Beginner's Strategy Guide

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BATTLE STRATEGY LEAFLET VERSION 2.0
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BATTLE ROUTINE
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Fight
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The objective of engaging in a Pok�mon battle, of course, is to best the opponent in
terms of offense and defense. Battle, however, is far more complicated than it appears,
and it takes a very skilled trainer to take advantage of this sophistication. The main
battle menu consists of four functions: Fight, PKMN, Item (or Pack or Bag), or Run. You
may use only one of these functions on one turn.

The Fight function takes you to the list of your Pok�mon�s attacks. What the attacks
may do depend entirely on the Pok�mon that uses the attack and against whom it is used.
Some abilities that any of the combatants have may affect the efficacy or productivity
of the attack in base form, while type advantages, weather conditions, or effects of
attacks previously used have their share of influences.

PKMN
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This function enables you to switch your Pok�mon. This can be done once per turn, mean-
ing that the surrogate battler won�t get a chance to battle on the turn. Before you de-
cide to switch out, use the Summary (or Stats) function to view what condition that
your Pok�mon is in. If your Active Pok�mon is ailing from poison or a burn, it may be a
good idea to withdraw it. However, since the new Pok�mon cannot attack on that turn,
it will absorb any effects of attacks from the opponent immediately. Therefore, you may
want to think twice before switching out for a Pok�mon with a low Speed rating.
� Summary. Called �Stats� on older cartridges, this allows you to view the status
of your Pok�mon, which must be taken into consideration before it is released
into battle. On the Red, Blue, and Yellow cartridges, the stats screen is spread
out on two screens: the first screen informs you of the Pok�mon�s health status,
area stats, experience required to gain another level, and its biological types,
while the second screen lists the Pok�mon�s attacks and their remaining Power
Points. On the Gold, Silver, and Crystal cartridges, the screens are spread out
onto three screens: the first explains its types, health status, and experience
level; the second lists the attacks of that Pok�mon and their remaining Power
Points and identifies the Pok�mon�s held item; the third screen explains area
stats and capture information (the trainer that caught it and that trainer�s ID
number). The Pok�mon Ruby and Sapphire summary is spread out over four screens:
the first identifies the Pok�mon�s biological types, ability, and capture infor-
mation (name of trainer that caught it, the ID number of that trainer, the gen-
der of that trainer [the name of the trainer will be highlighted in blue if male
and pink if female], the level the Pok�mon was at when caught, and the location
at which it was caught); the second screen counts the ribbons that it received,
identifies its held item, determines its experience level, and gives its area
stats; the third screen lists the Pok�mon�s attacks with their types and battle
effects, potencies, and hit rates; the fourth screen lists the attacks with
their contest types, contest effects, appeal values, and jam penalties. The Fire
Red and Leaf Green screen is broken down into three pages: the first page states
trainer and capture information like in the Ruby and Sapphire screens; the sec-
ond screen lists base stats, tracks experience, and identifies the Pok�mon�s
ability; the third screen lists the attacks.
o Attack. This area stat rates the potential of physical attacks used by that
Pok�mon. Attacks of the Normal, Fighting, Ground, Flying, Poison, Bug, Rock,
Ghost, and Steel types are considered physical. (Poison-type attacks are non-
physical on Red, Blue, and Yellow.)
o Defense. This area stat rates the Pok�mon�s vulnerability to physical at-
tacks.
o Special Attack. This area stat rates the potential of nonphysical attacks
used by that Pok�mon. Attacks of the Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Psy-
chic, Dragon, and Dark types are considered nonphysical. Special Attack and
Special Defense are consolidated into �Special� in Red, Blue, and Yellow.
o Special Defense. This area stat rates the Pok�mon�s vulnerability to nonphys-
ical attacks.
o Speed. Pok�mon are assigned an area stat of Speed to determine turn order.
The Pok�mon with the highest Speed goes first, the one with the second high-
est rating goes afterward, and so on.
o HP. The vitality of a Pok�mon is measured by Hit Points. When this measure
falls to zero for any reason, the Pok�mon can�t fight until a Revive, Max Re-
vive, Revival Herb, or Sacred Ash is administered, the Pok�mon is moved to
Bill�s PC (except in Red, Blue, or Yellow) or Lanette�s PC, or the Pok�mon is
healed at a Pok�mon Center or by anyone willing to rest them.
o Sleep. This status abnormality prevents the Pok�mon from attacking except
