How Things Work Last Updated 12 Mar 2005 Table of Contents A. Introduction, Copyright, Disclaimer B. General Battle Information C. Stats, Stat Modifiers, and Stat Caps D. Status Ailments E. Type Effectiveness F. Order of Operations G. Moves 1. General Information 2. Ways of Obtaining 3. Previous Evolution Moves 4. Number of Moves 5. Specific Move Information H. Other Battle-Related Things 1. Critical Hits 2. Flinching 3. Items 4. In-game Differences (cross reference) 5. Stadium Differences (cross reference) I. Reference Information 1. Glossary 2. Additional Resources 3. Revision History 4. Contacting Me 5. Unanswered Questions 6. Credits A. Introduction, Copyright, Disclaimer; The purpose of this document is to provide as much and as detailed information as possible about the battling aspect of the Pokémon chromatic generation. It should be noted that despite this, I do not guarantee that the information provided is 100% complete or accurate (see especially I5). All trademarks and copyrighted information contained in this document are owned by there respective holders. This document is Copyright 2004-2005 by Nautilator and may not be distributed, or modified without permission. The latest version of this document can be found at GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com), and at http://roadcaesar.homestead.com/files/rby-stuff.zip (though I might make slight format changes to that one that GameFAQs does not allow). Parts of this document, such as triple astericks entries and entries in F1 and F2, have been worded to facilitate search convenience. B. General Battle Information; This section describes what can happen or be done during a battle and other information that can related to the process of battling. General information relevant to all gameboy battles is first given, and then any information that is relevant only to certain types of battles is then presented and noted accordingly. When you start a battle, you will automatically send out the first pokémon in your team that has not fainted. During any one turn of a battle, there are four general actions that can be performed: fight, switch, use an item, or run away. ***Fight*** You can order your active pokémon to attempt an attack, the effects of which are listed in E4. ***Switch*** If you don't want your current active pokémon to fight, you can decide to switch it to one of your other party members (though this will not be possible if your team party has only one member, or if you try to switch to a pokémon that has fainted). Switching your active pokémon takes precedence over all other actions. Any time either player switches, the last move used flag of both pokémon will be reset. ***Use an Item*** You can opt to use an item instead of attacking. The use of an item takes precedence over making a move, though not over switching. Item use during a battle is restricted to items that can restore HP, restore PP, cure a status ailment, temporarily increase a stat, attempt to catch the opposing pokémon, or allow you to escape from the battle. It is not possible to escape from a trainer battle, and it is not possible to catch a trainer's pokémon (though you still have the ability to try). This option is unavailable in link battles. ***Run away*** If you do not want to battle, you can attempt to run away from the opposing pokémon. If the current speed of your active pokémon is greater than or equal to the current speed of the opponent, you will be able to run away without any problems, but if the current speed of your active pokémon is less than the speed of the opponent, there is a chance of not being able to escape, in which case you do nothing during that round. It is not possible to run away from a trainer battle. A battle will end if all of your pokémon faint, if all the opposing pokémon faint, or (if against a wild pokémon) the opposing pokémon is caught. A pokémon's health will be represented by health bar with 48 pixels. The health bar will be green if it has int(2.25*int(MaxHP/4) + 0.75) or more HP, orange if it has int(265*int(0.2*MaxHP + 0.2)/256 + 2) or more HP but less HP than the amount needed for a green health bar, and red if it has less HP than the amount needed for a yellow bar. This translates into approximate ranges of 1% to 20% for a red meter, 21% to 55% for an orange meter, and 56% or higher for a green meter. If a pokémon's health bar is red, its cry will change, further indicating that it is in poor health. The Battle Damage Formula is: (((((min(((((2L/5 + 2)*A*P)/max(1, D))/50), 997) + 2)*S)*T)/10)*R)/255 and is used to calculate the damage done by an attack with a power value. L is the user's level, A is the user's current attack, P is the move's power, D is the opponent's current defense, S is the STAB modifier (S is 1.5 if the move's type matches one of the user's, and is otherwise 1), T is the type effectiveness modifier (40, 20, 10, 5, 2.5, or 0; note though that this is afterwards divided by 10), and R is a random number between 217 and 255. If an opponent's defense is decreased to 0 during calculations (such as for Selfdestruct and Explosion), it will be increased to 1 (though this doesn't happen if the defense value used experiences rollover). The maximum amount of damage any one attack can do before STAB or type effectiveness multipliers is 999. There are some other phenomena that influence the BDF. One is rollover, the effects of which are described in the Stats section. Each time a calculation is made, it is done by integer division, which results in the decimal (if any) always being dropped, instead of rounded. Aside from recurrent damage, the amount of damage done to a pokémon can never be greater than its current HP (but the amount of damage done to a substitute can). Any time a damaging move results in 0 damage being done, it will generate a miss, though the displayed message will almost always be that the opponent is unaffected. Also, if the pokémon's current attack or current defense is greater than 255, then its attack and its defense will be halved, and halved again (truncating both times), and those numbers will be used in place of its actual attack and defense values. If an active pokémon switches out, all benefits and losses of moves that have influenced it while it remained active will be reset. The only things a pokémon will retain after switching is its current HP, current PP, and any major status ailments it has. Common to all in-game battles: Your PP is of course limited, but the opponent will have an unlimited amount current of PP. Each time an opponent pokémon