Bulbapedia:Spading

Shortcuts SPADING BP:SPADING

Spading (from the Bartle Test) is the act of actively trying to learn about all aspects of a game. To that end, this page will contain a list of questions about the games that need to be researched, and will probably contain a list of answers for historical purposes.

There is a template for spading: Template:Spading. It is to be placed on the front page. Unless people start to dislike that, in which case it will belong on the talk page. Usage details are in the template page.

Note: Since it doesn't really matter, this talk page can be used as a less formal way of doing spading. You can time-stamp a question or answer here with five tildes (~~~~~: time without username).

Multiple generations

Randomness of specific pokemon

I've noticed that though stats and nature of pokemon obtained as a prize at game corners are random (at least in fire red) their gender and ability remain the same, no matter how many times I try. Personality values as described in its page are stored as a single 32 digit number and randomized upon the pokemon being "created", does this then mean that on occasion it's not treated completely at random? If so, when? What pokemon have part of their personality values fixed?

Confusion

Status: Answered

How is damage from confusion determined? Attack and defense stats both influence it, but is there a base power like normal attacks?

• Answer: Smogon says that it's a 40-power move.

In that case, how does it interact with Technician?

• Answer:The article for Technician says that the ability does not affect confusion damage.

Mimic/Sketch

Status: Answered

Can you Mimic Sketch?

• Answer: No, you can't. Right since Generation II, it just says that "But it failed!".

Protect

Status: Answered

What is the accuracy of Protect after used once or more times in succession?

• Answer: Reduced by 50%. A detailed version available at the Protect/Detect page.

Ghost

Status: Answered

In Generations I, II, and III, is ghost physical or special? The current page says it is physical, but Shadow Ball lowers special defense in previous generations, so why would it be physical?

• Answer: This is just the effect of the move. It is programmed that Shadow Ball lowers special defense, and this has nothing to do with the nature of the move. Oh, and it is physical by the way.

Transform

Some questions appear on the Talk page for Transform. These three have not been adequately answered:

• What happens when a Transformed Pokémon uses Baton Pass?
• In which generations does Transform fail to copy a foe during the semi-invulnerable turns of Dig, Fly, Bounce, etc?
• What happens when a Transformed Pokémon uses Sketch?

Yenreb 04:50, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

• Same effect as normal. It uses Baton Pass and all stat changes, substitutes, etc. transfer over to the new Pokémon. Transformed state does not transfer over.
• Fails in IV, dunno about I-III.
• It fails.

TTEchidna 23:17, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

To answer the second question, it fails in III and IV but it will transform into the opponent in generation I-II. ShinyGlaceon 16:56, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Serene Grace

Does Serene Grace work in conjunction with held items such as King's Rock? --Chromehawk 23:00, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

• No. Items are calculated in after abilities are. if the King's Rock was calculated in beforehand, moves with a 30% chance of flinching normally would have a finishing calculation of 102%. It is calculated abilities, then items.

--Vlax

This is incorrect, Serene Grace does increase the chance according to the article. Your answer is also wrong because flinch items don't modify moves already capable of flinching. EliteFourScott (talk) 01:09, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Take Down

What happens if both the user and the opponent faint using this move, and it is both Trainers' last Pokémon? Who wins? TheTigerBuddy 19:27, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

I'd assume competitively it would count the same as a self-fainting caused by Destiny Bond or Explosion (the loser is the one who used it), but game coding, I've got no idea.

If it happens in any in-game battles, include Battle Tower/Frontier matches, you lose regardless who used that recoil move. As for Wi-Fi/LAN battles, it probably counts as a draw (same as Selfdestruct or Destiny Bond KO's). ~ Solarys 11:31, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

The trainer whose Pokémon faints first is the loser. That's why Explosion faints the user before dealing damage in Generation V. 21:57, 2 November 2011 (UTC)

Whoever lasts longer wins. If the user and opponent both faint, as recoil damage for Take Down and other similar moves are calculated AFTER the opponent gets the full effect from the hit, the user wins. APokemonTrainer (talk) 13:22, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Shuckle and Berry Juice

• How long does it take a shuckle to convert a berry into berry juice?
• How long does it then take to convert berry juice into rare candy?
• In which generations can berry juice and/or rare candies be obtained in this way?
• Is obtaining rare candies from shuckles even possible at all, or is it just a rumor?
• What kinds of berries can be converted into juice? Normal berries from Generation II can, of course, and the page for Oran Berries say that they can be converted as well. Are there any others?