with Snore or Sleep Talk. Administering an Awakening, Mint Berry, Lava Cook-
ie, Full Heal, Chesto Berry, or Lum Berry or playing the Pok�Flute or Blue
Flute will alleviate this condition.
o Paralysis. This status abnormality may prevent a Pok�mon from attacking, and
the affected Pok�mon�s Speed plummets. Administering a Paralyz Heal, PrzCure-
Berry, Lava Cookie, Full Heal, Cheri Berry, or Lum Berry, using Refresh, or
being attacked with Smellingsalt will alleviate paralysis.
o Poison. This status abnormality causes a Pok�mon to lose HP even outside of
battle, and being attacked with Toxic or Poison Fang may cause poisoning that
worsens with time. Administering an Antidote, PsnCureBerry, Lava Cookie, Full
Heal, Pecha Berry, or Lum Berry or using Refresh will detoxify the Pok�mon.
o Burn. This status abnormality causes a Pok�mon to lose HP in battle, and the
affected Pok�mon�s Attack plummets. Administering a Burn Heal, Ice Berry,
Lava Cookie, Full Heal, Rawst Berry, or Lum Berry or using Refresh will heal
a burn.
o Hoarfrost. This status abnormality completely immobilizes a Pok�mon. Admini-
stering an Ice Heal, Burnt Berry, Lava Cookie, Aspear Berry, or Lum Berry,
using a physical attack, Sunny Day, Flame Wheel, Heat Wave, Fire Blast, or
Overheat or being attacked with a Fire-type move will defrost a Pok�mon. A
Pok�mon cannot be frozen in sunlight, so sending out a Groudon will defrost
any Pok�mon.
o Confusion. This status abnormality may cause a Pok�mon to attack itself in-
stead of executing a desired move. This can be alleviated with Bitter Berry,
Yellow Flute, or Persim Berry or simply switching out.
o Infatuation. This status abnormality, induced by Attract or effect of the
ability Cute Charm, may cause a Pok�mon to not attack. This is remediable
with a Mental Herb or Red Flute or switching either combatant out.
o PKRS. If on Ruby or Sapphire this icon appears below the Pok�mon�s level and
ball, the Pok�mon has contracted the Pok�rus virus. This can also happen on
Gold, Silver, or Crystal, but it won�t be readily denoted. This affliction
multiplies experience gained from battle by 1.5, but it eventually resolves
itself. If a black dot appears between the level and ball in a Pok�mon�s sum-
mary, the Pok�mon is immune to Pok�rus.
o PP. Power Points are the number of times that a certain move can be used, de-
pending on its potential. If the move�s Power Points run out (from overuse or
subjection to Spite or Grudge), the move becomes inoperable until an Ether,
Max Ether, Elixir, Max Elixir, Mysteryberry, or Leppa Berry is administered,
the Pok�mon is moved to Bill�s PC (except in Red, Blue, or Yellow) or La-
nette�s PC, or the Pok�mon is healed at a Pok�mon Center or by anyone willing
to rest them. Administering PP Up will cause a move�s Power Point maximum to
increase by 20 percent. Once the base maximum is increased by 60 percent, it
cannot be increased further. If all of the moves� Power Points are gone, the
Pok�mon will be forced to use Struggle, which has no type and deals recoil
equal to ten percent of the damage done to the foe.
o Experience. If the foe has fainted, Pok�mon that participated in battle, ex-
cept those that fainted, as well as those holding Exp Shares are doled an
amount of experience points summing up to a predetermined total, divided
equally. If a Pok�mon holding an Exp Share battled, that Pok�mon receives an
additional share of experience. If in Red, Blue, or Yellow you carry an Exp
All, each Pok�mon will receive an additional share equal to one third of the
sum. Pok�mon that you did not capture will receive 50 percent more experience
in all cases. Most Pok�mon require one million points to reach level 100,
while starter Pok�mon require Pok�mon require 1,059,860 and legendary Pok�mon
(as well as Salamence, Exeggutor, and a few others) require 1,250,000 points.
o Shiny Pok�mon. Any Pok�mon that is discolored is called a �shiny Pok�mon� and
will be denoted by three stars next to the level in Gold, Silver, and Crystal
summaries or the Pok�dex number being highlighted in gold in Ruby or Sapphire
summaries. Obtaining this sort of Pok�mon in the wild is difficult, and only
certain games will give you this opportunity. When sent into battle, a series
of sprites will be emitted from the figure.
� Switch. This is called �Shift� on Ruby and Sapphire. This function will cause
the active Pok�mon to be withdrawn for the Pok�mon you selected. The new Pok�mon
will take all effects of the foe�s attack. However, if you defeated the foe or
your Active Pok�mon fainted, you may be prompted to switch Pok�mon; if the Bat-
tle Style setting in the Options menu is set to �Set� or you have no other heal-
thy Pok�mon, no prompt will be made. If you have no Pok�mon left and your Active
Pok�mon fainted, you will be transported to the Pok�mon Center that your Pok�mon
were last healed at and you will lose half of your money rounded down to the
nearest dollar unless you engaged in a Secret Base or link battle. If this hap-
pens in the Battle Tower or you shut off the game there without saving, your
victory streak is broken.

