Ask a Question Thread - READ FIRST POST

[OceanicLanturn]

Why is Castform considered a gimmick/joke? It can learn some cool stuff, eg Hydro Pump in hail to deal with rock/fire?

And why is Hydreigon UU in PO ._. Just doesn't make sense to me. It has such a huge special movepool and special attack. Why it is in UU is beyond me -,-

[AeroKorogu]

Overheat vs Flare Blitz for Infernape?

Either have it hold a heal item like leftovers and flareblitz, or have it hold an item that negates or gets rid of all stat changes for it and overheat...if I were you, I'd box infernape and get a torkoal EVed mainly in SP. atk, with the ability white smoke, and the move Overheat...white smoke gets rid of the stat loss from overheat and with it EVed mainly in sp.atk, it can do wsome major damage...

[locket]

Either have it hold a heal item like leftovers and flareblitz, or have it hold an item that negates or gets rid of all stat changes for it and overheat...if I were you, I'd box infernape and get a torkoal EVed mainly in SP. atk, with the ability white smoke, and the move Overheat...white smoke gets rid of the stat loss from overheat and with it EVed mainly in sp.atk, it can do wsome major damage...

no. first off, you totally botched up the white smoke mechanics. it prevents stat drops from moves that induce them as a primary effect, not secondary. the stat drop from screech, charm, fake tears, et al. are meant to drop stats as their intended and primary function which white smoke negates. overheat, on the other hand, primarily deals damage and has a drawback as a secondary effect. white smoke doesn't do anything about this and therefore overheat's special attack drop isn't affected by white smoke. secondly, torkoal is too slow to function at all in the same tier as infernape; it only holds its own niche in NU to some extent (which is shell smash rapid spin) that differentiates itself there unlike in other tiers where it's most likely outclassed in every way possible.

on the other hand, infernape would run overheat if there are specific threats that are hit more easily on the special side rather than the physical. i would assume that flare blitz is the usual move of choice, but overheat would work nicely on a mixed set (perhaps with expert belt) so that there is still the ability to hit on the physical side if needed. i don't play OU so i don't know what set is best, but flare blitz looks like the superior choice to me unless there's some specific KOs that overheat gets that may justify its use. however, what i do know is that leftovers is a waste of an item on infernape most of the time (read: not a substitute or setup set) and is probably better off using an item that supports its immediate offensive presence.

Why is Castform considered a gimmick/joke? It can learn some cool stuff, eg Hydro Pump in hail to deal with rock/fire?

And why is Hydreigon UU in PO ._. Just doesn't make sense to me. It has such a huge special movepool and special attack. Why it is in UU is beyond me -,-

to answer your second question first, PO has a pathetically stupid tiering system to where they've banned things like cacturne and braviary from NU if they are even remotely threatening or something ridiculous like that. this is just me being cynical, so why not just go on the PO forums and read discussion threads on tiering yourself?

anyway, castform has pathetic stats in general and ironically is outclassed in weather (depending on which weather the team is using). even compared to a self-functioning weather wallbreaker/sweeper, castform still doesn't really define its own niche in NU to justify its use. to refer to your possible use, hail is kind of a dead strategy in lower tiers nowadays because manual hail is too unreliable and one would often find that he/she would need to function outside of it most of the time. even with hail, castform gets no STAB on its hydro pump and it'll be coming off its weak base special attack that has no way to be boosted. second of all, you can stick some self-functioning weather pokémon vastly superior in NU that not only aids the team in breaking down walls commonly weak to these attacks, but also helps the team by providing a weather check in case the opponent has some threatening weather sweepers of his/her own. castform may have the coverage, but it loses to things that can take advantage of castform's own weather and therefore fails to check weather teams/pokémon. these pokémon not only boast the same STAB that castform can possibly get, but also pretty much every other thing better in base stats and moves. ludicolo, exeggutor, victreebel, shiftry, swanna, mantine, and seismitoad are just there to name some of many. and i'm just noting that this is relevant in NU, but i'm pretty (read: definitely) sure that castform is crap in other tiers.

also, if we are trying to discuss castform in higher tiers which makes a portion of my points slightly irrelevant, just simply go back to the base stats. :)

[OceanicLanturn]

Thanks for le answer. And here's another question for Ambipom's build on smogon:

Why is Return > Double Hit for Technician Ambipom? I'm sure Double Hit hits slightly harder and can break Sub and sash?