And so forth. --Minimiscience 23:29, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

-It doesn't work in generation IV. I can say that for certain, as I tried and even after days, my Shuckle still held an Oran Berry. Last I heard, it takes 24 hours to get Berry Juice in generation II, then another 24 hours to get a Rare Candy. However, I can't say this for certain --Shadowater 01:37, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Drought Vs. Drizzle

When a Groudon, with Drought ability, and a Kyogre, with Drizzle ability, have a battle, does it rain or have bright sunlight? Do they cancel each other out? - unsigned comment from Redriders180 (talk • contribs)

The ability of the faster Pokémon is activated first, the ability of the slower Pokémon is activated second. The slower Pokémon's weather condition would be in effect for the battle. Werdnae (talk) 03:02, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

I have another question; in double/triple battles, does the order in which the Pokémon are sent out affect which condition remains in effect?

No, only speed determines the remaining weather. Pikiwyn ^talk 23:33, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Critical Hits and Evasion

Critical Hits ignore stat changes that would be disadvantageous to the user, but does this include boosts to the foe's evasion and drops to the user's accuracy? If so, then in what generations?

According to the critical hit article, discrimination among stat changes only occurs when calculating damage, which accuracy & evasion have no effect on (unless there's some obscure move or ability that I don't know about). —Minimiscience 04:21, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

Badges boosting stats

Apparently badges in Generations I-III boost stats. How do they boost them? --SnorlaxMonster 04:30, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

I don't know what generations this applies to, but the badges that are said to boost a certain stat give a 9/8 multiplier to that stat so if you had a pokemon with a speed stat of 8 and obtained a THUNDERBADGE, it would immediately rise to 9. Any pokemon caught will immediately be boosted in their respective stats as well. When a pokemon levels up or recieves EV-enhancing vitamins, the pokemon's stats without the badge-boost will be affected and then the boost will be re-applied to the enhanced stat(s). Also, the boost affects moves (and abilities like speed boost) that raise or lower stats, so if the aforementioned pokemon used agility to double its speed, it would add 9 for the double in speed and another 1 (rounded from 1.125) for the badge-boost affecting the extra nine added by the move. AJRubyVersion 00:53, 6 February 2012 (UTC) *and credit to gamefaqs.com[1] for the beginning information and getting me into studying this independently*

Turns out Ultimate Pokémon Center has the info for each generation. In Gen I and II, the stat is multiplied by 9/8, and in Gen II this boost is ignored if the attack is a critical hit and the attacker's Attack/Special Attack stat stage is less than or equal to the opponent's Defense/Special Defense stat stage. In Gen III, the stat is multiplied by 1.1. From Gen IV onwards, there is no boost. --SnorlaxMonster 09:15, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Trainers

What is the formula/program trainers use to choose what to do? BanetteWobbuffet 17:03, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Boost Calculation

If a sat boosting move or ability, such as victory star or sand veil, is activated, how is it applied? for example, a victini uses inferno. inferno has 50 accuracy. does the boost add 10 percent to the 50, or add 10 percent of 50? Deoxys80 18:19, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

10% of 50. Inferno used by a Victini with Victory Star would have 55% accuracy. MetalMetroid997 (talk) 06:52, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Pokérus

Status: Q4 Answered

• A Pokémon with Pokérus is traded between two games with the same time just before midnight. The players concluded trading after midnight. In this hypothetical situation, does a day pass until Pokérus is cured or does a Pokémon act like it was in the PC?
  • (When answered) Is there a situation involving trading where the opposite result occurs?
• In Generation III, Pokémon with Pokérus that are deposited before midnight and withdraw after midnight can possible be cured. This question has been split into parts to separate the issues involved.
  • In the scenario linked above, does this occur in other Generations?
  • In the linked scenario, what happens when the player deposits the Pokémon after midnight and then leaves the Center?
  • In the linked scenario, does this occur only in Centers or in all places with a PC?
• Also in Gen III, Pokérus can only be contracted in RSE. However, Pokémon can be traded with Pokérus to Colosseum and XD. Does Pokérus be spread through the party or does it act like FRLG?
• In Generation V, can a Pokémon obtain Pokérus after a battle with a Trainer?
• More for the future. Pokérus increases the rate of Double-Up Bags, but what is the exact increase?

