Pokémon Thread XXVIII: Get. In. The. BAG.

[Mando Knight]

PEW!

Spoiler

Show

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 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

Show

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

To use XY's 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
Svata	1135-1418-6004

Pokémon GO Trainer Codes

Pokémon GO uses a 12-digit Trainer Code for long-range interaction between players, similar to (and the same code length as) the 3DS Friend Codes.

Spoiler

Show

GitP Username	PoGo Username	Trainer Code
LoyalPaladin	LoyalPaladin	5954-8354-6061
Red Fel	RedFel	4859-1642-8609
Unseenmage	Draqoun	7679 1541 1229

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

Show

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

Show

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 (though Hyper Training in Sun/Moon gives you the stat bonuses as if the IVs were 31, but you have to train the Pokémon up to level 100 first). 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. Starting 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, starting 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 XYORAS, you can alternatively train your Pokémon through Super Training, a set of minigames accessed through the bottom screen. In Sun and Moon, you can instead use Isle Evelup, which isn't fast, but can train up to 18 Pokémon at a time even when you aren't playing the game.

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. Additionally, Sun/Moon offers a graphical representation of a Pokémon's IVs if you unlock the Judge by visiting the Battle Tree.

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.

Previous Pokémon Thread: GO Recharge Your Phone!

[Flickerdart]

The Pokemon GO starters event is over, and I still don't have a viable Squirtle to evolve. It's just as well - Vaporeon blows Blastoise out of the water in every respect.

[Hunter Noventa]

You forgot the angry face on the title. D:<

Which is about as angry as Lillie could possibly get, and is therefore adorable.

[Mando Knight]

New update for Sun/Moon is live, which includes the fix for Kadabra not learning Confusion when it evolves.

[Aotrs Commander]

New update for Sun/Moon is live, which includes the fix for Kadabra not learning Confusion when it evolves.

*skulldesk*

Now it's patched...!

Still, nice to know it was a bug, not a feature!



Edit: Is anyone surprised the global mission failed...? 66%... Not even close, though compared to the 16% last time...



Edit edit: By the by, how to you get the better festival plaza stores? I know that you are supposed to be abe to get them from other players, but how do they get them? I've got to festival level 12 and so far, every time aside from the first, the due has offered a one-star facility. (And, as far as I know, there don't upgrade like the ones in B2W2, do they?)

[Mando Knight]

Edit edit: By the by, how to you get the better festival plaza stores? I know that you are supposed to be abe to get them from other players, but how do they get them? I've got to festival level 12 and so far, every time aside from the first, the due has offered a one-star facility. (And, as far as I know, there don't upgrade like the ones in B2W2, do they?)

It's random. There are ways of manipulating the system so you can soft-reset for better ones, but it's all random. Higher ranks in the Festival Plaza might help.

[Ryuho Tsugu]

Even at higher levels, 5* facilities are still pretty rare. I soft-reset for three days off and on to get a Rare Kitchen 5* around rank 85 or so, and even into the 130s-140s I mostly see 2*/3* facilities on offer.

---

Speaking of facilities, if anyone has a Friendship Cafe 5*, I'll "trade" a Rare Kitchen, Friendship Parlor, or any Bounce House 5* for it.

---

Speaking of trading, if you're still interested in trading for a Galvanize Geodude, Seerow, let me know what time works best for you and I'll see if I can make it.

[Illven]

So that's why I needed to update to fight.

[Spore]

Is it wrong that I now want to base a Pathfinder villain on the concept of "totally not world domination" aka Guzma?

[DataNinja]

Is it wrong that I now want to base a Pathfinder villain on the concept of "totally not world domination" aka Guzma?

Why would it be wrong? The world(s) need more Guzma.

[Fable Wright]

Is it wrong that I now want to base a Pathfinder villain on the concept of "totally not world domination" aka Guzma?

The reskinned (advanced) Awakened Giant Mantis Shrimp (cave variant for First Impression) best friend is absolutely mandatory. Other vermin teammates are optional, but one giant spider is preferred.