Return: 102 x 1.5 = 153 B.P
Double Hit: 35 x 2 x 1.5 (Technician) x 1.5 = 157.5 B.P

Also, is Purrloin > Pelipper in terms of Rain Setup? It's for my NU Rain Team and I saw it in another RMT for NU Rain. I'm currently hesistant as Pelipper can abuse with Rain Dish + Hurricane while Purrloin has assets like U-Turn, Prankster and Fake Out.

[locket]

Thanks for le answer. And here's another question for Ambipom's build on smogon:

Why is Return > Double Hit for Technician Ambipom? I'm sure Double Hit hits slightly harder and can break Sub and sash?

Return: 102 x 1.5 = 153 B.P
Double Hit: 35 x 2 x 1.5 (Technician) x 1.5 = 157.5 B.P

Also, is Purrloin > Pelipper in terms of Rain Setup? It's for my NU Rain Team and I saw it in another RMT for NU Rain. I'm currently hesistant as Pelipper can abuse with Rain Dish + Hurricane while Purrloin has assets like U-Turn, Prankster and Fake Out.

nobody said return was better than double hit. return isn't even boosted by technician so you're off there. and your calculations are completely wrong; each hit is boosted separately and you just add the two together, so double hit has an effective 105 bp which slightly edges out return. and as you said, it can break through substitute, focus sash, and sturdy.

edit: return may have been suggested because of perfect accuracy, but double hit is still superior. but about ambipom in general, it's pretty much frowned upon by the UU community with things like cofagrigus becoming increasingly popular within the last month. so generally, decent UU players will tell you that ambipom isn't really that good even though it carves out a unique (albeit not that good) niche for itself. just note that smogon analyses tend to be outdated sometimes (especially right now since there's still some that haven't transitioned to BW2 yet), so if you're looking to check out analyses, try checking the c&c section of the forums so that you can see the skeletons or gps of the most up-to-date sets.

for your second question, those two pokémon play completely differently so i wouldn't even compare the two there. however, i do know that both purrloin and pelipper are outclassed by different things and thus neither are good.

firstly, liepard sits in the same tier so there isn't even a reason to use purrloin. fake out is a waste of a moveslot, encore is almost a must, u-turn is nice, and it can maybe utilize thunder wave to help support the team. however, on a rain team i do not believe that paralysis support is as vital since you're aiming to outspeed things by rain alone and handle threats that are able to revenge kill your pokémon even when in the rain. in terms of rain set up (and because of these reasons), i'm pretty sure that volbeat outclasses liepard in this role (although i don't play dedicated rain offense so i never bothered to use either pokémon). not only can it use baton pass to a similar effect like u-turn, but it can also baton pass substitutes which is a blessing for rain sweepers considering that absol and skuntank are pretty common and are threatening in NU. not only that, but volbeat pretty much has the same moves liepard provides and thus does a bit more in this type of support role.

on the other hand, pelipper is completely outclassed by swanna. if you're using pelipper defensively, then you're kind of defeating the point of a manual rain team (unlike in OU where rain stall was plausible with drizzle). you need to utilize 5-8 turns to punch holes and pressure the opponent, not use something that is slow and loses momentum. on the other hand, swanna boasts a decent offense and sits at a convenient speed tier that can outspeed zangoose, sawsbuck and non-choice scarf variants of braviary and sawk. however, it shouldn't really be setting up rain on its own since its most effective set is probably lo subroost. it is definitely a strong consideration on a rain team, but fits a different role (read: not rain setter).

