Thread XXVII: Pokémon GO Recharge Your Phone!

[Mando Knight]

Celebrating 20 years of running down the batteries on your mobile devices,

3DS Friend Codes and XY Friend Safaris

Remember, these are your 3DS Friend codes, so these are good both for Generation VI games (XY and ORAS) but also for the upcoming Generation VII games (Sun and Moon) and any other 3DS game you and another Playgrounder might decide to play (Smash, Mario Kart, Fire Emblem, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, etc.). Don't forget to PM the player you're looking to add as a Friend, so they can add you back.

Spoiler

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You can only have 100 Friend Codes registered at a time.

To use the Friend Safari, you need to have defeated the Elite Four, and both you and your friend must have added each other. For more details, see here.

GitPName	Code	CharacterName	3DS(Mii)Name	SafariType	Pokémon1	Pokémon2	Pokémon3
Alaris	1907-9395-1731	Tom	Alaris	Flying	Farfetch'd	Swanna
Aotrs	5172-0494-3728		Bleakbane	Normal	Lillipup	Kecleon	Smeargle
Arcran	2294-3882-2896		Arcran	Water	Octillery	Wartortle	Azumarill
Armaius	3239-3640-9568		Timothy	Ice	Spheal	Beartic	Lapras
AstralFire	0834-1672-7022	Adorabelle	Cinder	Bug	Ledyba	Volbeat	Venomoth
AtlanteanTroll	4055-3788-4115		Fresca	Normal	Lillipup	Loudred
bluewind95	0473-9066-8078	Raziel	Kallie	Grass	Tangela	Swadloon	Gogoat
boj0	1693-1768-6943	boj0	boj0	Fairy	Swirlix	Togepi	Floette
Burley	1547-6257-5822
Burnerpower	0645-6906-6047	Chase	Burner	Fire	Pansear	Pyroar	Braixen
ChaosArchon	4742-5730-4052
Codswallop	1650-2047-0584		Dan	Ghost	Lampent	Phantump	Spiritomb
CynanMachae	2964-9109-7883		Cynan	Pancham	Hariyama	Mienfoo	Pancham
DMan7733	0104-0178-9108		Dennis	Psychic	Duosion	Espurr	Munna
DarkTira	4012-4193-6629	Flair	DarkTira	Grass	Ivysaur	Sunkern	Quilladin
DarkLightDragon	3110-5232-7003	Gwendolyn	DLD2	Water	Krabby	Floatzel	Azumarill
Derjuin	2063-0607-0374	Gwen	Derjuin	Flying	Tropius	Doduo	Tranquill
Domino Quartz	3024-8274-5412	Dexter	Ignispirus
DiegoHavoc	5343-7951-5809	Diana	Diego	Ghost	Lampent	Phantump	Spiritomb
Dihan	3909-7507-9532	Cai	Bryn	Fairy	Kirlia	Mawile	Floette
Drakenkin	1220-6369-1867		RC	Steel	Forretress	Magneton	Klefki
Dvil	1891-1492-0775		Lorzo	Ghost	Shuppet	Pumpkaboo	Dusclops
Elhann	4656-7012-2957	Afo	Afo	Normal	Lillipup	Loudred	Ditto
EmperorIng	1134-7922-2243	Rand	EmpI	Ground	Phanpy	Dugtrio	Palpitoad
FallenGeek	2938-7158-7152		UberGeek	Fairy	Dedenne	Mawile	Floette
FoolishTeeth	2965-0036-6655	Jerome	80s	Flying	Farfetch'd	Woobat	Rufflet
Forrestfire	0044-4109-2187	Linae		Normal	Kecleon	Dunsparce	Smeargle
Freudianship	0791-1490-0816		Victoria	Ice	Delibird	Bergmite	Piloswine
Gengy	1762-3248-0955	Genaur	(Redacted)	Dark	Pawniard	Crawdaunt	Liepard
geonova	3625-8744-4346	Geo	Geo	Water	Wartortle	Panpour	Poliwhirl
GiftJeraff	0662-3715-4355		Venkman	Fighting	Mankey	Throh	Hariyama
Goldfly	1203-9717-6298	Gold	Gold	Electric	Pikachu	Electrode	Luxio
GreenSerpent	0662-3910-6053	Jaegar
Gulaghar	4012-3882-1934	Nadia	Ghar	Fairy	Dedenne	Mawile	Floette
HandsomeGoblin	0920-0919-2787
HappyGravity	2208-5735-4223	Eileen	-_-	Poison	Swalot	Kakuna	Croagunk
Harnel	5472-7302-7698	Halae	Halae	Water	Krabby	Gyarados	Frogadier
Hogwarts9876	3024-5607-5601	Adam	Adam
HunterNoventa	0189-8423-5030	Emi	Emi	Electric
InfernallyClay	1891-1230-7244	Alice	Winny	Psychic	Sigilyph	Grumpig	Duosion
JustPlayItLoud	4785-6164-8724	Toaster	Brett	Fire	Magmar	Charmeleon	Ninetales
Keris(Full)	2423-2600-9179	Tarn	Tarn	Water	Bibarel	Floatzel	Frogadier
Kurgan	1478-3987-4689	Kurhanik	Kurgan	Steel	Magneton	Forretress	Klefki
Kuroten	2809-8617-8608	Raijin/Akemi		Water	Panpour	Floatzel	Frogadier
Kuulvheysoon	5257-9453-0107	Ariik
LawlessIII	5129-1568-6363	Gorgeous	Andrew	Flying	Farfetch'd	Woobat	Fletchinder
LordFullbladder	5343-8973-8240		SheG	Normal	Aipom	Minccino	Ditto