faints, every one of your team members that was active during that battle will gain experience. If you win the battle, you will pick up any money generated by the use of Pay Day and will receive money if the battle was against a trainer. If all of your pokémon are knocked out, you will black out, and awake in the last pokémon center you visited, with half of your money. If a pokémon has been traded to you (either from another person or from a person in the game), it will gain 50% more experience from each battle than your pokémon, but if you do not have the proper badges, it may become unruly. It will always run away when ordered to, but if ordered to attack, it might turn away, loaf around, ignore orders, use a different attack, begin to nap, or not obey. If it turns away, loafs around, or ignores orders, it will simply not make a move during that round. If it uses a different move, PP will still be deducted from the move you ordered it to use. If it begins to nap, it will fall asleep (but not regain any HP in the process). If if does not obey, it will hurt itself in its confusion. After defeating each of the eight gym leaders, you will receive the leader's badge, enhancing your in-game abilities. Boulderbadge: increases the attack of all your pokémon by 12.5% of its original value allows you to use Flash outside of battle Cascadebadge: traded pokémon of up to Lv.30 will always obey you allows you to use Cut outside of battle Thunderbadge: increases the speed of all your pokémon by 12.5% of its original value allows you to use Fly outside of battle Rainbowbadge: traded pokémon of up to Lv.50 will always obey you allows you to use Strength outside of battle Soul Badge: increases the defense of all your pokémon by 12.5% of its original value allows you to use Surf outside of battle Marsh Badge: traded pokémon of up to Lv.70 will always obey you Volcanobadge: increases the special of all your pokémon by 12.5% of its original value Earth Badge: traded pokémon of up to Lv.100 will always obey you The effects of gym leader badges apply to all in-game battles. Even without any gym badges, traded pokémon of up to Lv.10 will always obey you. Note that the Earth Badge will allow you to control traded pokémon of up to Lv.100, as opposed to allowing you to control all traded pokémon. It is not possible for you to fully control a traded pokémon that is above Lv.100 (though such a pokémon would have to be obtained via a glitch or cheating device). Stat increases due to badges are automatically applied to all your pokémon, and do not count as stat level changes. Because of these stat increases, the stat value cap for all stats essentially becomes 888 instead of 999. Also, each time your pokémon uses a stat-increasing move (such as Amnesia, Double Team, or Swords Dance), the stat increases given by the badges will be applied again; this is known as the stat bleeding glitch. Wild pokémon battles: Wild pokémon can be encountered in tall grass, caves, across water, or when fishing (or in the Safari Zone, but that is slightly different, as noted below). You can attempt to catch the pokémon by throwing a pokéball at it before it faints. The battle ends when the wild pokémon has fainted or been caught, or all of your active pokémon have fainted. Safari Zone battles: The Safari Zone is located in Fuschia City. You pay 500 pokédollars for 30 Safari Balls (which act like Great Balls), and can stay until you use all of them, walk 500 steps, or leave on your own will, whichever happens first. When encountering pokémon in the Safari Zone, you can't battle them. Instead, you will have the option to throw bait, a rock, or a Safari Ball at the pokémon, or to run away. Throwing a rock doubles the pokémon's catch rate and run away rate, while throwing bait halves a pokémon's catch rate and run away rate. Trainer battles: If you get in the field of view of a trainer, an exclamation point will appear over the trainer's head and the trainer will walk up to you, give an introduction, and start a battle. Whenever you knock out one of the trainer's pokémon, you will be told what the next pokémon sent out will be and then have the option of switching your active pokémon without taking a turn, even if your active pokémon normally couldn't. Instead of attacking or switching, both you and the trainer (though the trainer almost never does this) may use an item. You may also throw a pokéball at the opponent's pokémon, but the trainer will always block it. You win by knocking out all of the trainer's pokémon. It is not possible to run from a trainer battle. Gym leaders and Elite 4 members will not automatically walk up to you; you must face them and press A to challenge them. Link Battles: If you and someone else have linked your games and are both in pokémon centers, the person in the right half of the pokémon center will allow you to trade pokémon or battle. You will have to save before battling, and your pokémon will not be automatically healed before battling. Choosing to battle will land you and your opponent in a room with a battling simulator, and when both of you have pressed A while facing it, the battle will begin. During each turn, you will have the chance to make an attack, switch your active pokémon, or run away. You win if your opponent has no active pokémon or runs away, lose if you have no active pokémon or run away, and draw if both of you simultaneously run away or have no active pokémon. For the purpose of a link battle, badges, unruliness, items, and gaining experience do not exist, and your pokémon will be restored to their original state after the battle ends or is reset. Stadium Differences: A pokémon's health bar will have 96 pixels. Players will be able to see the exact amount of current and maximum HP that each active pokémon has. Damaging moves that do 0 damage will always result in a message that the move missed. C. Stats, Stat Modifiers, and Stat Caps All pokémon have six numerical statistics (Level, HP, Attack, Defense, Speed, Special), as well as two non-numerical stats (Accuracy, Evasion). Pokémon also have experience points, which are used to determine their levels, and stat experience, a non-visible number that affects a pokémon's stats. ***Level, Experience Points*** Each time a pokémon grows a level, its other numerical stats will increase. Both level and the appropriate offensive stat are used in the BDF to calculate the amount of damage it can do, so an increase in level results in an increase in average damage. Since a pokémon's level also determines how much damage Night Shade, Seismic