[Squark]

So, having caught all the Ultra Beasts, I'm currently working on finishing my legendary hunting in Sun. However, I'm really not sure what nature I should shoot for on Silvally. Any ideas?

[boj0]

Well, the majority of Silvally's moves are physical, so Adamant or Jolly would be the more practical options, however the special moves it can learn offer quite the coverage. It has a few status options and utility moves (ie Swords Dance/Sub/Toxic), but not something that would build around. Since it can be any type, I would say take a look at an Arceus set that looks neat and try to match up with Silvally.

[Fable Wright]

So, having caught all the Ultra Beasts, I'm currently working on finishing my legendary hunting in Sun. However, I'm really not sure what nature I should shoot for on Silvally. Any ideas?

In the end, I went with Naive with Z-Parting Shot, Explosion, and some Special coverage moves. What Silvally gets over Type: Null is access to Special moves and a slightly faster speed; that should be capitalized on, rather than ignored. STAB Explosion is ridiculously powerful, even at 4 attack EVs, and Z-Parting Shot's full heal + stat drop makes him amazing for one pivot.

Well, the majority of Silvally's moves are physical, so Adamant or Jolly would be the more practical options, however the special moves it can learn offer quite the coverage. It has a few status options and utility moves (ie Swords Dance/Sub/Toxic), but not something that would build around. Since it can be any type, I would say take a look at an Arceus set that looks neat and try to match up with Silvally.

Noooo, don't look at Arceus sets. The 120 Speed of Arceus matters a lot in making it good, and the plates' damage boost is likewise a huge edge over Silvally. Silvally is just too fragile and too slow by comparison to try and imitate Arceus in any capacity, despite initial impressions.

[Mando Knight]

Noooo, don't look at Arceus sets. The 120 Speed of Arceus matters a lot in making it good, and the plates' damage boost is likewise a huge edge over Silvally. Silvally is just too fragile and too slow by comparison to try and imitate Arceus in any capacity, despite initial impressions.

Also the extra base Attack, and the extra base Defense and HP for bulk. Silvally is generally a weaker Mew when it's not being used for its Z-Parting Shot or STAB Explosion.

[BiblioRook]

Another series of Japanese Pokemon toys and, though I really shouldn't be surprised, still no Sun and Moon stuff. As much as I would want to go on a tirade about again keeping X&Y in focus with the presence of Froakie despite it being past it's relevencey, this set of toys (water squrters) focused on water starters in general (and Pikachu, because because) so it would be hard to argue that Froakies' presence isn't justified. But still, would it have really been so hard to have included Popplio? Popplio still is hardly a favorite of mine but damnit I just want to see some Sun and Moon stuff finally.
In any case thank goodness that most Japanese 'blind-bag' toys like this more often aren't actually blind and actually indicate what one you will get on the package somewhere if you know where to look and in the end managed to get a pretty cute rubber Mudkip out of it.

At least this time the water starter squirter toys made sense, last time they did this kind of squrter toy they had things like Zygarde Cell and Mega Charizard X.

[boj0]

Noooo, don't look at Arceus sets. The 120 Speed of Arceus matters a lot in making it good, and the plates' damage boost is likewise a huge edge over Silvally. Silvally is just too fragile and too slow by comparison to try and imitate Arceus in any capacity, despite initial impressions.

Well yeah Arceus has base 120 speed, Arceus is also Uber, sure Silvally is only base 95, but compared to the rest of the SM meta it has decent speed. When I said look at an Arceus set and see what you can copy, I was implying that there are some similar roles that Silvally can copy, not all of them (mainly lacking Recover).

But if we want to compare Silvally to what is available as a whole, then I would simply say don't use it, when your big competitive niche is pivot or choice band, there are better options; and if we're not talking about competitive..then who cares?

[Fable Wright]

Well yeah Arceus has base 120 speed, Arceus is also Uber, sure Silvally is only base 95, but compared to the rest of the SM meta it has decent speed. When I said look at an Arceus set and see what you can copy, I was implying that there are some similar roles that Silvally can copy, not all of them (mainly lacking Recover).