Some questions based on the article, the article's talk page, and some thoughts that I had. --03:08, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

I confirmed that you can get Pokerus from Trainer battles in Gen V (or B2W2 at least) in the same talk page section you linked... Tiddlywinks (talk) 03:35, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Sorry about that. When I saw that, I thought that you were assuming that it was possible based on the words, "it looks like," and due to somehow skipping the first paragraph. That was my mistake. --Super goku (talk) 04:08, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

• Can Strains 0 and 8 be produced in Generation II? Relevant z80 assembly, and a brief explanation from Kaphotics for reference.
  • Yes. 8 is intended with 30/255 odds, 0 is probably unintended with 15/255 odds. I verified this by taking the relevant code and replacing the random byte generation with a parameter and sweeping the possible random byte range. SNBeast (talk) 17:03, 20 April 2023 (UTC)

Multiscale

If a Pokémon with Multiscale is hit by a multi-strike move at full HP, does each hit do reduced damage, or only the first hit? This should be checked for both Generations V and VI, and the results posted on the Multiscale page.

• Answer: Only the first hit.

Using forgotten moves

I have observed the following behavior in Alpha Sapphire (obviously, this would work with any pokemon, but some are specified here for clarity): In a double battle, Absol queues Strength and Vulpix queues Flame Burst; Absol uses its move first, knocking out Spinda, which gives enough experience for Vulpix to level up. Vulpix reaches level 36, at which it learns Flamethrower, and it forgets Flame Burst (the one it still has queued for use!) to replace it with Flamethrower. Then, when Vulpix's turn comes around, it still uses Flame Burst despite having just forgotten it! My questions are these: Does this occur in any other generations, which ones, and is this sufficiently notable to get a mention on the Double Battle page or some other appropriate page? --Xolroc (talk) 02:43, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

This is probably because it queues the move itself, not the move slot. APokemonTrainer (talk) 13:26, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Encounter rates

The Running Shoes article mentions that running through tall grass increases the chance of being attacked. That line was added before there was a dedicated games section, and I always thought that the "increase" is just an effect of the greater distance per time, and I found nothing official that supports the statement. So, is this really the case, and if so, by how much is the chance increased? By extension, is the chance increased (or even decreased) while riding a bicycle? Nescientist (talk) 16:54, 29 September 2016 (UTC)

There is an NPC in HGSS on Route 30 that says "Oh! You're wearing the Running Shoes? They make you feel like you are flying, don't they? But beware of wild Pokémon and Trainers! When you run, the noise will attract them." --SnorlaxMonster 14:47, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

UPC articles for the encounter rates in Generation III and Generation IV do not list running shoes as influencing factor, but they do say that bikes decrease the encounter rates. I've checked the first two generations, where bikes seem not to influence the encounter rates. Running obviously doesn't, as it's not possible. Nescientist (talk) 13:44, 26 August 2017 (UTC)

Bikes do decrease the encounter rate by 20% in Generation III.

Plus, I'd like to mention we're not clear on how Ride Pokémon affect encounter rates either. Nescientist (talk) 14:58, 3 November 2019 (UTC)

Confusion damage

I've done some research on confusion and confusion damage, and it turns out that some of the usual damage modifiers do apply, based on the generation. However, there are details I am not willing to test myself, such as whether/when it considers Power Trick, Slow Start, or many more. I don't even think this is worth any template, but in case someone wants to go into such detail, I've hidden potential influencing factors within the article (probably not even all of them), and I'd appreciate anyone testing and getting rid of some question marks. Nescientist (talk) 10:08, 12 May 2018 (UTC)

Remembering moves exclusive to a pre-evolutuon

Status:Open

So far we have divergent reports of a Pokémon that evolves knowing a move exclusive to the early evolutionary stage, forgets the move, and then is either able or unable to learn it again through the Move Reminder. We need to understand the exact circumstances that may render a Pokémon able or unable to remember a move fitting theese conditions. Suic (talk) 04:45, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Generation II

Mirror Coat

Status: resolved

The text below was in an HTML comment in the Gen II section of the Mirror Coat page. Someone should look into it and edit Mirror Coat as appropriate. Tiddlywinks (talk) 04:41, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

Editor's note: this section will require research for accuracy.

If the user is put to sleep or is frozen during the round that Mirror Coat is (or attempts to be) used, Mirror Coat's decreased speed priority will not be reset. Subsequently, it will only be reset on the turn after the user wakes up or is defrosted, or if the user switches out.

Mirror Coat can cause a critical hit, but the actual amount of damage dealt by it will not be altered by a critical hit. Mirror Coat will only counter the last hit of a multi-hit move and the last attack of a partial trapping move. Mirror Coat will always miss if called by Metronome.