Mando Knight	4742-9573-4652	Chris	Chris
MaryRing	5215-0045-7397
Mattarias,King	5343-8171-8375	Mattarias	Mattarias	Water	Bibarel	Floatzel	Frogadier
MeatShield#236	1950-7553-3565	Thomas	Meatshield	Bug	Combee	Beautifly	Pinsir
MercenaryPen	4227-2044-9144		MercenPen	Flying	Pidgey	Tranquill	Hawlucha
Mtg_player_zach	1590-5500-0148	Zach	Zach	Electric	Pikachu	Dedenne	Luxio
NeoPhoenix0	2852-8259-2899	Victoria	NeoPhoenix	Water	Octillery	Floatzel	Azumarill
noparlpf	0705-3326-2027	Jude	Jude	Flying	Spearow	Woobat	Rufflet
OracleofWuffing	2234-7142-0224		T-Dawg	Dragon	Dragonair	Gabite	Sligoo
Othesmo	0533-5350-5769		Gaius	Electric	Emolga	Electabuzz	Manectric
Partof1	4313-0044-7312	Magnus	Tom	Bug	Ledyba	Beautifly	Vivillon
Peelee	5370-1262-5440	Peelee	Peelee	Flying	Pidgey	Tranquill	Rufflet
Peelee'sWife	4339-2708-2563	Sephrenea	Sephrenea	Ice	Delibird	Sneasel	Lapras
Perkinz	1993-7396-5551		Armads	Fighting	Pancham	Mienfoo	Riolu
PingPongAlong	4914-4022-6171	Pierre	Jake	Psychic	Wobbuffet	Gothorita	Abra
ProphetRipley	3437-3875-9174	Artemis	Carebear	Water	Bibarel	Gyarados
Psychotic	2836-0282-0242	Jimmy	Jimmy	Steel	Forretress	Mawile	Klefki
Quietus	3067-5701-8746
Qwertystop	1805-2284-9978	Qwertystop	Qwerty	Dark	Mightyena	Crawdaunt	Absol
Rezkeshdadesh	0104-0343-1530	Gaston/Sylthia	Rezzy	Psychic	Espurr	Grumpig	Girafarig
RisingPhoenix	2492-5555-9928	Mortimer	Dimi	Psychic	Sigilyph	Abra	Xatu
RyuhoTsugu	3823-9797-6825	Periphas	εχθρός	Fire	Growlithe	Charmeleon	Fletchinder
SaintRidley	1650-2179-8114	AElfgif/DoñaXimena	ColbertJr	Ice	Beartic	Snover
Sajiri	0748-2783-1667	Sadi	Sajiri	Psychic	Abra	Espurr	Xatu
Sasaisen	2380-3648-0994	Trevor	Sasaisen	Grass	Pansage	Petilil	Maractus
ScowlingDragon	2148-8339-5834			Ground	Sandshrew	Marowak	Diggersby
Seerow	4184-2537-0787		Jack	Psychic	Grumpig	Gothorita	Sigilyph
Shinken	4442-0172-6654	Shinken		Flying	Pidgey	Hoothoot	Fletchinder
ShinyRocks	2294-4502-1203		Joelio	Ice	Snover	Beartic	Cloyster
SKarious	2449-5207-9736		Shai	Poison	Kakuna	Ariados	Drapion
spectralphoenix	1864-9713-0312		Alex	Normal	Teddiursa	Minccino	Smeargle
Squark	4571-1588-1000		Squark	Fighting	Meditite	Sawk	Hariyama
Svata	5215-0731-7054
Talvereaux	2406-5576-5996			Poison	Seviper	Ariados	Toxicroak
TamerBill	4828-4410-2451	Bex	Bill	Poison	Venomoth	Gloom
Terazul	3411-1167-8365	Pen	Pen	Water	Frogadier	Wartortle	Bibarel
TheSuccubus	4613-7683-1174		Doc
TheGeckoKing	4098-2424-2486	Martin	Martin	Psychic	Grumpig	Espurr
ThelazyMage	2938-7262-8516	Eric	Eric	Dark	Nuzleaf	Sandile	Absol
ThePhantom	2680-8881-4704		GR	Ghost	Shuppet	Pumpkaboo	Drifblim
Thormag	0619-3578-2378		Thormag	Grass	Oddish	Petilil	Quilladin
Togath	1650-2364-0504	Merry	Ken	Flying	Pidgey	Tranquill
Tono	1478-3812-1377		Tono	Bug	Butterfree	Heracross	Masquerain
truenekomancer	0619-4369-0275		TSK	Bug	Butterfree	Illumise
Tylorious	3668-7804-7430	Tylor	Tylor	Fire	Charmeleon	Magmar	Braixen
urbanwolf	4425-1730-5201		King	Fighting	Pancham	Mankey	Tyrogue
userpay	2036-6900-9795		userpay	Fairy	Togepi	Spritzee
Winterfate	1246-9091-8502		Winterfate	Ice	Snorunt	Bergmite	Cloyster
WJMill	3625-8308-8437	Whitney	Whitney	Fighting	Machoke	Throh	Breloom
Woodzyowl	0834-2121-7393		Woodzy
Wookieetank	5386-8601-6140
YukiAkuma	1633-4400-9136	Yuki	Will	Ghost	Shuppet	Phantump
ZamielVanWeber	3067-5161-6274		Zamiel	Electric	Electabuzz	Pachirisu	Galvantula
ZeltArruin	3840-5756-8123		ZeltArruin	Rock	Corsola	Dwebble	Rhydon
Olinser	1564-3913-5983			Rock	Nosepass	Pupitar	Barbaracle
Razade	0748-3672-5689

Helpful Links/Hints For Adventuring Ten Year Olds
Bulbapedia: Like Wikipedia, but Pokémon.
Smogon: In-depth discussion and analysis of competitive Pokémon.
Serebii: Comprehensive fansite that can be useful in how it organizes information differently from Bulbapedia. Also has an IV calculator.
Pokémon Showdown: For playing competitive Pokémon battles, without the need to actually manually train your team.