It can't match Water Arceus's functionality for lack of Recover; it can't match Normal Arceus for lack of Extremespeed; it might be able to do something with Ghost, but it's outmatched there by Alolan Marowak. Arceus is a bad parallel to Silvally, despite the multitype similarities.

[Spore]

The reskinned (advanced) Awakened Giant Mantis Shrimp (cave variant for First Impression) best friend is absolutely mandatory. Other vermin teammates are optional, but one giant spider is preferred.

I never thought Gamefreak reads The Oatmeal.

[Fable Wright]

I never thought Gamefreak reads The Oatmeal.

They don't. Paizo does.

[DiscipleofBob]

Something has been bothering me about the Sun/Moon storyline...

Spoiler

Show

When forming Alola's brand, spanking new Pokémon League, the logical choice was to draft the four Kahunas for the responsibility. Hala and Olivia are there as expected to represent their islands.

Acerola the Ghost captain is there instead of Nanu, but it's explained that Nanu declined the position because he's a surly "too old for this crap" kind of guy so it's perfectly in character.

But then the brand new Kahuna of Poni Island, the Grount type use Hapu, the one Kahuna who kind of gets her own almost plot arc, is ignored. Instead, Kahili is brought in as the final E4 member, a golfer who supposedly retired from Pokémon training. She doesn't even seem to be FROM Poni Island. I think it's implied she owns one of the resorts on the second island. No explanation is given for why Hapu is ignored.

But the implications go further than just disrespecting the new girl on the Kahuna block. The Kahuna is more than just a position. They have to be chosen and blessed by the Tapus as we see of Hapu during the main storyline. The last time a Tapu was pissed off, an entire portion of the island was given the scorched earth treatment, becoming the haunted megamart Ghost trial today.

Was this deliberate or inadvertently insulting Hapu, or even Poni Island as a whole? Does this mean that Tapu Fini may seek retribution against the Pokémon League for ignoring her chosen one? Did Alola just doom its own Pokémon League?

[BiblioRook]

You are right I think in that that is pretty shaky from a story prospective and I don't really have an explanation there but best I can guess is mechanically they were probably trying to avoid 'Well you literally just fought this person but here she is to fight once more'. Maybe they thought that considering she was only just so recently made kahuna that it would be inappropriate to tear her away from the island and whatever back-log of duties she needed to take care of.

Granted when it comes to representing Poni Island I guess there's not really many options to chose from outside Hapu. There is, however, the Seafolk though and if Hapu wasn't an option (for whatever reason) it would have been cool to see them represented. Maybe as the unrepresented Ice type trainer even.

[boj0]

I don't think it was supposed to come across as a slap to the face of Hapu, she literally just got the kahuna position, so it would seem strange that she abandons it for another job within the week.

As for tradition and the blessings of the Tapu: the League and the E4 is all the professor's idea, nothing to do with the Tapu or Alolan tradition, the Tapu might not even acknowledge or care about the League.

Finally, as we see by the final roster, it looks like Kukui was going for Kahunas because they were supposed to be the four strongest of the islands, Nanu passed because that's how he rolls, and Hapu didn't even become a kahuna until the League was already being developed. Kahili was already a former island champion, so she had already proven she could defeat the trials and kahunas, and Acerola is a fairly strong trial captain so since he couldn't really bank on anyone else, he took what he had.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I don't think it was supposed to come across as a slap to the face of Hapu, she literally just got the kahuna position, so it would seem strange that she abandons it for another job within the week.

As for tradition and the blessings of the Tapu: the League and the E4 is all the professor's idea, nothing to do with the Tapu or Alolan tradition, the Tapu might not even acknowledge or care about the League.

Finally, as we see by the final roster, it looks like Kukui was going for Kahunas because they were supposed to be the four strongest of the islands, Nanu passed because that's how he rolls, and Hapu didn't even become a kahuna until the League was already being developed. Kahili was already a former island champion, so she had already proven she could defeat the trials and kahunas, and Acerola is a fairly strong trial captain so since he couldn't really bank on anyone else, he took what he had.