Item
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This is �Pack� in the Gold, Silver, and Crystal versions and �Bag� in Ruby and Sap-
phire. Unless engaged in a Battle Tower or link battle, you may opt to administer items
to your Pok�mon. You may use one item on a turn, and your turn is over once you do
this. You cannot attach items, administer Pok�Blocks, or teach Technical Machines in
battle, and some items can only be used in Wild Pok�mon battles.

In Red, Blue, and Yellow, all items are consolidated into one pocket, and you can carry
up to twenty at a time. In Gold, Silver, and Crystal, the Pack is broken down into four
pockets: the first for general items and berries, twenty of which you can carry at
once; the second for balls; the third for key items, or those that cannot be discarded
or sold; the fourth for Technical Machines. In Ruby and Sapphire, the Bag is divided
into five areas by adding the Pack�s pockets and a pocket exclusively for Berries.

In a Wild Pok�mon battle, throwing a ball and successfully capturing a Pok�mon denies
your Pok�mon any experience. You cannot capture an opponent�s Pok�mon.

In the National Park in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, �Park Ball� will replace this op-
tion. You cannot administer items to your Pok�mon in the National Park. In the Safari
Zone in Red, Blue, and Yellow, this option, as well as �Fight� and �PKMN,� will be re-
placed by �Ball,� �Rock,� and �Bait.� The Ball function launches a Safari Ball, the Bait
function sends out food for the Pok�mon to distract it, and the Rock function launches a
pebble at the Pok�mon to anger it, making it apt to flee, but making it easier to cap-
ture. In the Ruby and Sapphire Safari Zone, these options will be �Ball,� �Pok�Block,�
and �Go Near,� which serve similar functions.

Run
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If you are engaged in a Wild Pok�mon battle, you have the option to run away. Doing so
increases your chances of your Pok�mon contracting Pok�rus, and your Pok�mon are denied
any experience. You cannot run from a Trainer battle, and you lose the battle if you se-
lect this option in a link battle.

USING YOUR POK�MON
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1. One-hit KO moves
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True to their collective name, these moves have the potential to deplete the vitality of
the foe completely. However, these moves � Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill, and Sheer
Cold � are effective rarely in standardized battle, and their efficiency increases
against weaker Pok�mon. And they don�t hit higher-level Pok�mon. For beginning trainers
it is conventional to institute these moves as a supplement to prominent competencies,
but experienced trainers use these moves only if the Pok�mon to know one has low offen-
sive stats. Generally, these attacks do little more than provide a booster to offensive
potential, and that�s where it stands.

2. Fly, Dig, Dive, and Bounce
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In the Red, Blue, and Yellow versions, these moves protected the user completely from
attack. However, this now gives your opponent a free turn to make up for a wasted attack
or item administration to no avail. If your Pok�mon used Dig and is in the dormitory
stage, your opponent can simply switch out for a Flygon or Articuno, and Dig will be in-
effective in that case. If the foe is a Dugtrio or Camerupt, it can simply pull a Magni-
tude or Earthquake, maybe even a Fissure, and they will still hit. In fact, Earthquake�s
power will double when used against a Pok�mon using Dig. If your Wailord used Dive, it
would be vulnerable to Surf.

I�m not finished with you yet. Using Fly or Bounce (in Grumpig�s case) will not protect
you from Gust, Sky Uppercut, Thunder, or Twister. The power of these attacks will double
in this case. When hit by Twister in this situation, your Pok�mon definitely still can
flinch, annulling Fly or Bounce at the expense of the Power Points. These moves do not
let you administer items without penalty, which is a common misconception. Use these
moves only if you know your opponent can�t find the loophole.