Spoiler: Breeding for Dummies

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So, you're tired of navigating a Pokemon thread where everyone uses fancy words and stuff? Well no worries! Here's a guide on... BREEDING FOR DUMMIES!

One of the first things to remember in breeding is that there are Natures that help and ones that hinder. For instance, a Special Attacker such as Mewtwo would be hindered by an Adamant nature, but helped in his stat growth by a Modest nature. To improve your chances for getting a particular Nature in a child Pokémon, use at least one parent with the Nature you want, and give it the Everstone. In Gen IV, the Everstone doesn't guarantee the inherited Nature, though it does in Gen V and VI.

Brilliant Spreadsheet for Growth.

Some IVs (don't know what an IV is? Check the next spoiler box!) are randomly inherited from the parents. You can lock in a maximum of one IV by giving a parent the corresponding Power training item (Power Bracer for Attack, Power Lens for Special Attack, and so forth), or (starting with XY) randomly inherit 5 (instead of the normal 3) by holding the Destiny Knot. Use Flat Battles to determine the IVs of a hatched Pokémon, or if you only care about the highest IV and the sum of all of its IVs, you can take it to a guy who's in the lobby of either the Battle Tower or the Battle Subway in the DS games, depending on the generation, and in the Kiloude City Pokémon Center in XY. You're looking for them to judge it Relatively Superior overall and Can't Be Better in its best stat. The XY judge will also tell you about any really bad IVs the Pokémon has.

The third main thing with breeding is Egg Moves. Egg moves are moves the parent has, and passes down to a child. For instance, in my breeding of Chimchar, the egg moves are Grass Knot and Swords Dance, which are passed down to the child who gets said moves from the start. In order to pass on most Egg Moves, the father must know the move (Genderless Pokémon never learn Egg Moves). These include all of the moves that are listed as the child Pokémon's Egg Moves in a move list chart, as well as any compatible TMs or HMs. You can also pass on moves that the child would learn by level-up that aren't in those two lists--for these, both parents must know the move. In XY, some moves can be inherited from the mother...

The fourth and final thing to keep in mind are Hidden Abilities. Starting in Generation V, most Pokémon were assigned an additional ability that they could only get if you caught them under certain circumstances (the special Darmanitan in Desert Resort, or Pokémon found in hidden grottoes, the Dream World, or some in Friend Safaris). Some Hidden Abilities are highly sought-after, like Dragonite's Multiscale. If the mother has the Hidden Ability, the children will inherit it. The father can occasionally pass down the Hidden Ability if bred with a Ditto.

Spoiler: A Primer on How Stats Work

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Don't feel the need to bother with this stuff unless you're playing against humans or at one of those "Battle Whatever" places. You shouldn't need it for most of the game, and it can be kind of a pain.

First, the equations. These are how the game calculates the Pokémon's final stats.
HP = (IV + 2*Base + EV/4) * Level/100 + 10
Others = ((IV + 2*Base + EV/4) * Level/100 + 5) * Nature
So, at level 100, 1 IV or 4 EV raises a Pokémon's stat by 1 while a 1 point difference in Base stat is worth 2.

Nature
Most natures raise one stat and lower another, while some don't change any stats. A raised stat has a multiplier of 1.1 (or +10%), a lowered stat has a multiplier of 0.9 (or -10%), and a neutral stat has a multiplier of 1.0.

Base Stats (Base)
With a new generation just out, there's a lot of talk about finding out about a Pokémon's base stats. What are these, some of you ask? Well, they're modifiers to stats that a Pokémon gains just by being that kind of Pokémon. A (normal) Tyranitar has a base Attack of 135, a Mewtwo has 154 base Special Attack, and so on. When a Pokémon's stats change as it Mega Evolves or changes Form, it does so by changing the set of base stats it looks at. Otherwise, these base stats can't be changed (hence the "base"). At level 100, a Pokémon gets twice its Base stat to its final stats.

Individual Values (IV)
In addition to base stats, every Pokémon gets a bonus of 0-31 points applied to each stat. So a level 100 Tyranitar could have an attack stat of 273, or it could have a attack of 304. That bonus is the IV.
A Pokémon has its IVs generated the moment you meet it, or accept its egg, and there's no way to change them (for now). You're stuck with what you've got. However, you can influence them a little, if you're willing to breed. Bred Pokémon don't randomly generate all their IVs, they inherit up to 3 from their parents. In XY, giving a parent the Destiny Knot causes them to inherit five random IVs instead. There's a few other ways of influencing IVs in bred Pokémon, which are explained in the breeding section.
In addition, in XY, some Pokémon are guaranteed to have some "perfect" (31) IVs. Pokémon found in the Friend Safari will have two random perfect IVs, while Pokémon that can't breed will have 3.