[xAnbu]

So I am sure you get this question every so often with some guy like me who just can't seem to understand the basics but I tried googling and looking up on here and a few others sites but I am trying to Ev Train N's Zorua as soon as I got it. I mean with it's stat set up why not might as well fully EV train the thing BUT I am not seeing the stat increase I should be. I mean with the macho brace every 2 zubats/rattata/trubbish/deerlings I should be seeing an increase in 1 speed stat but I am not seeing that increase at all. I know I am getting the Evs cause I saw it go from 49-50 one time but now I'm not seeing any gains. at my current calculations he should have 28 EVs. Shouldn't I be seeing each point gain immediately? or was the EV spread changed back to spread over level ups till 100 like in the previous generations?

[jesusfreak94]

Kinda like previous generations, the EV/stat gain is going to be best seen as you level up. If Zorua was level 100, you'd definitely be seeing the stat gain now, but it takes more EVs to raise a stat at lower levels, so it's nothing you're doing wrong. On a side note, this is also the reason that LC EV spreads are so complex at times, since it takes a lot more EVs to raise a stat at such a low level.

[xAnbu]

thanks for the help I was really worried that I had messed something up and was gonna turn in my pokeballs haha but I'm glad I'm not messing everything up since I'm in the process of trying to farm Mareeps/Psyducks for SpA Evs since I don't have access to the celestial tower yet. Switched to magnemites since they seem to appear more for me.

[Cup of Tea]

Why is Castform considered a gimmick/joke? It can learn some cool stuff, eg Hydro Pump in hail to deal with rock/fire?

And why is Hydreigon UU in PO ._. Just doesn't make sense to me. It has such a huge special movepool and special attack. Why it is in UU is beyond me -,-

Agreed. It is good on paper, just not in execution. I may be bias (look at my signature ), but I think Castform is simply fantastic >_>

Moving on, I am planning a competitive Wifi team for my own entertainment, and I want it to have a core of Mandibuzz/Alomoloma/Sigilyph. What partners could be good with these three? I am considering Dugtrio, and perhaps one of the common spinners, as well as a ghost.

[Scorch5688]

I've been off the radar regarding pokemon for a while, but I do check from time to time, especially if there are any changes in tiers. I've recently learned that Garchomp was recently bumped down from Ubers to OU. I did some digging and found a lot of content regarding this. I was just wondering if someone can confirm this for me as I haven't found concrete proof for it: Are Sand Veil and Snow Cloak banned outright as they are now part of the Evasion Clause? I understand it being done to compensate for Garchomp going to OU, but it really sucks for the other pokemon with these abilities, especially if it's one of their default (i.e. non Dream World ability) abilities. If Sand Veil and Snow Cloak were banned outright, does that mean Cacturne, Gligar/Gliscor, Sandshrew/Sandslash, Beartic, Frosslass, Glaceon and Mamoswine with either Sand Veil or Snow Cloak are banned if being used on a team with the corresponding weather for its ability?

[locket]

I've been off the radar regarding pokemon for a while, but I do check from time to time, especially if there are any changes in tiers. I've recently learned that Garchomp was recently bumped down from Ubers to OU. I did some digging and found a lot of content regarding this. I was just wondering if someone can confirm this for me as I haven't found concrete proof for it: Are Sand Veil and Snow Cloak banned outright as they are now part of the Evasion Clause? I understand it being done to compensate for Garchomp going to OU, but it really sucks for the other pokemon with these abilities, especially if it's one of their default (i.e. non Dream World ability) abilities. If Sand Veil and Snow Cloak were banned outright, does that mean Cacturne, Gligar/Gliscor, Sandshrew/Sandslash, Beartic, Frosslass, Glaceon and Mamoswine with either Sand Veil or Snow Cloak are banned if being used on a team with the corresponding weather for its ability?

as far as i'm aware, they all have their other abilities released, so use them.
the only thing that has a remotely significant loss in its movepool due to legality is cacturne (the moves being bullet seed and encore).

edit: i'm rereading the statements and you're just making it seem more complicated than it is. you just abstain from using those two abilities; that's all. there's no considerable loss for any of those pokémon.