3. Same-type Multiplier
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If the type of an attack matches one of those of the Pok�mon using it, the final damage
is increased by 50 percent. This is pretty well known, but difficult to pin down effi-
ciently. Teaching Magnitude, Earthquake, Mud Shot, and Fissure to your beloved Whiscash
will involve this multiplier, granted, but if it happens to run into a Parasect, it�s
screwed: all of these attacks are Ground-type, and since Parasect is of the Grass and
Bug types, the attacks won�t do much, if anything, and one timed Solarbeam can put Whis-
cash out of its misery.

4. Held Items
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Remember that administering an item directly from the Pack or Bag takes up one turn; so
make a habit of equipping eligible items to your Pok�mon. Keep in mind that Pok�mon can
use not all items. You may have noticed that a Hyper Potion restores 200 HP, but this
does its job only when you, the trainer, administer it. Attaching a Hyper Potion won�t
help your Pok�mon at all, but an attached Berry/Oran Berry or Gold Berry/Sitrus Berry
can be used by your Pok�mon to restore HP between turns.

Another sort of held item is the power-up item, which can be Silk Scarf/Pink Bow, Char-
coal, Mystic Water, Miracle Seed, Magnet, Metal Coat, Soft Sand, et cetera. These moves
will raise the potency of certain types of attacks, but you should be careful about whom
you attach it to. Remember that an Electric-type move�s power when used by an Electric-
type Pok�mon will increase by 50 percent, so it would be obstreperous to attach a Magnet
for more effect. Invest instead in a move that isn�t the type of the user, such as a
Shadow Ball on a Mewtwo being powered up by Spell Tag.

5. Evolution
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Evolving a Pok�mon will cause an increase in stat rates, but your Pok�mon will learn
moves later on. In some cases evolved Pok�mon may not learn moves that the basic form
could. Let�s have a look at Numel and Camerupt�s move schedule:

Name and Type | Battle and Contest Description | Pot. Acy. App. Jam PP Level

101 102
Growl
Normal/Cute Lowers the foe�s Attack
(This attack can be deflected by the
ability Soundproof.)
------------------------------------
Appeal rises to 6 if performed last --- 100 2 0 40 Egg

Tackle
Normal/Tough 35 95 4 0 35 Egg

Ember
Fire/Beauty May burn 40 100 4 0 25 11

Magnitude
Ground/Tough Strikes in magnitude of 2 to 10
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The more the crowd is excited, the
better the appeal Var 100 1 0 30 19

Focus Energy
Normal/Tough Raises chances of next hit being
critical --- --- 2 3 30 25

Take Down
Normal/Tough User receives recoil equal to one
eighth of damage done
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Appeal loss from user is tripled 95 80 6 0 20 29

Amnesia
Psychic/Cute Raises the user�s Special Defense
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Raises the user�s condition --- --- 1 0 20 31

Rock Slide
Rock/Tough May prevent foe from attacking 75 90 2 3 10 No 33

Earthquake
Ground/Tough Hits both foes and ally in Double
Battle; can hit Pok�mon using Dig 100 100 2 3 10 35 37

Flamethrower
Fire/Beauty May burn 95 100 4 0 15 41 No

Eruption
Fire/Beauty The higher the user�s HP, the more
damage inflicted
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The later performed, the better the
appeal 150 100 1 0 5 No 45

Double-Edge
Normal/Cool User receives recoil equal to one
eighth of damage done
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Appeal loss from user is tripled 120 100 6 0 10 49 No

Fissure
Ground/Tough Automatically defeats foe if suc-
cessful; can hit Pok�mon using Dig
(As with all other one-hit KO at-
tacks, this attack is inefficacious
against Pok�mon at higher levels
than the user.)
------------------------------------
Pok�mon that appealed lose marks
equal to half of final appeal round-
ed up to the nearest one KO 30 2 1 5 No 55

As we can see, Numel can learn Flamethrower at level 41 and Double-Edge at level 49, but
Camerupt can�t learn either move through experience. Camerupt learns Rock Slide at level
33, as soon as it evolves, Eruption at level 45, and Fissure at level 55, but Numel
can�t learn those moves through experience. Notice that Numel learns Earthquake at two
levels earlier than Camerupt.