Effort Values (EV)
Every time you win a fight, your Pokémon get experience, but that's not all they get. Every Pokémon also gives out effort points. For every 4 effort points in a particular stat, your Pokémon gains 1 point in it. So if that Tyranitar from earlier with 304 attack had 4 attack EVs, his actual attack would be 305. If he had 252 attack EVs, it'd be 367. Sounds handy, but there are limits. You can't have more than 255 points in a single stat, and you can't have more than 510 EVs in total.

You'll see a lot of Pokémon with 252 attack/special attack EVs, 252 speed, and 4 HP, but there are a lot of ways to configure them. Defensive Pokémon will obviously focus on different things, Pokémon which use both physical and special attacks will need to split EVs between them or possibly sacrifice speed, and so on.

It's a tremendous pain to work out what EVs your Pokémon has (if you weren't keeping track, anyway), so you'll likely want to start with a Pokémon that you freshly hatched and work from there, though you don't have to. There are 6 berries that reduce EVs in a single stat each, so you can use those to reset your Pokémon and start from scratch. After that, just keep a careful record of what you fight, and only take down Pokémon that you know give you the EVs you want.

EV training takes a while, but there are a few ways you can speed it up. The first is an astonishingly rare status condition called Pokérus. Any Pokémon with Pokérus gets double EVs from fights, and will spread the Pokérus to any Pokémon in your party for the first 72 hours after it catches it. After those 72 hours it stops being contagious, but still gets double EVs. Pokérus has something like 1/20000 chance to appear on wild Pokemon, but with the magic of the internet I'm sure you can obtain it.

The second way to speed up EV training is through Power Items. If a Pokémon is holding the right item, they get bonus EVs from every fight. For example, a Pokémon holding a Power Lens will get 4 special attack EVs. A Pokémon holding a Power Anklet will get 4 speed EVs. A Pokémon holding a Macho Brace will just get double the EVs of whatever they're fighting. These bonuses are doubled if you have Pokérus.

The third way to speed up EVs is through vitamins. Each vitamin given to a Pokémon gives them +10 EVs in a certain stat, up to a limit of 100. 1 protein gives 10 attack EVs, 10 give 100. These unfortunately aren't doubled by Pokérus or items, so you'll have to pay for the full amount. Luckily money is easy to come by in these games.

Just as an example, I'll show how I EV'd my Gengar.
First, I gave him 10 calcium, and 10 carbos, so 100 special attack and 100 speed already.
After that, I gave him Pokérus and a lucky egg, got him to meet a Floatzel (2 speed EVs, doubled to 4 because of Pokérus), and then sent out my Weezing to explode on it so Gengar could get all the experience, for a higher level and 100 special attack, 104 speed.
After that, I gave him a Power Lens, flew over to the Old Chateau, and killed 15 Gastly (1 special attack from Gastly, 4 from the lens, doubled to 10 from Pokérus) for 150 special attack EVs, bringing my total to 250 special attack, 104 speed.
After that I equipped a power anklet and killed one more Gastly (1 special attack from Gastly, 4 speed from the anklet, doubled to 2 and 8 from Pokérus), meaning Gengar had 252 attack, and 112 speed.
Leaving the anklet equipped, I flew to Route 201, and killed 14 Starly (1 speed from Starly, 4 from the anklet, meaning 10 speed per starly thanks to Pokérus), for a total of 252 attack, 252 speed.
All that was left after that was to kill a Bidoof with a Power Weight (1 HP from Bidoof, 4 from the Weight, 10 thanks to Pokerus, although I only gained 6 points because I hit the EV cap), leaving my Gengar with 252 special attack EVs, 252 Speed, and 4 HP, just how I wanted him.
Roughly an hour's work, and one Pokemon down.

In XY, there's an additional method of EV training, which doesn't involve beating up wild Pokémon, but you instead play minigames (called Super Training) with the Pokémon. This lets you choose which stat you'll train, and awards you 4 EVs per difficulty level (so +4 for level 1, +12 for level 3). In addition, you may gain special training bags that can make further Super Training easier, reset your EVs entirely, or other effects. The training system also displays your earned EVs graphically (but not numerically), making it somewhat easier to keep track of a Pokémon's EVs.

tl;dr: The simplified version of EVs/IVs - EVs are gained by fighting other Pokémon. They vary by the Pokémon defeated. They increase your stats for every 4 gained. IVs are inherent to a Pokémon. They increase stats for every point possessed, and range from 0 to 31. EVs have to be manually tracked or else removed entirely with certain berries. IVs can be checked by knowing the EVs of a Pokémon and then plugging its stats into an IV calculator. The higher the Pokémon's level, the more accurate; level 100 wifi battles provide maximum accuracy.

How do you get those accented e's? On a PC, change your keyboard layout to US-International, and press 'e. For some versions of Windows, if you don't want the US-International keyboard on all the time, you can also have it switch between different registered keyboards with a press of Ctrl+Shift. On a Mac, you can type Option+e, followed by the letter to which you want to apply the accent, i.e. Option+e, followed by e. You can also copy-paste them from someone else's posts. Or the thread title.

Previously on PokéThread:

New Pokémon Sun/Moon trailer! Strange creatures and ominous omens within!

[Squark]

Transplant from previous thread

Spoiler: Unrelated to that quote, but still building of that same video source

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Yeah, I know, we want animals to be wild and frolic the in mud and all, but I think someone covered last thread that if you let animals from other places go all willy-nilly in ecosystems that don't necessarily support them, bad things happen. Heck, Team Skull wouldn't be trying to steal their Slowpoke if Aether were the bad guys. Guess I feel they're kinda more like a parallel to Silph Co or Devon Corp, just that they ran out of things to sell to Pokemon Trainers to build a business conglomerate.