Toss, and (less directly) Psywave will do, the damage done by those moves will increase as well. Wild pokémon can be found as low as Lv.2, and it is possible to raise a pokémon up to Lv.100. A pokémon's level is determined by how many experience points it has and its growth rate. The growth rate formulas are: Fast: 0.8L^3 (800,000 to get to Lv.100) Medium: L^3 (1,000,000 to get to Lv.100) Slow: 1.25L^3 (1,250,000 to get to Lv.100) Fading: 1.2L^3 - 15L^2 + 100L - 140 (1,059,860 to get to Lv.100) Truncating the values given by these formulas determines the minimum number of experience points necessary to be on a given level L. The total amount of experience points that an opponent pokémon will give for defeating it is equal to int(T*int(int(int(int(B*L*W)/7)/N)/E)). Additionally, if E=2, then int(T*int(int(int(int(int(B*L*W)/7)/N)/2)/P)) experience points will be gained by each non-fainted member of your party, regardless of whether or not they were active during the battle. In both of these formulas, B is the opponent's base experience (a fundamental value based on its species), L is the opponent's level, W is the opponent's wildness (1.5 if used by a trainer, otherwise 1), N is the total number of your pokémon that were active and did not faint while the opponent was active, E is your Exp.All value (2 if you are carrying the Exp.All item, 1 if you are not), P is the number of party members you have that have not fainted, and T is your pokémon's trade value (1.5 if your pokémon is traded, otherwise 1; a pokémon is considered traded if its ID number does not match your ID number). Pokémon that have fainted cannot gain experience points, even if they were active before fainting. Pokémon cannot gain experience in link battles. Although the actual levels on which you can normally acquire pokémon on range from 2 to 100, it is theoretically possible for a pokémon's level to be any integer from 0 to 255 (any time it becomes higher, including during a critical hit, it will be reduced mod 256). It is also possible to find pokémon on levels higher than 100 (and through level roll over, 0 and 1) via the Missingno. glitch in Pokémon Red and Blue. To activate the Missingno. glitch, talk to the old man in Viridian City near the cuttable bush, answer no to his question, and watch him catch a Weedle. Afterwards, wild pokémon (including the glitch pokémon Missingno.) will appear on the eastern edges of Cinnabar and Seafoam Islands, and some of these pokémon will have levels higher than 100. A pokémon's level can be increased by gaining enough experience points (and is in fact recalculated each time a pokémon gains experience points or is given a Rare Candy). Using the Rare Candy item on a pokémon will increase its experience points by the minimum amount needed to increase its level by 1. Though it will have no effect on Lv.100 pokémon, it will work on pokémon of higher levels. A Lv.100 pokémon cannot gain experience points, and if a pokémon's level is greater than 100, it will be reduced to 100 if it gains any experience points via battling. ***HP*** Short for Hit Points, basically the amount of damage a pokémon can withstand. When a pokémon has no HP left, it will faint, and you will win a battle when all of your opponent's pokémon have fainted. Pokémon have two HP values, current and maximum. Current HP is the amount of HP the pokémon has at any referenced time, since it may have been damaged during the battle and have less than its maximum possible HP. Maximum HP is supposedly the highest amount a pokémon's HP can be, but is more of a calibration number for determining how much HP to restore to a pokémon via HP-restoring methods. In at least one case, it is legally possible for a pokémon to have greater current HP than maximum HP (for more information, see the in-game differences for Transform). Ways that HP can be restored: -Healing at a Pokémon Center or rest stop, in which case the current HP of all your party members will be made equal to their respective maximum HP values. -Using a HP-restoring item, either in battle (where it will count as your turn) or out of battle. Items that can restore HP are Fresh Water, Full Restore, Hyper Potion, Lemonade, Max Potion, Max Revive, Potion, Rare Candy, Revive, Soda Pop, and Super Potion. (Rare Candy is designated to increasing a pokémon's level rather than HP, but a level increase usually results in an increase in maximum HP and subsequently current HP, even if the pokémon was fainted at the time of use.) -By using a move while battling that can restore HP. Absorb, Dream Eater, Leech Life, Leech Seed, Mega Drain, Recover, Rest, and Softboiled are the moves that can restore HP, and Softboiled can also be used out of battle to heal other party members. There is also an item, HP Up, which can increase a pokémon's maximum HP but will have no effect on its current HP. Using a move is the only available method of HP restoration in link battles. ***Attack*** A pokémon's attack stat is used in calculating how much damage it will do with physical, damaging attacks. ***Defense*** A pokémon's defense stat is used in calculating how much resistance it has to physical, damaging attacks. ***Speed*** A pokémon's speed will determine when in a round it will attack in relation to its opponent, unless one of them uses an altered-priority move. If both pokémon use an increased or a decreased priority move, turn placement will be determined normally. If both active pokémon have the same speed, turn placement will be determined randomly. ***Special*** A pokémon's special stat is used in calculating how much damage it will do with as well as how much resistance it has to special, damaging attacks. A pokémon's Attack, Defense, Speed, and Special can be increased or decreased by up to six levels, via the use of certain moves or items. A stat with a level value of N will multiply the pokémon's base stat by (2+N)/2 if N is positive, or by 2/(2-N) if N is negative (and truncate afterwards). Actual changes to stat levels happen via addition and subtraction. All of a pokémon's stat levels will be reset to 0 if it switches out, and the use of Haze by either pokémon will (among other things) reset the stat levels of both active pokémon to 0. A pokémon does not have statistical Accuracy or Evasion values, but Accuracy and Evasion modifiers are taken into consideration by moves that have accuracy values (moves that do not have accuracy values are unaffected by accuracy and evasion modifiers, and essentially never miss). Accuracy and Evasion modifiers are also increased in