Now let�s take a look at the move schedule of Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu:

Name and Type Pot. Acy. App. Jam PP Level Learned
of Move
Pichu Pikachu Raichu
Thundershock
Electric/Cute 40 100 4 0 30 Egg Egg Tutor

Charm
Normal/Cute --- 100 3 2 20 Egg No No

Growl
Normal/Cute --- 100 2 0 40 No Egg No

Tail Whip
Normal/Cute --- 100 2 0 30 6 6 No

Thunder Wave
Electric/Cool --- 100 3 2 20 8 8 Tutor

Sweet Kiss
Normal/Cute --- 75 3 0 10 11 No No

Quick Attack
Normal/Cool 40 100 3 0 30 No 11 No

Double Team
Normal/Cool --- --- 2 0 15 No 15 Tutor

Slam
Normal/Tough 80 75 2 1 20 No 20 No

Thunderbolt
Electric/Cool 95 100 4 0 15 No 26 Tutor

Agility
Psychic/Cool --- --- 3 0 30 No 33 No

Thunder
Electric/Cool 120 70 2 3 10 No 41 No
Sun: 30
Rain:
No miss

Light Screen
Psychic/Beauty --- --- 1 0 30 No 50 No

Notice that Pichu alone can learn Charm and Sweet Kiss through experience, whereas Pika-
chu and Raichu can�t. Raichu can learn Thundershock, Thunder Wave, Double Team, and
Thunderbolt through the Move Tutor, but it can�t learn anything else through experience.

6. Hidden Machines
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Trainers often labor under the delusion that Hidden Machines are great because they�re
indispensable. In most cases, they�re not. First, Flash is rendered unnecessary on Pok�-
mon Ruby and Sapphire because you are given sufficient light in dark caves to navigate,
and all it does in battle is reduce accuracy. Double Team serves you better that way.
Second, Cut is relatively weak and has an accuracy of 95 percent, and isn�t necessary
unless you�re in bad need of items. Third, Dive and Fly are counted among these ma-
chines. Fourth, Waterfall is less efficient than Surf. The only reliable Technical Ma-
chines are:
� Surf. This HM is good all around and the most efficient of its lot. It has a re-
spectable potency � 95 � has an accuracy of 100, and hits both foes in Double
Battle as well as those using Dive.
� Strength. This is one of the stronger Normal-type moves, and it�s a good way to
jam others in a Contest. The problem remains, though, that it�s a Normal-type
move and therefore not super-effective against any type.
� Whirlpool. Available as HM06 in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, this move traps and
harms the foe for two to five turns straight. However, its base power is 15 and
its accuracy is 70.
Plus which, Hidden Machines can�t be dropped at all in Red, Blue, and Yellow, and in
those versions the Daycare Man won�t accept Pok�mon that know an HM move. In later ver-
sions, you will have to talk to the Move Deleter to erase these moves.