Switching, full paralysis, and using a multi-turn move will not reset the last amount of damage done, allowing Mirror Coat to counter itself as well as self-inflicted recoil damage. However, if both active Pokémon use Mirror Coat during the same round, both attacks will fail. An attack absorbed by a Substitute can be countered for the amount of damage it would have done to the user had the user not had a substitute.

That was apparently copied from Counter in Gen I. The first paragraph is irrelevant in Gen II, as is the majority of the other paragraphs. In Gen II, Mirror Coat works exactly as Counter does, except for the category. Nescientist (talk) 14:44, 2 February 2017 (UTC)

Freezing and burning

In Generation II, can you freeze Ice-type Pokémon and burn Fire-type Pokémon? More notably, can you do this with Tri Attack? --SnorlaxMonster 05:08, 10 January 2015 (UTC)

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/past-gens-research-thread.3506992/page-2 see the whole thread, as well as posts #36 and #37;

in generation 2, you can freeze ice types and burn fire types, however you can't do this with ice or fire type moves. Tri Attack does thus allow these things to happen. Note however that poison's handled differently; you can't poison a poison type in any generation, and steel types are immune to every attack that can poison apart from twineedle; due to the way the game handles this, twineedle can be used to poison steel types in generation 2. Also note that the whole of what I've just said applies to generation 1, apart from tri attack lacking any secondary effect, and steel not existing; in generation 1 this means that body slam cannot paralyse normal types! However I don't know about generation 2 whether it can or not, I've left a question in the thread and tagged a user likely to answer to find this out though. 18:41, 18 January 2015 (UTC) ~Piexplode

Yeah, I'd heard about the Gen I Body Slam discovery, which is actually what caused me to ask this in the first place. In fact, I'd read that very thread, and must have overlooked that post. I know Twineedle poisoning Steel types has been known for a long time though.

As for Body Slam in Gen II, I'd assumed it could paralyze Normal types due to this hint in Stadium 2. --SnorlaxMonster 19:20, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

Generation III

Fossils

Status: Answered

The Root and Claw Fossils are in the coding for Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, while the Old Amber and Dome and Helix Fossils are in the coding for Pokémon Emerald. What happens if they are obtained through hacking and taken to the Pokémon Lab on Cinnabar Island or Devon Corporation in Rustboro City? Can you obtain an Anorith in FireRed and LeafGreen? A Kabuto in Emerald?

• Answer: Coding shows that the game does not recognize them as fossils, so they will not be resurrected.

Ok, so what if you trade them over, equipped to a Pokémon, after receiving the National Dex?

• Not possible in Generation III. Fossils are key items in that generation, and key items have never been tradable.

Shadow move

Status: Answered

Which stats do Shadow Moves rely on? Attack and Defense or Special Attack and Special Defense? Chosen of Mana 17:52, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

• Answer: Moves that Physically harm the opponent (generally ones that make contact), like Shadow Rush and Shadow Blitz, are Physical moves and therefore rely on the Attack and Defense stats. Shadow moves that don't physically hit the opponent, such as Shadow Fire and Shadow Bolt, are Special and use the Sp. Attack and Sp. Defense stats. So, technically, Shadow moves were the first moves to be split between Physical and Special.

That brings up a new question: Which Shadow Moves rely on Attack and Defense? Which rely on Special Attack and Special Defense? - Chosen of Mana 01:29, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Shadow Blitz, Shadow Break, Shadow End, and Shadow Rush are all Physical and Shadow Blast, Shadow Bolt, Shadow Chill, Shadow Fire, Shadow Rave, Shadow Storm, and Shadow Wave are Special.—Blazevoir_{Talk/Contribs} 22:41, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Actually, (I know this is answered but still) Shadow Blast, Shadow Fire, Shadow Bolt, and Shadow Chill (Shadow End for Double-Edge maybe) are Shadow variants of Aeroblast, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam, respectively. 16:25, 10 December 2021 (UTC)

Shadow Pokémon Natures and IVs

Status: Answered

Do Pokémon Colosseum and XD randomize Shadow Pokémon's IVs and Natures each time one of these Pokémon is encountered? Or these atributes are only generated the first time and they remain static for a given Pokémon for the remainder of the game (be it rematches if the Pokémon faints during the first encounter)? Does technical evidence about this matter exist?