terms of levels, but not on the same scale as Attack, Defense, Speed, and Special. Whenever a pokémon uses an attack with an accuracy value, the base accuracy of the move is multiplied by the user's accuracy modifier and opponent's evasion modifier to determine the move's final accuracy. The base accuracy of a move with an accuracy value will be multiplied by the user's accuracy modifier and the opponent's evasion modifier to determine the final accuracy of the move. The user's accuracy modifier is equal to (3+N)/3 if N is positive, or 3/(3-N) if N is negative. The opponent's evasion modifier is equal to 3/(3+N) if N is positive, or by (3-N)/3 if N is negative. Whenever a move with an accuracy value is used, its initial accuracy value is multiplied by the user's accuracy modifier and the opponent's evasion modifier to determine the final accuracy of the move. Stats have level and value caps. A pokémon's stat levels cannot go above +6 or below -6. Additionally, a pokémon's stat values cannot go above 999 or below 1 (for Accuracy and Evasion modifiers, a move's accuracy cannot go above 100% or below 0%). If a move that can only cause a stat level change attempts to change a stat beyond either of these limitations, nothing will happen, and if a move has a secondary effect that could potentially change a stat beyond its level or value limitations, the secondary effect will not activate. The stat value changes due to a burn, paralysis, or (in-game only) badges counts towards stat value caps, but the changes due to Light Screen and Reflect do not, and as a result may cause roll over. A pokémon's stats can roll over if they get too high. If a pokémon's attack, defense, or special reaches 1024 or higher at any time during battle calculations, it will be reduced mod 1024. There is no such rollover associated with speed, though under normal circumstances it is still subject to the standard stat level and value caps. D. Status Ailments; This is a detailed list of the status ailments that a pokémon might be subjected to while battling. Major status ailments cannot be reset by switching, though minor status ailments can. A pokémon can't have more than one status ailment at a time (so any major status ailment can prevented by having another major status ailment), but can simultaneously have one major status ailment and one minor status ailment. Burn, Freeze, Paralysis, Poison, and Sleep are major status ailments, and Confusion is a minor status ailment. If a move that can only inflict a major status ailment does not work for any reason, it will be the equivolent of a miss, though the gameboy-displayed text message will not claim that. A move that can only inflict sleep used against a sleeping opponent will result in a notice that the opponent is already asleep. If a move that can only inflict a major status ailment does not work for whatever reason (other than the case just mentioned), the opponent will be "unaffected." Whenever a calculation is made, the decimal is dropped, so numbers will always be truncated. The only time this is not true is if a number is calculated to be 0, in which case it is bumped up to 1. ***Burn*** Effects: The pokémon becomes burned, and loses 1/16th of its maximum HP at the end of each of its turns in a round. Also, the pokémon's attack is reduced to 50% of its original value, though this attack reduction is in addition to any stat modifiers that the pokémon may have. If the pokémon's maximum HP is less than 16, it will lose 1 HP per round. If the pokémon is burned during a round that it switches in, it will only be subjected to recurrent burn damage that round if its speed is less than or equal to the opponent's speed. If the pokémon is burned and is switched in, it will be subjected to recurrent burn damage before the opponent makes a move if its speed is greater than the opponent's, but after the opponent makes a move if its speed is less than or equal to the opponent's. If both pokémon switch in and are burned or poisoned, recurrent damage will be done in order according to their current speed values. Recurrent burn damage will be done even if the pokémon knocks itself out with crash damage, recoil damage, or self-inflicted confusion damage, or by making a substitute before the end of its turn but will not occur if the burned pokémon knocks out an opponent. Continuing partial trapping damage is done before recurrent burn damage, and Leech Seed draining is done after recurrent burn damage. The attack loss penalty will be ignored during a critical hit, and will be ignored after using an attack-raising attack, but reimplemented if the pokémon is subsequently hit with a attack-reducing attack. Prevention, Cures: A substitute will block secondary burns, and fire types can't be burned by fire attacks. Rest can cure a burn, but will not cure its attack reduction penalty (though subsequently using a attack-raising move or switching out will then cure that). Using an attack-raising move will tenuously negate the attack reduction penalty, but not the burn status. Haze will temporarily cure the attack reduction penalty if used by the pokémon, and completely cure the burn if it is used by the opponent. Critical hits will ignore the attack reduction of a burn. In-game Differences: Any attack modifiers used against a burned pokémon will cause the attack reduction due to burn to be ignored. Stadium Differences: The attack reduction of a burn will be reset by rest. Attack-raising attacks will not negate the attack loss penalty. A pokémon can rid itself of the burn ailment by using Haze. A pokémon will not take recurrent burn damage when it switches in. Moves that can cause a burn: Ember, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower ***Confusion*** Effects: The pokémon receives a confusion duration length of 2-5 turns (chosen randomly), which is reduced by 1 each time the pokémon attempts to execute an attack. The duration deduction for confusion occurs immediately before the attempt to execute the move is made, so the pokémon will effectively be confused for 1-4 turns. When the confusion duration length ends, a notice that the pokémon is no longer confused will be shown immediately before it attempts to execute its next attack. While confused, the pokémon will have a 50% chance of attacking itself with a 40-power attack, resulting in min(int(int(40*A*int(2L/5 + 2)/D)/50), 997) + 2 damage to itself (where A, D, and L are the pokémon's current attack, current defense, and level) instead of performing its selected attack. If the pokémon's current attack or current