7. Mindful Implementation
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All-out offense is the implementation of a completely offensive move set that does not
take into account any type matches, battle effects, accuracies, or abilities. All-out
offense may sometimes win, but that�s only if the victor�s stats are elevated so much
that effects aren�t relevant. To battle effectively, you will need to take into consid-
eration the general environment: weather conditions, your Pok�mon�s stats, the general
competencies of the foe(s), and the effect of your attacks.
� Attack effects. Status abnormalities, stat reduction, and other things are ef-
fects of attacks, and they are a very crucial part of the outcome. If your Po-
k�mon is poisoned, it will continue to lose vitality every five paces on the
field. Any reduction of Defense or elevation of your Pok�mon�s Attack will open
the door to a quick KO. In all-out offense, these effects are either not used
judiciously or even disregarded, and your Pok�mon can come up short as a result.
Remember what I said about one-hit KO attacks? Those moves can�t hit higher-lev-
el Pok�mon in the Gold version or later, and the moves� accuracies are generally
30 percent, but all-out offense endorses insensible use of these moves.
o Attack power. A misleading figure is the base power of an attack. For exam-
ple, Hyper Beam, Frenzy Plant, Blast Burn, and Hydro Cannon have a base dam-
age figure of 150, but their accuracies are 90 percent and the user cannot do
anything on the next turn. (For Hyper Beam, the fact that it�s a Normal-type
move makes it even more unreliable because it can�t be super-effective.) Mul-
tiply the power figure by 0.9 to get 135, and then halve that to get the out-
come damage, which turns out to be 67.5, even less than Strength, Heat Wave,
Waterfall, and Leaf Blade. Here is a list of high-potential moves broken down
to their outcome damage:
� Solarbeam: 120 � 1 � 2 (for charge without sun. Divide by 2 again in rain,
and eliminate division in sunlight) = 60 (30 in rain, 120 in sun)
� Dynamicpunch/Zap Cannon: 100 � 0.5 = 50
� Thunder: 120 � 0.7 (for fair weather. Multiply by 0.3 instead of 0.7 in
sun, and eliminate multiplication in rain) = 84 (36 in sun, 120 in rain)
� Doom Desire: 120 � 0.85 � 2 = 51
� Abilities. Most of the time, abilities aren�t apparent, and one Trapinch can
have the ability Arena Trap while another has Hyper Cutter. These factors, pre-
sent in Ruby and later only, have the power to negate certain effects complete-
ly. For example, all Rayquaza have the ability Air Lock, which suspends effects
of the weather on battle as long as they�re in battle. Beldum has the ability
Clear Body, which prevents any of the opponent�s attacks from lowering its
stats. A part of all-out offense is using any offensive move without paying at-
tention to these attributes.
� Weather conditions. Except if a Rayquaza is in play, weather conditions, if pre-
sent, will have an effect on the battle in Gold or later. All weather conditions
last for five turns when activated by an attack.
o Hail. Triggered by TM07 (Hail) in Ruby or later, this weather condition sum-
mons a hailstorm that will dole damage to all combatants except Ice-type Po-
k�mon.
o Sandstorm. Triggered by TM37 (Sandstorm) and present in the Desert on Route
111 in Hoenn, a sandstorm will dole damage to all combatants except Rock- and
Ground-type Pok�mon, Cacnea, or Cacturne.
o Sunlight. Triggered by TM11 (Sunny Day) or Groudon�s Drought ability and pre-
sent in eastern Hoenn in Ruby after the removal of Team Magma from the Sea-
floor Cavern and before you capture or defeat Groudon, this weather condition
will increase the power of Fire-type attacks by 50 percent, halve the potency
of Water-type attacks, cause Synthesis, Moonlight, and Morning Sun to restore
the user�s HP completely, defrost any frozen Pok�mon and negate effects that
would freeze a combatant, allow for the use of Solarbeam without charging,
and cut Thunder�s accuracy to 30 percent.
o Rain. Triggered by TM18 (Rain Dance) or Kyogre�s Drizzle ability and present
periodically on Routes 119 and 123 and invariably on Route 120 and in eastern
Hoenn in Sapphire after the removal of Team Aqua from the Seafloor Cavern and
before you capture or defeat Kyogre, this weather condition will increase the
power of Water-type attacks by 50 percent, halve the power of Fire-type at-
tacks and Solarbeam, cause Synthesis, Moonlight, and Morning Sun to restore HP
equal to only one quarter of the user�s maximum HP, and cause Thunder to al-
ways hit.
� Moves you should teach. This is a list of moves that you should teach, and for
good reason.
o Offensive attacks that elevate the user�s stats. Stat changes are in effect as
long as the affected Pok�mon is in combat. Moves in this category include An-
cientpower, Meteor Mash, Metal Claw, and Steel Wing.
o Light Screen, Mist, and Reflect. Reflect halves the power of physical attacks,
Mist prevents stat reduction, and Light Screen halves the power of all non-
physical attacks. These attacks can be used simultaneously to halve the power
of all offensive attacks (except Brick Break in the case of Reflect and Light
Screen), and they fade only after five turns, not if a combatant switches out.
o Brick Break. If your foes manipulated Light Screen and Reflect, Brick Break
can shut down these effects, but not before bypassing them. It also inflicts a
respectable amount of damage.
o Flamethrower and Ice Beam. These are more efficient than Fire Blast and Bliz-
zard, and they have the same effects. (On Red, Blue, and Yellow, Blizzard�s
accuracy is 100 percent.)
o Focus Energy. Focus Energy raises the chances of the next move being a crit-
ical hit. The foe can�t switch out to negate this.
o Karate Chop, Air Cutter, Razor Leaf, Slash, and Cross-Chop. Karate Chop, Air
Cutter, Razor Leaf, Slash, and Cross-Chop have respectable outcome figures
(Cross-Chop�s figure is 80 since it has a power figure of 100 and an accuracy
of 80 percent) and have a very high critical hit ratio.
o Gust, Sky Uppercut, Thunder, Twister, Magnitude, Earthquake, Fissure, and
Surf. Gust, Sky Uppercut, Thunder, and Twister hit Pok�mon using Fly and a
Spoink or Grumpig using Bounce. Magnitude, Earthquake, and Fissure can hit
Pok�mon using Dig. Surf can hit a Pok�mon using Dive. (But don�t get carried
away with Fissure, buddy.)
o Moves that cause flinching. This includes Twister, Bite, Headbutt, and Rock
Slide.
o Future Sight and Doom Desire. These moves take two turns to work, but types
don�t matter in this case.
