshared strength that comes in the form of weather. Let's take, for instance, adecent Gen V Sandstorm team:o Tyranitar (Rock/Dark) o Bronzong (Steel/Psychic)o Lucario (Steel/Fighting) o Gliscor (Ground/Flying)o Ferrothorn (Steel/Grass) o Scizor (Steel/Bug) This was actually one of the many Sandstorm teams I hypothesized. I stillhave the potential EV splits :PThat's one helluva team, huh? Each member has Sandstorm-resistant-typing, andwhile the entire team has significant weaknesses to Fire-, Grass-, and Water-types, the entire team also has significant Sandstorm synergy. Tyranitar isable to summon Sandstorms upon entry to the battle with his ability, SandStream. Most of the other members of the team can also learn Sandstorm, ifnecessary. Nevertheless, this team has remarkable coverage for beingsignificantly mono-type. It also has decent range with sweepers like Lucario,Scizor, and Tyranitar and tanks like Ferrothorn and Bronzong. Gliscor is awild-card, and he could be replaced with Excadrill, if needed.Anyway, with the other team taking consistent damage from Sandstorm weather,this team can simply bide time and wait until the opposing Pokmon whittle way.For Pokmon that prove to be peskier, it has a fair share of sweepers that cancover most typings. This team isn't perfect, but it embodies the concept ofsynergy.Hence, when building your team, you should really take into account what kindof associations you can make from Pokmon to Pokmon. Sometimes therelationship is simply symbiotic while other Pokmon can have truly remarkablebattle strategies. Teams of Pokmon can be built around simple concepts, makingPokmon a very deep game. However, it doesn't have to be a bulletproofstrategy; it simply has to be /your/ strategy. Learn it. Own it. It's yours tobuild and improve. And with that, we wish you good luck! /\| 2.3.c Walkthrough Pokmon Advice [vs2013] | \___________________________________________________________________________/ What about when you're actually playing the game? Well, we would never tellyou exactly how to play the game; rather, this section is intended to give yousome general advice about what Pokmon setups are common. This section will beshort for this reason. Anyway, a common setup is to have a primary team of four Pokmon accompaniedby one or two Pokmon that are "HM slaves." This means that these Pokmon usefield moves to clear obstacles while your other Pokmon are your actualbattling buddies. Having a core team of four limits coverage, but allows you tolevel (and hence defeat) your opponents more quickly. While both vin and SLtend to use six Pokmon in the Walkthrough, you don't have to--it's simply away to cram in more of your favorites! :)_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2.4 P o k m o n S l a n g [vs2014]_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!RGB = Pokmon Red/Green/BlueGSC = Pokmon Gold/Silver/CrystalRSE = Pokmon Ruby/Saphire/EmeraldFRLG = Pokmon FireRed/LeafGreenDPPt = Pokmon Diamond/Pearl/PlatinumHGSS = Pokmon HeartGold/SoulSilverBW = Pokmon Black/WhiteB2W2 = Pokmon Black 2/White 2KO = KnockoutOHKO = One-hit KnockoutSE = Super-EffectiveNVE = Not Very EffectiveNFE = Not Fully EvolvedUber = Best Pokmon Tier; Mostly LegendariesOU = Overused; Second-Best Pokmon TierRU = Rarely Used; Second-Worst Pokmon TierUU = Underused; Middle Pokmon TierNU = Never Used; Worst Pokmon Tier_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2.5 W h a t ' s N e w ? [vs2015]_______________________________________________________________________________!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unlike the previous sections in Pokmon Basics, this round-up is /not/tailored to those that are new to Pokmon; rather, this section attempts tohelp those returning to Pokmon X and Y with the new additions for Gen VI.**This section only covers major changes from Gen V to Gen VI.