defense is greater than 255, then its attack and its defense will be halved, and halved again (truncating both times), and those numbers will be used in place of its actual attack and defense values. The confusion duration length will only be reduced when the pokémon actually attempts to make a move, so turns spent flinching, fast asleep, frozen solid, recharging, or partially trapped will not count towards the confusion duration length. Self inflicted confusion damage will not reset the last move used flag, counts as the last amount of damage done (and can be countered by the opponent), ignores the effect of Reflect, can never be a critical hit, and will be absorbed by a substitute. The duration of all moves, other than than Hyper Beam and Rage, that take more than one turn to fully execute will be disrupted if the user hurts itself due to confusion. If a move that can only inflict the confusion condition does not work for whatever reason, it will "fail." Prevention, Cures: Confusion can be cured by Haze or switching, and a substitute will block primary confusion. This ailment is temporary. Stadium Differences: The messages regarding confusion are displayed after the move choice is shown, allowing both players to see the attempted attack regardless of success. A substitute will completely protect the user from confusion (though not self-inflicted confusion). Moves that can cause confusion: Confuse Ray, Confusion, Petal Dance (self-inflicted), Psybeam, Supersonic, Thrash (self-inflicted) ***Freeze*** Effects: The pokémon becomes frozen solid indefinately, rendering it unable to attack or select a move. Freeze will pause but not disrupt the turn duration of multi-turn moves, Bide, Hyper Beam, Petal Dance, Rage, and Thrash. If a frozen pokémon gets defrosted by a fire move before its turn in a round ends, it will be able to attack during that round. It will attack with the last move it selected, or its topmost move if it had not selected an attack (selecting an attack but switching out will reset the attack selection). If at this time the move selected has a current PP count of 0, it will still be used, and afterwards, its current PP will become 63, and full PP ups will be applied to the move. Additionally, a frozen pokémon that has not recharged and has its freeze status eliminated via Haze will remain unable to attack, switch, or do anything, and nothing (not even getting refrozen and then defrosted by a fire move) will be able to change this. Prevention, Cures: A substitute will block secondary freeze, and ice types can't be frozen by ice attacks. The pokémon can be defrosted only if the opponent uses a fire attack or Haze against it while it is active. Stadium Differences: You get to select a move while the pokémon is frozen. Moves that can cause freezing: Blizzard, Ice Beam, Ice Punch ***Paralysis**** Effects: The pokémon becomes paralyzed, reducing its speed to 25% of its original value, though this speed reduction is in addition to any stat modifiers that the pokémon may have. Additionally, each time the pokémon attempts to perform an attack, it will have a 25% chance of being fully paralyzed and not being able to attack. The speed loss penalty can be negated by using a speed-raising attack, but will be reimplemented if the pokémon is subsequently hit with a speed-reducing attack. If a pokémon becomes fully paralyzed during the semi-invulnerable turn of Dig or Fly, it will remain semi-invulnerable until it switches out or successfully executes Dig or Fly. Being fully paralyzed will not reset the last amount of damage done or last move used flags. Prevention, Cures: A substitute will block secondary paralysis, and type immunities will prevent the paralysis possibility of the respective attacks. Rest can cure paralysis, but will not cure the speed reduction penalty (though subsequently using a speed-raising move or switching out will then cure that). Speed-increasing moves will temporarily cure the speed reduction penalty, but not the paralysis status. Haze will temporarily cure the speed reduction penalty if used by the pokémon, and completely cure paralysis if it is used by the opponent. In-game Differences: Any speed modifiers used against a paralyzed pokémon will cause the speed reduction due to paralysis to be ignored. Stadium Differences: Rest will reset the speed reduction of paralysis. Speed- raising attacks will not negate the speed loss penalty. A substitute will completely protect the user from paralysis. A pokémon can completely rid itself of the paralysis ailment by using Haze. Moves that can cause paralysis: Body Slam, Glare, Lick, Stun Spore, Thunder, Thunder Wave, Thunderbolt, Thundershock, Thunderpunch ***Poison*** Effects: The pokémon becomes poisoned, and loses 1/16th of its maximum HP at the end of each of its turns in a round. If the pokémon's maximum HP is less than 16, it will lose 1 HP per round. If the pokémon is poisoned during a round that it switches in, it will only be subjected to recurrent poison damage that round if its speed is less than or equal to the opponent's speed. If the pokémon is poisoned and is switched in, it will be subjected to recurrent poison damage before the opponent makes a move if its speed is greater than the opponent's, but after the opponent makes a move if its speed is less than or equal to the opponent's. If both pokémon switch in and are burned or poisoned, recurrent damage will be done in order according to their current speed values. Recurrent poison damage will be done even if the pokémon knocks itself out with crash damage, recoil damage, or self-inflicted confusion damage, or by making a substitute before the end of its turn but will not occur if the poisoned pokémon knocks out an opponent. Continuing partial trapping damage is done before recurrent poison damage, and Leech Seed draining is done after recurrent poison damage. Prevention, Cures: A substitute will prevent poisoning, and poison types can't be poisoned. If used by the opponent, Haze will cure poisoning. In-game Differences: Out of battle, a poisoned Pokémon will take 1 HP of damage for every fourth step you take. The amount of steps that required for the HP to be deducted will be reset by resetting the game. (No such poison damage is taken while walking around in a colosseum room.) Stadium Differences: A pokémon can rid itself of the poison ailment by using Haze. A pokémonwill not take recurrent poison damage when it switches in. Moves that can cause poisoning: Poison Gas, Poison Sting, Poisonpowder, Sludge, Smog, Toxic (badly poisons), Twineedle ***Sleep*** Effects: The pokémon receives a sleep duration length of 1-7 turns (chosen randomly), which is reduced by 1 each time the pokémon attempts to execute an attack. The duration deduction will occur immediately before the attempt to execute the move is made, and the pokémon will wake up when its duration length becomes 0. It will not be able to attack on the same turn that it wakes up though, so the pokémon will be unable to attack for a total of 1-7 turns. The countdown duration will not be altered if the pokémon is switched out before it wakes up. Sleep is required for Dream Eater to work. Sleep will pause but not disrupt the turn duration of all moves that take more than one turn to fully execute, except for Hyper Beam, for which the recharge turn will be negated. If pokémon uses an altered attack priority move (Counter, Quick Attack) during the same round it is put to sleep, the altered priority received by the move will only be reset on the turn after it wakes up (not even switching can reset this). Prevention, Cures: Can be cured by Haze, if used by the opponent. This ailment is temporary. Stadium Differenecs: The pokémon receives a sleep duration of 1-3 turns (chosen randomly). Also, you get to select a move while the pokémon is asleep. A substitute will protect the user from primary sleep. Moves that can cause sleep: Hypnosis, Lovely Kiss, Rest (self-inflicted), Sing, Sleep Powder, Spore E. Type Effectiveness Each move has a type associated with it, which influences the amount of damage that the move will do, if it has a power value. The effectiveness of a move with a power against an opponent pokémon can be summed up with this chart: A\Defending t \ Types E F t \ l i P a \ D e g F G N P s c \ r c h l G G r o o y W k T \ a t F t y h r o r i c R a i y \ B g r i i i o a u I m s h o t n p \ u o i r n n s s n c a o i c e g e \ g n c e g g t s d e l n c k r /=====================================================================\ |Bug | 1 | 1 | 1 |0.5|0.5|0.5|0.5| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Dragon | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Electric | 1 |0.5|0.5| 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |0.5| 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Fire | 2 |0.5| 1 |0.5| 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |0.5|0.5| |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Fighting |0.5| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |0.5| 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |0.5|0.5| 2 | 1 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Flying | 2 | 1 |0.5| 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |0.5| 1 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Ghost | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Grass |0.5|0.5| 1 |0.5| 1 |0.5| 1 |0.5| 2 | 1 | 1 |0.5| 1 | 2 | 2 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Ground |0.5| 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |0.5| 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Ice | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |0.5| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |0.5| |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Normal | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |0.5| 1 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Poison | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |0.5| 2 |0.5| 1 | 1 |0.5| 1 |0.5| 1 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Psychic | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |0.5| 1 | 1 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Rock | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |0.5| 2 | 1 | 1 |0.5| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |---------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Water | 1 |0.5| 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |0.5| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |0.5| \=====================================================================/ In order to determine the type effectiveness of a move against a pokémon, look at the move's type in the rows and the pokémon's type in the columns. For example, a water attack used against a dragon type has a multiplier of 0.5, so it would do half the damage it usually would. If a pokémon has two types, look at the type effectiveness against both types and multiply the moves together. For example, a grass attack used against a poison type has a multiplier of 0.5, and has a multiplier of 2 if used against a water type, so if used against a water/poison type, the multiplier will be 2 * 0.5 = 1, or just regular damage. The type effectiveness values used in the BDF are ten times the final type effectiveness value, but the damage amount is divided by 10 immediately afterwards. An attack is considered super effective if it has a type multiplier of 2 or 4, and not very effective if it has a type multiplier of 0.25 or 0.5. If it has a multiplier of 1, it does regular damage, and if it has a multiplier of 0, it will always miss against the opponent, though the text message will almost always note that the move "doesn't affect" the opponent. There is no text message distinction beyond whether or not a type multiplier is 0, between 0 and 1, 1, or greater than 1. Additionally, if a pokémon has a second type and is attacked with a move that does not result in a type multiplier of 1 (or 10, depending on perspective), the type effectiveness message associated with the attack will be based solely on the pokémon's second type. Stadium Differences: The type effectiveness messages associated with moves will always take both of a pokémon's types into account (except regarding immunities, which will always result in a message that the attempted attack missed). F. Order of Operations This is a list that shows the order in which the various operations happen relative to each other in any one round. First, determination of which pokémon performs its action first and which performs its action second in a round occurs. Running away takes priority over switching, which takes priority over using an item, which takes priority over attempting to attack. If both trainers choose to run away, it will happen simultaneously and the game will be declared a draw. If both trainers switch, each trainer will always see their pokémon switched out first. If both trainers use an item (in an in-game battle of course), each trainer will always see their pokémon affected first. If both trainers choose to attack, determination of which pokémon attacks first depends on the current speed of both pokémon