It strikes me that I still don't know what they're gonna build in that ground that Machop was stomping flat. And it bugs me even more that Machop can't learn Stomp.

Spoiler

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Were you thinking of Yungoos and Gumshoos specifically there, or just in general? Because I know it's been mentioned before, but that's litterally what happened with them. And what happened when their real life counterparts were introduced to Hawaii.

But yeah, introducing non-native animals into an ecosystem is incredibly risky. Granted, Pokemon aren't quite animals, but most of the wild ones behave like ones (albiet slightly more intelligent)

Wait, are you talking about the Machoke in Vermillion City from the first games? Wasn't it just clearing room for a house?

[Illven]

Lurks sadly due to lack of pokemon go.

[BiblioRook]

Lurks sadly due to lack of pokemon go.

You're in luck then because as of the moment the big topic is the new Sun and Moon trailer!

Spoiler

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I see what they're getting at (Admins and "grunt"-type employees? Obviously reading from "How to be Team Evil in Pokémon" by Giovanni, for fashion tips if nothing else), and I'd be surprised if Gladion and his ACHING BLOOD don't have a connection to Aether, but I would also like them to avoid the SECRETLY EVIL expectations that everyone's latched on to.

Spoiler

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Thinking over it a bit more I think, for me at least, it's not as if I want Aether to turn out to be bad guys as much as I just find myself really liking the concept of Team Skull reforming and becoming good in-game. I'm sure one way or another we;ll see the usual handful of former Team members repenting their ways in the post game but honestly I always considered that really rather weak. I mean like I mentioned before, for the most part they don't really seem to be much more then a bunch of messed up kids and there could be a really good message there if they were given a shot at redemption and fixing up their lives. I guess it's just really hard for me to see them as being the 'big bads' of the game...

[DaOldeWolf]

Spoiler: About Aether and Skull

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Personally, it would be nice to have an evil female boss for once (6 gens and all of them are male). It would also be nice to have a boss who starts evil and then helps in the last leg of the game.

Putting my wishes aside, Aether is not necessarily an evil team, they could also have stupid but good intentions. Like the saying goes "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions".

Being the most likely creators of Type: Null and most likely responsible for the eldritch abominations traveling to our side makes me think that even if they aren't necessarily evil, that they aren't as nice and perfect as they try to portray themselves. If Type: Null was created by them (which seems more likely considering the low budget of Team Skull), I doubt it would involve any pacific and lovable reasons (considering its supposed to be as powerful as legendaries).

Their actions are also pretty tied with the new creatures that have been described as a danger to all human and pokemon life. Their actions are probably the reason behind these creatures are arriving to the pokemon world. How much its their conscious development remains to be seen but there is no doubt that some responsibility falls on them.

Team Skull´s actions on the grand scheme of things doesn't seem to involve much or have any lasting effects. They also possess a tiny budget since the grunts are described as having to buy their own clothes. If anything, I can see them getting stuff to be a strong team by taking over the aether institute but getting anything done by themselves. I just cant see it.

[BiblioRook]

Spoiler

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Really none of these 'Aether might be evil' vibes would probably be going on if it weren't for this guy. Seriously. Goatee, bad posture, hands behind back? He practically screams 'up to no good' and it would be very hard not to assume something not in the up-and-up with that guy, and by extension the organization as a whole...

Spoiler: About Aether and Skull

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Putting my wishes aside, Aether is not necessarily an evil team, they could also have stupid but good intentions. Like the saying goes "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions".

Spoiler

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The idea of a much more morally grey 'villain' team actually could be rather refreshing. I mean even the likes of Aqua/Magma or Plasma who all at least claimed to have noble intentions or individuals like Lysandre never came off as anything other then definitive bad guys right from the get-go.

[Lord Raziere]

Spoiler: On Type: Null

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Rewatching the trailer, Type:Null is actually only one pokemon, a normal type one. It just has a weird name. also it apparently was an alchemic attempt to create Arceus, so, its basically a Bargain-Bin Arceus much like how Ditto is a bargain-bin Mew. Which makes me really interested in it and what its capable of.

[OracleofWuffing]

Transplant from previous thread

Spoiler

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Were you thinking of Yungoos and Gumshoos specifically there, or just in general? Because I know it's been mentioned before, but that's litterally what happened with them. And what happened when their real life counterparts were introduced to Hawaii.

But yeah, introducing non-native animals into an ecosystem is incredibly risky. Granted, Pokemon aren't quite animals, but most of the wild ones behave like ones (albiet slightly more intelligent)

Spoiler

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Just in general. You want smart people able to examine the environment when you have random critters around in random environments, and smart people by cliche wear white lab coats and have high-tech stuff. Otherwise, we don't know they're smart.

Wait, are you talking about the Machoke in Vermillion City from the first games? Wasn't it just clearing room for a house?

At least going off what Bulbapedia says (HG/SS is a bit of a blind spot for me), it's still a Machop and they never said what building it was going to be, just that the guy doesn't have money to build it so he's leveling the ground anyways. Which has either been happening for 3 years or 20 years, depending on how you look at it. But yeah, that thing.

Spoiler

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Unless there was something in B2/W2, there was only one Riolu event, plus getting one from Riley because it wasn't catchable in the wild. I mean, it still had a whole big main-story event in XY about it, so that's plenty.