o Wish. Wish takes two turns to work, but if the user fainted, it will restore
the current Active Pok�mon�s HP. But don�t start martyring your Xatu or Ji-
rachi.
o Baton Pass. Since Baton Pass is seen as merely switching out the Pok�mon us-
ing the attack, it also causes any stat changes to be carried over to the new
Pok�mon. Doing this will also carry over stat reductions, so do not use in
lieu of regular withdrawal.
� Moves you should never teach. This is a list of moves you should never teach un-
der any circumstances.
o Any non-offensive attacks that lower the foe�s stats. These attacks affect
only the foe that is in combat at the time. Once it is withdrawn or if it
faints, these effects go away. Attacks in this category include Sand-Attack,
Sweet Scent, Memento, Growl, Tickle, Rock Smash, Screech, and Metal Sound. In-
stead, teach moves that will elevate your stats.
o Overheat and Psycho Boost. Overheat is available as TM50 in Ruby and later, and
Deoxys learns Psycho Boost at level 45. Both attacks will cause the user�s Spe-
cial Attack to plummet if successful, and in Contests these moves will cause
the user to become startled more easily.
o Hyper Beam, Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon, and Frenzy Plant. See above.
o Perish Song. Perish Song will cause all combatants to faint after three more
turns. If you use Mean Look to �complement� this move, your Pok�mon will have
to faint if you want the target to faint, and your foes can simply switch out
to relieve themselves of the effects of Perish Song.
o Teleport. This is effective only in Wild Pok�mon battle. You have the Run func-
tion set up for you in most cases.
o Flash (except in Crystal or earlier). Again, the foe�s stat is being lowered,
and in caves in Ruby and later there is sufficient light to navigate.
o Mind Reader and Lock-On. These moves allow for the next hit to be successful,
but the foe can simply switch out to ruin the user�s focus.
o Focus Punch. Focus Punch (available as TM01 in Ruby and later) takes two turns
to process. If between these turns the user takes any direct damage, the attack
doesn�t go, and you�ve just wasted a Power Point.
o Sky Attack. This may be the strongest Flying-type attack, but it has to charge
on the first turn, and it has an accuracy of 90. This means that, compared to
its power figure of 140, it has an outcome figure of just 63, even less than
that of Hyper Beam.
o Return and Frustration (especially Frustration). These moves are based on the
morale of the user in your party, and this morale is bound to fluctuate. If you
martyr your Pok�mon and give them Energy Root, Energypowder, Heal Powder, or
Revival Herb, or trade them away, their morale will plummet, and Frustration�s
potential goes up. If you let your Pok�mon battle often, let them hold items,
groom them in the Underground in Goldenrod City, or administer items that are
not bitter, their morale goes up, and so does Return�s power. Based on train-
er�s battle styles, this scale of morale will fluctuate, and when engaged in
link battle or when your Secret Base is saved to your friend�s cartridge after
mixing records, Return and Frustration will do little more than squat. If you
really feel that you should teach these moves, don�t teach Frustration � bat-
tling with a Pok�mon often makes the Pok�mon�s morale go up and Frustration�s
power go down, and this takes place very quickly. Oh yeah � they�re Normal-type
moves, too.
� Moves that certain Pok�mon really shouldn�t know. This is a common problem and
it�s really worked into the ground. Each Pok�mon is different, and that means
that there are moves that it would be really stupid to teach to them. Yeah, it�s
conventional, but inefficient.
o Kyogre and Sheer Cold and Groudon and Fissure. These Pok�mon�s offensive com-
petencies are phenomenal, so there is no need to teach one-hit KO moves to
them. I have a lot of friends that look for excuses to teach these moves, and
they�re not just on the Internet.
o Rayquaza or Golduck and Fire- and Water-type attacks or Solarbeam or Thunder.
All Rayquaza and most Golducks share the ability Air Lock and Cloud Nine,
which suspend weather conditions as factors, and these attacks capitalize on
the weather for desirable effect, each in different ways. Why apply these
moves to these Pok�mon (well, for Golduck I can see why it would know Surf)
when one of their pieces is missing?
o Regirock, Regice, or Registeel and Superpower. These three titans don�t have
the greatest Attack in the world, and Superpower drags it down even further.
And it takes their Defense with it.
o Latios and Luster Purge when it knows Psychic. This is one of my biggest pet
peeves. Luster Purge is actually a minuscule equivalent to Psychic. It actual-
ly knows these two moves at the same time when it�s captured. Psychic beats it
out. No arguments. Facts prove it.
o Deoxys and Psycho Boost. I�ve said it before; Deoxys has a very bad Defense
and Special Defense. You wouldn�t want its Special Attack going to those lev-
els too, do you?
o Muk and Thunder. This is just one of the many really bad combinations out
there. In this example, Muk is weak to Ground-type attacks, and if the foe is
a Ground-type Pok�mon, Thunder isn�t going to help you, even if it is raining.
� Moves that certain Pok�mon really should know. Again, each Pok�mon is different,
and so one move that�s bad for one Pok�mon could be beneficial for another.
o Kyogre and Thunder. This is one combination that, thankfully, is popular. Kyo-
gre�s Drizzle ability activates rain, and in rain Thunder can�t miss.
o Groudon and Solarbeam. Luckily, you don�t have to apply a TM19 to Groudon to
get this move � Groudon learns it at level 65. Groudon�s ability Drought acti-
vates sunlight, and when it�s sunny Solarbeam doesn�t have to charge.
o Dragons and Ice- or Rock-type moves. Dragon-type moves usually don�t deliver
much an effect as Ice-type attacks on other Dragons. Ice Beam should work fine,
if your Pok�mon can learn it. (If you�re facing a Kingdra, you may have to
switch to Dragon-type moves because it�s a Water-type Pok�mon.)
o Deoxys and Cosmic Power. If you paid attention, you�d know why this combo is
good. While Deoxys� defenses are abysmal, Cosmic Power gives it footing for
these area stats.
It is advisable to teach moves whilst keeping its strengths and weaknesses in mind. For
example, you should consider teaching Thunderpunch to Typhlosion to ward off Water-type
enemies. Teaching moves for no reason or creating a haphazard move set will get you no-
where; teaching Thunder to a Muk may not be the best decision.