Moving on, I am planning a competitive Wifi team for my own entertainment, and I want it to have a core of Mandibuzz/Alomoloma/Sigilyph. What partners could be good with these three? I am considering Dugtrio, and perhaps one of the common spinners, as well as a ghost.

so i'm assuming OU? then i would just not use mandibuzz and alomomola at all. alomomola is huge setup bait for something like ferrothorn, breloom, or anything remotely bulky with a substitute, and mandibuzz doesn't really help against anything except ghost types (at least that's what its role was in RU before it became mediocre) since it has zero offensive presence even by defensive-pokémon standards. they hardly even check the common things i see nowadays (weather? and genesect clearly comes to mind). also, you have to consider the fact that dugtrio is primarily used to trap something; what threats can dugtrio handle that would supposedly help alomomola, mandibuzz, or sigilyph? chances are: hardly anything. of course this is a tier i don't really specialize in, so you can agree to disagree.

Agreed. It is good on paper, just not in execution.

it can't even be good theoretically with those stats. ?__?

[SkullKid700]

Stupid question, but if I fully EV train a Pokemon and then enter it in a tournament, league, etc. that auto raises it to lvl 100, will it have it's full +64 stat points in the stats I EV trained it in?

[Thunderstrike18]

Stupid question, but if I fully EV train a Pokemon and then enter it in a tournament, league, etc. that auto raises it to lvl 100, will it have it's full +64 stat points in the stats I EV trained it in?

Yah,I think once your Pokemon is fully EV trained it will not go down again unless you use the berries to lower the stats.

[SkullKid700]

Well, I know they wont go down. But thank you!
I just meant, you know how you could fully EV train a PKMN in one level, and the stats would evenly divide according to your level? Would I get my full stats when automatically made lvl 100 in like the battle subway and whatnot?

So, say I have all 252 EVs in Attack, but my Pokemon is only level 30, then my attack stat wont be maxed but instead would be something that makes sense at my level. But, if I enter that PKMN into something that changes it's level, would it's attack stat be super high or just the base lvl100 stat plus the lvl 30 evs? Does that make sense? :/

[Shiny Milotic is a BOSS]

I apologize if someone already asked this question, but how do I change my "title?" When I post a responce to a thread, it says I am a "Beginning Trainer," with a picture of Prof. Oak with Charmander and Bulbasaur. When I see other peoples' they vary from "Fire expert" to "Plusle!" So I was wondering how I change that, if possible. Thank you in advance!

[SkullKid700]

I apologize if someone already asked this question, but how do I change my "title?" When I post a responce to a thread, it says I am a "Beginning Trainer," with a picture of Prof. Oak with Charmander and Bulbasaur. When I see other peoples' they vary from "Fire expert" to "Plusle!" So I was wondering how I change that, if possible. Thank you in advance!

I'm pretty sure that's your post rank. The picture, at least. The more you post, the higher your rank.
As for the actual title, you can change it under your settings (top right corner of the site), and then 'edit profile'. There should be a custom title spot. :]

[Shiny Milotic is a BOSS]

Ok, thank you very much!

[pokéfan2074]

Hey can someone help me here? If I have two lv 100 pokemon with exactly the same IV's and different EV's, can I use berries and wings and whatnot to change one's EV's and make them have the same stats, or will maxing out EV's at lv 1 before training always be better?

[Ghosts of the Forums]

it doesn't matter. they'll still come out the same.

[pokéfan2074]

What happens if N's pokemon faints in black 2? Can you see it again by walking around in the grass, or is it lost?