Spoiler

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Riley, Korrina, the Pokemon Ranger transfer, and Target giveaway for late purchasers of Black or White- that's more events than Zygarde or the Kalos starters had. From a personal opinion, that's five more events than he deserves, and I kind of feel like counting Dream Radar as like another 50 Riolu events even though it's not truly even one.

[Yuki Akuma]

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I'm wondering about these alien beings... are they going to just be weird Pokemon like Deoxys? Or, if we fight them, will they be the first non-Pokemon enemy encounters in the series that aren't just movie special effects?

[Mando Knight]

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Really none of these 'Aether might be evil' vibes would probably be going on if it weren't for this guy. Seriously. Goatee, bad posture, hands behind back? He practically screams 'up to no good' and it would be very hard not to assume something not in the up-and-up with that guy, and by extension the organization as a whole...

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On the other hand, if his signature Pokémon is an evolved Rockruff that talks and/or he turns out to have a penchant for Poffins, he would be a hilarious unexpected Shaggy reference.

[Lethologica]

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Really none of these 'Aether might be evil' vibes would probably be going on if it weren't for this guy. Seriously. Goatee, bad posture, hands behind back? He practically screams 'up to no good' and it would be very hard not to assume something not in the up-and-up with that guy, and by extension the organization as a whole...

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He's also secretly a Flygon. Seriously, just look at those goggles.

[Flickerdart]

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He's also secretly a Flygon. Seriously, just look at those goggles.

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He really is a Pokemon Professor! *rimshot*

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I just caught an Onix that weights 109kg. It's still close to 6 meters long and made of rock, but sure, I could totally carry it on my shoulders.

At least it's not Wailord...

Also, I think I figured out something regarding Go continent exclusives:

Spoiler: spoilered because some people like to play Go unspoiled?

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It wouldn't be too weird if South America and Africa both got a continent exclusive pokémon when Go eventually hits gen 2. It's also not too farfetch'd (boom) to assume they'll be single stage pokémon, and while they won't be the most spectacular ones, they are allowed to be strong, like kangaskhan and tauros. For Africa: girafarig is generation 2. For South-America's exclusive: heracross is based on a South-American beetle. Those two are probably a better match than anything gen 1 had to offer, which is why those two didn't get an exclusive. It also means, if the theory is correct, that there definitely are plans to roll out at least one more generation.

[Aotrs Commander]

Lurks sadly due to lack of pokemon go.

You're in luck then because as of the moment the big topic is the new Sun and Moon trailer!

And my periodic rambling as I watch Diamond & Pearl for the first time...



Speaking of:

New crack theory: Ash's father is actually Arceus. (And not Professor Oak, as reasonably popular fan theory suggests...)

That's why is he doesn't physically age ('cos he's part Pokémon, so he needs to evolve instead), why he can shake of injuries and actually death like it was nothing and can occasionally do the fragging impossible, 'cos it's limited reality alteration and why he can use Aura. (And why he's like, always saving the world and stuff.)

So, if this is true, what would Ash evolve into?

(And why do I get the impression Bruce Campbell is mandering in the general direction of this conversation?)

[BiblioRook]

(And not Professor Oak, as reasonably popular fan theory suggests...)

I thought the popular theory was that Ash's father was Giovanni?

[noparlpf]

I thought the popular theory was that Ash's father was Giovanni?

Isn't Giovanni canonically the Johto rival's father?

[BiblioRook]

I think all that's really known of Ash's father is that he abandoned his family to be a Pokemon Trainer, which honestly does seem very Giovanni-ish (and makes more sense then with Professor Oak honestly). Considering how long he's been separated from Ash and his mom it really wouldn't be that surprising if he eventually had another kid elsewhere. Almost a shame this wasn't explored more really considering that they seem to make a point to say that his father abandoned him (which suggests that he's still out there somewhere) rather then just saying that he died or something. Also, was Silver ever even part of the anime?

[Lethologica]

I thought the popular theory was that Ash's father was Giovanni?

That's another theory.

Ugh, now I'm remembering this decade-old Pokemon anime let's watch (only it wasn't called that because that wasn't a thing then) that presented the "Prof Oak is Ash's father" thing in the early going. I can't remember the name, though. What a pain.

...Oh, Pokemopolis! That's what it was. Oh dear. Now I have to go read those again.

[Aotrs Commander]

I think all that's really known of Ash's father is that he abandoned his family to be a Pokemon Trainer, which honestly does seem very Giovanni-ish (and makes more sense then with Professor Oak honestly). Considering how long he's been separated from Ash and his mom it really wouldn't be that surprising if he eventually had another kid elsewhere. Almost a shame this wasn't explored more really, was Silver ever even part of the anime?

Actually, even that is not canonical - it was said by someone working on the show, which has all the weight of "what some dude might have said once sometime int eh last eighteen years." Until it appears on the show, it's nothing more than wishful thinking.

To my knowledge, the actual show has mentioned him exactly ONCE in the second or third episoe ion the line "you father would be so proud, Ash" which really says nothing.



Hense, Arceus.



(Also notable - Dawn's father not mentioned (nor any pictures of him) in the arc that I just watched that took place in her hometown.)



I'm serious about it when I say, actually, it would make a heck of a lot of sense to have a lot of single-parent families (with not only no stigma, something so commonplace to be unremarkable), what with all the teenagers wandering around unsupervised. Seriously, all you'd need is somewhat with more of a clue than Ash (assuming, as I'm steadily quietly being convinced, he's not just faking it for his own private amusement¹ and with more tact than Brock.