and the priority of the attack selected. If one of the pokémon has selected an increased (or decreased) priority attack, it will attack first (or last) unless the opponent has also selected an increased (or decreased) priority attack. If the attack priority of both the selected attacks is the same, then the pokémon with the higher current speed will go first. If both pokémon have the same current speed, the game will randomly select which one goes first. Provided that neither player chooses to run away, the round will proceed as follows: Beforehand: *All players select an action, including a specific item or attack if possible* Running away will end the battle, but otherwise the round will proceed: First pokémon's turn: *Sleep duration deduction* [First pokémon is frozen solid, fast asleep, or wakes up] ([First pokémon must recharge]) *Disable duration deduction* [First pokémon is disabled no more] *Confusion duration deduction* [First pokémon is confused no more] *[First pokémon is fully paralyzed]* *[First pokémon hurts itself due to confusion]* *PP is deducted from selected attack* *[Attack is used]* *[Attack misses]* *Damage calculation including critical hit* *Battle animation* *Damage and primary effects of attack* [Second pokémon's substitute took the damage] [Second pokémon's substitute broke] [Critical hit] [Type effectiveness of attack] [Any flavor text associated with the executed attack] ([Second pokémon faints]) *[Second pokémon's rage builds]* *[Secondary effects of attack]* *[Recurrent poison/burn damage to first pokémon]* *[Recurrent Leech Seed damage to first pokémon]* *[Second pokémon flinches]* Second pokémon's turn: *Sleep duration deduction* [Second pokémon is frozen solid, fast asleep, or wakes up] (Second pokémon must recharge) *Disable duration deduction* [Second pokémon is disabled no more] *Confusion duration deduction* [Second pokémon is confused no more] *[Second pokémon is fully paralyzed]* *[Second pokémon hurts itself due to confusion]* *PP is deducted from selected attack* *[Attack is used]* *[Attack misses]* *Damage calculation including critical hit* *Battle animation* *Damage and primary effects of attack* [First pokémon's substitute took the damage] [First pokémon's substitute broke] [Critical Hit] [Type effectiveness of attack] [Any flavor text associated with the executed attack] ([First pokémon faints]) *[First pokémon's rage builds]* *[Secondary effects of attack]* *[Recurrent poison/burn damage to second pokémon]* *[Recurrent Leech Seed damage to second pokémon]* Astericks indicate that the line involves an operation. Parentheses indicate that the line is a potential battle condition, which may effect the execution of lines below it. Brackets indicate that the line is a displayed text message. Lines marked with astericks/parentheses as well as brackets indicate that the line is an operation/condition, and a text message directly associated with the line is displayed immediately following the operation or condition (provided that it happened/exists). Also note that all lines will of course happen only if applicable, since the disable or confusion duration deductions can only happen if the pokémon actually is disabled or confused, an attack missing will not result in a battle animation, etc. G. Moves; G1. General Information; A move has four main attributes: type, power, PP, and accuracy. ***Type*** One of the 15 possible types that a move might be. A move's type determines whether it is a physical or special attack and also changes the effectiveness of the move when used against pokémon of different types (though this does not apply to moves that do damage but do not have power values). Also, if the move has a power and the move's type is the same as one of the user's types, the move will do 50% more damage (this is known as STAB, short for same type attack bonus). ***Power*** Every move that does damage calculated with the Battle Damage Formula has a base power. Some moves can do damage despite not having power values. ***PP*** PP is short for power points, and basically represents the number of times you can use the move. Each move has two PP values, a current value and a maximum value. Current PP is the amount of PP the pokémon has at any referenced time, since PP will be deducted from moves when used. Maximum PP is supposedly the highest PP a move can have, but is more of a calibration number for determining how much PP to restore to a pokémon via PP-restoring methods. Every time a move is fully executed, 1 PP is deducted from it. If a move has 0 PP, you will not be allowed to select the attack (though this is bypassed in a couple of cases where the game automatically selects the attack). In-game, PP can be restored by healing at a Pokémon Center or use a PP-restoring item (Elixer, Ether, Max Elixer, Max Ether). The only way to "restore" used PP in a link battle is with the PP roll over glitch. If by some means the game allows you to use a move with a current PP count of 0, its current PP will become 63 and it will have max PP ups applied to it after that use. This can happen to any attack if a pokémon attacks immediately after being defrosted, or to a handful of moves (Bind, Clamp, Fire Spin, Hyper Beam, Metronome, Mimic, and Wrap) because of the autoselection involved with partial trapping moves. More detailed information on how it can be done can be found in the information entry for Freeze, and in the entries of each mentioned move. When a move is first learned, its maximum PP value will be at its base value. Subsequently, you can apply up to 3 PP-ups to each move, and each PP-up will increase the move's maximum PP by 20% of its base value (though 61 is the maximum PP of a move with 40 base PP). ***Accuracy*** Accuracy is the probability that the selected move will actually hit the opponent. Multiply an accuracy value by 2.56, round accordingly, and call that value A. If a randomly generated number from 0 to 255 is less than A, the move will hit the opponent. The initial accuracy of the move can be influenced by Accuracy and Evasion modifiers. The execution of certain moves does not involve an accuracy or evasion check, and such moves essentially never miss. G2. Ways of Obtaining; A pokémon can learn a move by Level, Previous Evolution, TM, HM, or Gift. ***Level*** When a pokémon's level reaches certain values, it will learn moves. If the pokémon has less than 4 moves, it will automatically learn the move, but if it has 4 moves, you will be given the option of allowing the pokémon to learn the move; you will have to replace one