** Hence, don'texpect us to cover everything that has changed from Red and Blue. However, thissection can be of major use to anyone who wants to know about the major changesso don't hesitate to read along. :) o Kalos - See [vs3001] for a complete map of the new region. Pokmon Locations are present at [vs5001]. The Walkthrough is the entirety of Section 3, and the TOC can be useful for identifying and learning about specific areas. o Mega Evolution - While Mega Evolution is covered waaaaaaaay more extensively section [vs5035], we can give you a general synopsis here. Mega Evolution is a new form of evolution that only occurs during battle; induced by a Mega Stone and Mega Ring, Mega Evolution enhances your Pokmon's stats and ability, and it might even change your Pokmon's type(s). For more info, see the Mega Evolution section! o Super Training - Super Training is a relatively quick and easy way to max out a Pokmon's EVs. Basically acting as a minigame, Super Training involves a variety of training methods facilitated by you, the player, to improve your Pokmon's performanace in battle. Super Training may or may not eventually receive its own section, but stay tuned! o Pokmon Amie - A new way to interact with one's Pokmon, Pokmon Amie is a way to improve affection amongst a Pokmon and its trainer. While "affection" sounds like friendship in that it's relatively useless in battle (other than for Return/Frustration), affection is actually very applicable in the main game: a Pokmon with higher affection will be more likely to have certain bonuses mid-battle, such as landing critical hits more often or overcoming a status ailment more quickly. These effects highly vary and are very unpredictable. o 70 New Pokmon - While this number is significantly less than the number of Pokmon added in previous generations, these 70 new Pokmon are still shaping up to be competitive scene game-changers (hello, Aegislash). o Roller Skating - Moving around in the overworld is now sped up with the Roller Skates; think of them as a intermediate option between the Bicycle and the Running Shoes. Roller Skates do not function on the traditional grid for the most part, and they can even perform certain tricks. They don't work in tall grass or flowers, though. o Sky Battles - A new form of battling, Sky Battles only allow you to use Pokmon that can fly or hover. **This is not dependent on type.** Not all Flying-types can do Sky Battles, and a Pokmon doesn't have to be a Flying- type to be eligible (e.g., Carnivine). Here's a list of eligible Pokmon: Charizard, Butterfree, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, Fearouw, Zubat, Golbat, Ghastly, Haunter, Scyther, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Dragonite, Noctowl, Ledyba, Ledian, Crobat, Hoppip, Skiploom, Jumpluff, Mantine, Skarmory, Masquerain, Ninjask, Vibrava, Flygon, Swablu, Altaria, Lunastone, Solrock, Batloy, Claydol, Combee, Vespiquen, Drifloon, Carnivine, Mantyke, Rotom, Tranquill, Unfezant, Woobat, Swoobat, Sigilyph, Swanna, Cryogonal, Fletchinder, Talonflame, Vivillon, Noibat, Noivern, and Yveltal. o Hordes - In the wild, Pokmon can now be randomly encountered in "hordes" on most routes. Hordes are 1 v 5 battles in which the five wild Pokmon are approximately half the level of normal wild Pokmon in that area; they can be unevolved forms of Pokmon in that area or they can even be different Pokmon altogether. Attacks that hit multiple Pokmon are highly recommended. Running is also a good alternative as some Pokmon--like Bellsprout--can be hell in hordes. o Fairy-type - This new type has changed the type matchups a bit for the first time in, uh, a long time. Some old Pokmon were converted to Fairy whilst other new Pokmon are Fairy-types as well. Fairy-types are resistant to Fighting-, Dark-, and Bug-type moves, are immune to Dragon-type moves, and are weak to Poison- and Steel-type moves. Meanwhile, Fairy-type moves are strong against Dark-, Bug-, and Dragon- types while they are weak against Fire-, Poison-, and Steel-types. o Trainer Customizaation - Clothing, skin tone, and hair style are now all changeable in-game via a variety of services. Each of these are covered rather extensively in the Walkthrough, but we'll briefly touch on them here: some towns sell clothing, which you can change into at any Pokmon Center or Boutique. Hair styles can be changed at Coiffure Clips in Lumiose. Skin tone is chosen at the beginning of the game--similar to gender.____________ ____________\ \ / /_______________________________________________________\ \ / / \ \/ ///\\\ \/ / \ /// 3.0 [vs3000] \\\ / / \\\ Walkthrough ||| | / /\ \\\_______________________________________________________||| |/ / \ \| | _______________________K A L O S R E G I O N M A P_______________________ (b) | (c) ( 5 )._ \ | '-._ (k) \ | (j) '-._ _.--( 6 )-._ | |-( 13)-------------( 14) ( 7 )-' '--. | .--' \ (l) (d) (e) '-._,---._.-' \ / ( 4 ) \ / (n)-._ `---^ ( 12) ( 15)( 10) '-._ / \ | / \ '-._ / \ | / \ '. / \ | / ( 9 )-(f)-----------( 8 ) ( 3 )--------(i)----------( 16) \ \ (h) / \ (a) / \ | / ( 11)----------(g) ( 2 ) (m) | ( 1 ) ( 17) -= L E G E N D =- _____________________________________________________