¹Because I just saw an episode where Ash and Pikachu went off for a walk (not to train, just a quiet walk) and he stopped for a chat with a young lad. And I couldn't help bt observe that, out of sight of Dawn and Brock, he was acting like a quite mature person of his actual age (as opposed to his "always ten" age.)

That's another theory.

Ugh, now I'm remembering this decade-old Pokemon anime let's watch (only it wasn't called that because that wasn't a thing then) that presented the "Prof Oak is Ash's father" thing in the early going. I can't remember the name, though. What a pain.

...Oh, Pokemopolis! That's what it was. Oh dear. Now I have to go read those again.

Small world. I discovered that by accident not long ago, and have, after amusing myself with some of them (I actually found it with seeing if I could find a review for Solid as a Solrock so see how other people reacted and I nearly wet myself laughing when I read theirs), I've been reading it in lockstep with DP.



That said, when I read a lot of Pokémon fanfic (I basically stopped once I fell out of sync with the show, on the basis I thought one day I might have watched it again - rightly, as it happened), it wa something I saw coming up more than once. Or, failing that, just that Mrs Ketchum and Prof Oak are gettin' it on. Heck, I think that was nearly the default at the time...!

[Lord Raziere]

And my periodic rambling as I watch Diamond & Pearl for the first time...



Speaking of:

New crack theory: Ash's father is actually Arceus. (And not Professor Oak, as reasonably popular fan theory suggests...)

That's why is he doesn't physically age ('cos he's part Pokémon, so he needs to evolve instead), why he can shake of injuries and actually death like it was nothing and can occasionally do the fragging impossible, 'cos it's limited reality alteration and why he can use Aura. (And why he's like, always saving the world and stuff.)

So, if this is true, what would Ash evolve into?

(And why do I get the impression Bruce Campbell is mandering in the general direction of this conversation?)

My personal theory is that Ash's father was that Mankey he caught and evolved into a Primeape. He can use Aura- which is primarily used by Fighting Types- he has great resistance to damage, like fighting types would, he gets angry a lot much like a Primeape, he is always up for a pokemon battle, eats a lot of food like a Mankey would, he also loves the Pokemon League hat, much like the Mankey who stole it, and they even have similar eyes.

So Ash is half-Mankey and just has yet to evolve into a Half-Primeape. And the clincher? Ash is supposed to be a shonen protagonist in many ways, so a Mankey would connect him to Sun Wukong, much like all the others that have a Sun Wukong connection. This is backed up by the fact that Ash in D&P got a Chimchar for his fire type, which is the pokemon most based on Sun Wukong.

[Aotrs Commander]

My personal theory is that Ash's father was that Mankey he caught and evolved into a Primeape. He can use Aura- which is primarily used by Fighting Types- he has great resistance to damage, like fighting types would, he gets angry a lot much like a Primeape, he is always up for a pokemon battle, eats a lot of food like a Mankey would, he also loves the Pokemon League hat, much like the Mankey who stole it, and they even have similar eyes.

So Ash is half-Mankey and just has yet to evolve into a Half-Primeape. And the clincher? Ash is supposed to be a shonen protagonist in many ways, so a Mankey would connect him to Sun Wukong, much like all the others that have a Sun Wukong connection. This is backed up by the fact that Ash in D&P got a Chimchar for his fire type, which is the pokemon most based on Sun Wukong.

That.... Yeah. That manages to top mine.



I just saw Where No Togepi Has Gone Before.

That... That was AMAZING!

Pahahahahahaha!

Oh wow! That was so incredibly stupid and at the same time so incredibly hilarious. That was nearly Thunder Armour levels of daft.

Evil Togepi confirmed (and how, ye gods!), Yanmega gets a gender, James gets to (very briefly) be awesome...

(Given Pokemopolis had a running gag about how Misty's Togepi was secretly an evil eldritch horror, they must have a field day with this episode.)

Now I'm really hoping Evil!Togepi gets to be a recurring antagonist, because that would be just perfect. Make way Paul, you've been outdone in one episode, mate...

[Squark]

So, I'm currently experimenting with Pokemon Breeding since I got tired of the AI having perfect pokemon in the Battle Maison and Institute. My current efforts have produced two goomies with 4 perfect IVs (HP, Attack, S. Attack, and S. Defense). However, I'm not entirely sure where to go next, since it seems like I'd want perfect Attack or Special Attack, not both, and as I understand it it's impractical to breed for better than 5 perfect IVs, correct? I do have Goomies and Sligoos with the other two perfect IVs, if that helps.

Also, is spending a while grinding BP to get the remaining Attack, Defense, and Speed power items worth it?

EDIT: Also, just an idea I was toying around with. If you had to create a team using one Pokemon from each of the generations, what would you use? (Apologies if this was a fad for a while when X&Y came out. I wasn't playing then). I'm not asking for a greatest hits list, but an at least decently built team with pokemon who could cover each others weaknesses and play to each other's strengths.

[Lethologica]

Goodra is probably better off with SpA. Its best physical STAB move by far is Outrage, but once you're committed the opponent can just throw a Fairy-type at you for free tempo (though I suppose if you know what you'll be facing, that's less of an issue). The real choice is whether to invest in SDef and HP for the full-on special tank, or get an Assault Vest and invest in HP and SpA. (Those don't affect which IVs you get, though.)