Let�s take a look at two move sets and fix them up:

Problem
An immediate indicator that this Charizard is incompetent is in that it has no use for
its held Dragon Fang, which powers up Dragon-type moves. The second inconvenience is that
three of its moves are of the Fire type, which means that Charizard won�t stand a chance
against Water- or Rock-type guys. The third inconvenience is in that it knows Hyper Beam,
and in a battle with a Rock-type Pok�mon this will do little for Charizard except immobil-
ize it on the next turn.

Solution
So let�s fix this up. There are three Fire-type moves, and two have to go. Since Flame-
thrower is the most efficient of the three, let Charizard maintain that. Hyper Beam also
can go. Dragon Fang definitely has to be taken off if this move set stays, but careful
with that Charcoal � Flamethrower�s power is already increased by 50 percent for same-type
multiplier, so attaching a Charcoal will only make this increase 75 percent, which isn�t
much of a difference and could hamper Charizard�s reliability if the surrogate moves don�t
do much for a start. Let�s move on to the three empty attack spaces. Since we know Chari-
zard is vulnerable to Water-, Rock-, and Electric-type attacks, Rock being the biggest
threat, we come to the necessity of Earthquake and Thunderbolt. Then, since Charizard is a
Flying-type Pok�mon, add Aerial Ace for the same-type multiplier. Since Earthquake is the
most necessary move, attach Soft Sand.

Problem
This move set is only slightly more sensible. However, in many areas it is still ineffi-
cient. Sheer Cold is unnecessary since Kyogre�s Special Attack rating is generally high.
The second inconvenience is in that Mystic Water is attached � rain increases the power
of Water-type attacks by 50 percent, and this increase is bumped up to 75 percent due to
same-type multiplier, so attaching Mystic Water will bump this up to only 875�. Look back
at the Charizard we tuned up. The third thing is that there are two offensive Water-type
moves present.

Solution
Since Surf is more efficient than Hydro Pump, let�s have our Kyogre forget Hydro Pump.
Sheer Cold can go as well, even if it does knock out the foe if successful. Since Thunder
is invariably successful in a downpour, we will maintain that. For its weak points, being
vulnerable to Grass- and Electric-type attacks, we will need Earthquake and Ice Beam �
Blizzard has an accuracy of 70 percent and, since Kyogre�s Special Attack is generally
high, hence the reason we deleted Sheer Cold, unnecessary. For the held item, let�s add
Magnet for Thunder. (You can also attach Soft Sand to give Earthquake a little help.)