of the pokémon's current moves because it can't have more than 4 moves at a time. If the pokémon already knows the move, no acknowledgement that it learns the move at that level will be made, and if the pokémon gains enough experience at once to skip the level at which it learns a move, it will not learn it either. ***Previous Evolution*** In a few instances, a pokémon will not be able to learn a move by Level or TM, yet one of its previous evolutions will, allowing it access to the move. E3 contains a list of moves learnable in this way. ***TM*** During the course of the game, you will find TMs that will allow you to teach a pokémon the move it contains, provided that the selected pokémon is compatible with the move. If the pokémon already knows the move, the game will not allow you to teach the TM to that pokémon. There are a total of 50 different TMs, each of which is a one-time use (though it is possible to obtain multiple copies of some of them). ***HM*** Essentially the same as TMs, but HMs can be used an unlimited number of times (and whose use out of battle is required to complete the game). Once learned, you will not be allowed to replace any of the 5 HM moves without using a move deleter (which is only present in GSC). ***Gift*** A move is considered a Gift move if it is a move that can be obtained by receiving a gift pokémon with that move. Usually such a move can't be learned by any other means. Any of such a pokémon's evolutions are also considered to learn that move as a Gift move (as opposed to Previous Evolution). Two moves can be obtained only from Stadium. A Lv.15 Psyduck with Amnesia can be obtained by getting all 151 pokémon in Stadium's Hall of Fame. Since it is awarded to you and does not usually have that move, it is a Gift move. A Pikachu with Surf can be obtained by beating the R2 Prime Cup at the Master Ball level without saving. The team used for this must contain a Pikachu and must be completely selected from your gameboy cartridge. Pikachu must be in your 3-member team, but only during the last round. Since Surf is taught to the Pikachu you bring with you, it is essentially a move learned by HM, though not under normal circumstances. A pokémon's move set will not be allowed to have the same move more than once, except temporarily via Mimic. For a list of pokémon and the moves they can learn, I would recommend White Cat's dexes, found at http://pokedex.kary.ca/. G3. Previous Evolution Moves; This is a list of all moves that can be learned by Previous Evolution but not by chromatic Level. Moves marked with parentheses can be learned by metallic Level, TM, or Tutor. Moves marked with brackets can be learned by chromatic TM. Metapod: Tackle, String Shot Butterfree: Harden, Tackle, String Shot Kakuna: Poison Sting, String Shot Beedrill: Harden, Poison Sting, String Shot Raichu: Agility, [(Double Team)], (Light Screen), (Quick Attack), Slam, [(Swift)], (Tail whip), [(Thunder)], [(Thunderbolt)] Nidoqueen: Bite, Fury Swipes, Growl Nidoking: Focus Energy, Fury Attack, [Horn Drill], Leer Clefable: (Defense Curl), Growl, Light Screen, Pound Ninetales: (Confuse Ray), Fire Spin, (Flamethrower) Wigglytuff: [Body Slam], [Double-Edge], Pound, [(Rest)] Vileplume: (Absorb), [(Solarbeam)] Arcanine: Agility, Bite, (Flamethrower) Poliwrath: Amnesia, Bubble, Hydro Pump Victreebel: Growth, Slam, (Vine Whip) Cloyster: [(Ice beam)], Leer, Tackle Exeggutor: Leech Seed, Poisonpowder, [Reflect], [(Solarbeam)], Sleep Powder, Stun Spore Starmie: Hydro Pump, Light Screen, Minimize, (Recover), [(Swift)] Gyarados: Splash, Tackle Vaporeon: Focus Energy, Growl, [Take Down] Jolteon: Bite, Focus Energy, Growl, [Take Down] Flareon: Focus Energy, Growl, [Take Down] Also, Pikachu essentially learns Surf by HM (though under special conditions of course), so in turn, Raichu essentially learns Surf by Previous HM. G4. Number of Moves; The maximum number of moves a pokémon may have at any one time is four, and no pokémon may have less than one move. Since there is a move deleter in Blackthorn City in the Metallic generation, it is possible to have any pokémon with only one move by trading it to a metallic cartridge, deleting the move, and trading back. There is no move deleter directly available in the Chromatic generation though, and if the move deleter is not accessible, the minimum number of moves a pokémon can have will not always be equal to one. For calculating the minimum number of moves a pokémon can have, the minimum number of level moves it can have is all that needs to be considered, since a pokémon can skip all of its Previous Evolution, TM, HM, and Gift moves (if the minimum number of moves a pokémon must have is less than 4, then it will be equal to the minimum number of level moves it can have, but if the minimum number of moves a pokémon can have is 4, those moves may be obtained by any means, since they can be simply overwritten with moves not learned by level). Since a pokémon will not learn a move if it skips the level the move is learned on, the minimum number of moves a pokémon can have is equal to min(4, I + U + S). I is equal to the initial number of moves the pokémon has (which by its nature must be at least 1), though if the pokémon's level is greater than or equal to its evolution level and the pokémon has lower evolutions, then I is equal to the pokémon's initial number of moves or the initial number of moves of its lower evolution(s), whichever is lower. U is the number of moves the pokémon learns on levels it can't skip. To find U, first determine a level K, which is the least K such that F(K)-F(K-1)>E, where F(K) (read as "F of K", since a pokémon's minimum experience points can be written as a function of level) is the number of experience points needed to be on level K, and E is the maximum number of experience points that can be obtained at once. Taking E to be 4387 (from a traded pokémon singlehandedly surviving your rival's Lv.65 Blastoise in Red or Blue), K is 35 if the pokémon's growth rate is slow, 39 if the pokémon's growth rate is medium or fading, or 43 if the pokémon's growth rate is fast. If the pokémon's level L is less than K, then U is 0, otherwise, U is the number of level moves the pokémon can learn from level K to level L. If L is greater than or equal to K, then S is 0 (since the pokémon won't be able to skip any levels at such values), otherwise, S is determined by the lengths of unskippable move streaks that a pokémon's level move list experiences. To determine how much of a move streak can be skipped, find the least N such that F(H-N)-F(J)