[cobaltstarfire]

I've seen some theories floating around that the pokemon world might be recently post war too (to explain the relatively low population and things). I don't personally think the theory holds up especially well to scrutiny, but it could be an interesting little thought experiment for those interested in it.

Ash and other characters having single parents is not something I've really thought that hard about, but single parents also never stood out as particularly strange to me, IRL or in stories (especially in stories!)

As far as Ash's father I dunno, based on what little we have (and if the writers even care about continuity across series) I'd hazard to guess that (in no particular order)

a: Mystery Fling!
b: They're separated in some way, and either it was an amiable separation, or Ash's mom is just classy enough not to speak ill of the father in front of the son.
c: He's passed on, and Ash only has vague memories, enough that "your father would be proud" might be meaningful to him, but not especially important to his character generally speaking.

[OracleofWuffing]

So, I'm currently experimenting with Pokemon Breeding since I got tired of the AI having perfect pokemon in the Battle Maison and Institute. My current efforts have produced two goomies with 4 perfect IVs (HP, Attack, S. Attack, and S. Defense). However, I'm not entirely sure where to go next, since it seems like I'd want perfect Attack or Special Attack, not both, and as I understand it it's impractical to breed for better than 5 perfect IVs, correct? I do have Goomies and Sligoos with the other two perfect IVs, if that helps.

First thing's first, you'll always get tired of the Battle Maison getting perfect pokemon. If you won't take my word for it, take the words of my No Guard Sheer Cold Ninjask, Sturdy Endeavor Shedinja, and Huge Power Life Orbed Mega Heracross.

That said, if you don't want speed on your Goodra- and assuming your perfect 4 IV pokemon are opposite gendered- breed those with one holding a destiny knot (everstone the other one if it has a beneficial nature). You're basically waiting for Destiny Knot to pick your 4 perfect stats for you while the 5th is speed (I don't to the math but I think that's a fairly good chance relatively speaking), and just waiting for the 1 in 32 chance of just naturally having a 31 Defense stat.

If you do want speed, it's probably best to restart from one of your 4 perfect IV pokemon and one of your other ones with the other 2 perfect IVs. Reason being you'd normally "dump" either Special Attack or Attack, depending on the build you're going (yes, there are exceptions but keep it simple). Odds aren't as good, but you'd get more out of the end result- You'd basically hope Destiny Knot picks three stats from the 4 perfect IV (so, NOT one of the attacks and NOT speed, and it's already a 50% chance to pick 3 from the "right" pokemon, let alone the right stats), then the two from the 2 perfect IV (which is where RNG starts twisting the knife).

Also, is spending a while grinding BP to get the remaining Attack, Defense, and Speed power items worth it?

They're usually used at the start of breeding, in order to mitigate situations like... The one you're just now having. You'd basically use them to start with a 31 special attack and speed pokemon and a 31 defense and special defense pokemon, then destiny knot those so it's only HP's IV that's an issue and you're just facing the former case of breeding. Guess they're still technically faster for EVs if PokeRus and hordes are in play, but Super Training's fast enough for me.

[Lord Raziere]

I've seen some theories floating around that the pokemon world might be recently post war too (to explain the relatively low population and things). I don't personally think the theory holds up especially well to scrutiny, but it could be an interesting little thought experiment for those interested in it.

I dunno, seems pretty plausible. Pokemon has a lot of anti-war themes despite its competitive battling nature, especially in light of Pokemon XY. and we don't see any authorities that are higher or hold more power than the regional Champion, who often act as protectors of the region. I find it very plausible that Pokemon world used to be a lot more warring in the past and that this entire tournament and Gym Leader system plus the six pokemon limit was come up with as a way to limit fighting and how much pokemon you can fight with in universe so that no trainer has too much power.

and its not just lack one parent, I've watched the anime and observed that some families have no parents at all and are just plain a bunch of sisters or brothers living together. Almost none of them fit a nuclear family.

[cobaltstarfire]

Yeah, but the war in XY took place a really long time ago , and team flare talked about how the current population is growing too big for the world, and sacrificing most of the world and all pokemon to avoid overpopulation, and create a "beautiful" world or something right? (or that's how I read it anyway, it's been a few years so I can't really remember anything but how I interpreted things).

The theory though is for a fairly recent war having happened, and mostly built around the original games. It was based on the low NPC population, and Lt Surge seemingly having been active in a recent war or conflict I think? But there aren't really many other signs of a war (well not local to any of the regions anyway, maybe all the war was waged in places we haven't/won't ever visit)

[Hiro Protagonest]

New Japanese trailer, actual TV trailer

So there's one thing that caught my eye as it flashed through all those characters...

Spoiler: Sun/Moon

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オーキド・ユキナリ博士 Dr. Yukinari Okido

HAWAIIAN PROFESSOR OAK.

Will we be getting Kanto starters again?

[Squark]

Thanks for the advice. I ended up backtracking slightly since I realized I might as well try to introduce the correct nature before I finish IVs. So I went with a x/x/31/x/31/31 and a 31/x/x/31/31/x.

One last question- If the mother doesn't have their hidden ability, but the father is of the same family and does, can he pass it on, or do fathers only pass on hidden abilities with Dittos?

[Lord Raziere]

Spoiler: Sun/Moon

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If we are getting Kanto Starters, they'd better be Alolan form versions, cause I've literally gotten aaaaaaall the pokemon except for a few Mythics, I do not care for any extra charmanders, squirtles or bulbasaurs at this point. I will stone cold release any extra kanto starters they give me and just use the ones I'm transferring from previous Gens if they don't give me any twist on them that will make them worth keeping.