They could've gone with fairy captain over Acerola so she wasn't completely irrelevant (I instantly forgot her name), but otherwise yeah.

If it was up to me I wouldn't have had Hala just from a game design standpoint... another fighting-type Elite 4 member? And we'd already fought him earlier? That has nothing to do with what makes sense for Alola, though.

[Vaz]

The first time you fight her, she says it is because she has been travelling the world and is a former Champion, she hasn't given it up.

The laying waste to the Thrifty, is because the Tapus are Commie Bastards.

[Aotrs Commander]

Spent a fair bit of time today levelling stuff up (seeing as I got a 5-IV Contrary female Snivy - wrong IVs, naturally) and working on the VI living dex. Very little to go now, the biggest outstanding one being Yveltal which I will need to actually play my Y for...!

Slight bugger, the make I was training to levle up (rto make sure they didn't lose the moves I wanted) evolved in a moment of inattention.

Not a problem at time I thought, but now I'm back on the breeding again, I realised that dropped my egg chances somewhat - up until now, I was using the serperior I got from which ever one of you chaps is Boffinspark.

Ho hum. Given how painful this is turning out to be (I got one egg and hatched it before I got a second...), I might train up the only other all-but attack make I've got, or just use the all-but SpA one I have been using another day.

Typical...

Edit: Ye gods, yeah, I'm going to have to do that, it took FOREVER to get five eggs.

[Velaryon]

Someone already mentioned it, but I think the in-universe reason Hapu isn't in the Elite Four is because she wasn't a kahuna yet. The events on Poni Island (where she becomes the kahuna, you catch Lunala/Solgaleo, etc.) are taking place at pretty much the same time as the Pokemon League is finishing construction. I think it's likely that Kukui hasn't even heard that Poni Island has a kahuna yet by the time the Elite Four are chosen.

And speaking of the Elite Four, I'm finally ready to challenge them. Now it turns out that soloing 90% of the game with my Incineroar was probably not so smart, nor was making 2 of my 3 next highest level team members also dark type. I got flattened by Hala on my first attempt at challenging him. Time to add a psychic-type to my team and bench my Hydreigon for awhile, since there's no way I'm removing Incineroar or Pangoro from my team.

[Fable Wright]

And speaking of the Elite Four, I'm finally ready to challenge them. Now it turns out that soloing 90% of the game with my Incineroar was probably not so smart, nor was making 2 of my 3 next highest level team members also dark type. I got flattened by Hala on my first attempt at challenging him. Time to add a psychic-type to my team and bench my Hydreigon for awhile, since there's no way I'm removing Incineroar or Pangoro from my team.

You could alternatively go with a Bug or Fighting type. Or Ghost. Aegislash is pretty amazing against Hala, Shadow Sneak is great against Ghost type members, and Aegislash's Steel typing makes it resistant to Olivia's Rock team.

[Temotei]

Hey, I have a friend code now. It's 2552 - 5402 - 0700. Character name Temotei.

[Anteros]

Spent a fair bit of time today levelling stuff up (seeing as I got a 5-IV Contrary female Snivy - wrong IVs, naturally) and working on the VI living dex. Very little to go now, the biggest outstanding one being Yveltal which I will need to actually play my Y for...!

Slight bugger, the make I was training to levle up (rto make sure they didn't lose the moves I wanted) evolved in a moment of inattention.

Not a problem at time I thought, but now I'm back on the breeding again, I realised that dropped my egg chances somewhat - up until now, I was using the serperior I got from which ever one of you chaps is Boffinspark.

Ho hum. Given how painful this is turning out to be (I got one egg and hatched it before I got a second...), I might train up the only other all-but attack make I've got, or just use the all-but SpA one I have been using another day.

Typical...

Edit: Ye gods, yeah, I'm going to have to do that, it took FOREVER to get five eggs.

I make no claim to understanding anything about pokemon breeding or competitive, but do IVs really matter anymore now that you can just change them?