Answer:Shadow Pokémon are only generated the first time. Their personality value and IVs are saved to the memory (offset?) upon encounter, because the Snag List uses these values in conjunction with the species of the Pokémon to keep track of their status and location. hfc2X 01:45, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

Pokéblock character bytes

Status: Answered

In the Generation III games (primarily RSE), the word "^P_O^K_éBLOCK" is written with 5 bytes (in hex: 55 56 57 58 59). The first two are easily ^P_O and ^K_é, but for the last three bytes, there's no way to tell just from "BLOCK" which byte corresponds to what exactly. If someone could mod and play a ROM (or RAM) so that 0x58 shows up (isolated from 0x57 and 0x59) in a town sign or someone's dialogue or something and see what that byte produces, we could know for sure what each of the bytes is.

(And while we're discussing character bytes, it might be neat if someone checked all the characters that are currently "unused" bytes, just to see if a few coherent characters turn up. I suspect that "×" might be hiding somewhere (like shows up in the Bag), and I wouldn't be too surprised to find miscellaneous other characters that will print, even if they may have never been used.) Tiddlywinks (talk) 02:56, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Answer::I thought I wouldn't be able to answer this by myself. I was wrong. Tiddlywinks (talk) 15:11, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Is HM01 Cut permanently missable in FRLG?

Status: Answered

In FRLG, the S.S. Anne is entirely replaced by the Seagallop after, I believe, obtaining the Tri-Pass. Then what happens if the player had traded over a Cut user to get the Lava Cookie, then never picked up HM01 from the ship captain afterward? Is HM01 permanently missed? (Following from this, is it then possible for the player to get permanently stuck in the first half of Kanto behind the Route 9 tree? This might require a complicated setup of deathwarps and more traded HM moves.) Blueapple128 (talk) 02:24, 27 December 2015 (UTC)

This is not possible because the S.S. Anne will only leave Vermilion City if the captain is healed; The boat can't be driven by a seasick captain. If the captain is healed, the player will receive the HM01, making it impossible for the boat to leave unless the player has the HM. - unsigned comment from Go Rhyperior (talk • contribs) 21:51, 4 July 2019 (UTC)

This doesn't answer the question. The S.S. Anne and Seagallop ferry can't both be present at the same time. It's irrelevant whether the S.S. Anne leaves or not—what happens if the Seagallop ferry is present? --SnorlaxMonster 09:36, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

When HM01 Cut is obtained from the captain, it turns on a flag that makes it so that the player leaving the S.S. Anne makes it leave the port (however HM01 is obtained from the captain after he is healed), and later (when the Tri-Pass is obtained) the Seagallop replaces the S.S. Anne at the port. - unsigned comment from Kirbychu Showdown (talk • contribs) 16:30, 10 December 2021 (UTC)

This still doesn't answer the question (and is basically just restating the previous non-answer). You can obtain the Tri-Pass without obtaining HM01, as long as you trade in a Pokémon that knows Cut in order to progress to the point in the game where you get the Tri-Pass. If you have the Tri-Pass but have not obtained HM01, is it still possible to reboard the S.S. Anne and obtain HM01? If it isn't, that would make HM01 permanently missable. -SnorlaxMonster 01:14, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

It's not permanently missable. I've explained the details in the S.S. Anne and Seagallop articles. Basically, if you skip the S.S. Anne and eventually get the Volcano Badge, then you can still travel from Cinnabar to Sevii Islands (invited by Bill) and you will still get the Tri-Pass to travel the first 3 Sevii Islands. But when you return to mainland Kanto with Bill, then S.S. Anne will still be docked in Vermilion, and Seagallop won't be there (and you won't be able to return to Sevii Islands) until you get the HM01. --Daniel Carrero (talk) 04:58, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

Easy chat system

Status: Open

For the customizable six-phrase sentence that the player can enter in the Battle Tower, where can this sentence be seen (if possible)? Shawn (talk) 09:44, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

Generation IV

Pokémon breeding

There's some oddity in the number of steps it takes to hatch an egg. The steps between egg hatches when holding multiple eggs is always divisible by 255 (minimum difference of 510), even if the steps between receiving them are not. It happens consistently when

• Magma Armor or Flame Body are on
• while holding multiple eggs from the same parents
• when some eggs are received while others are being held

There's probably a common counter for all eggs in the party, which, when it rolls over, decrements all egg counters by 1. However, this doesn't explain the "divisible by 255" part.

Partial answer: Egg cycles. Just need to get persimmons from Smogon to adapt that into an article here. TTEchidna 04:45, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Comment : This may deserve a page by itself since there is a whole lot of info. BUT ...

• Step 1.
  • Case A : The HP IV is passed on from either parent (1/6)
  • Case B : The DEF IV is passed on from either parent (1/6)
  • Case C : A Random IV is passed on from either parent (4/6)

• Step 2.
  • Case A1 : The DEF IV is passed on from either parent (1/5)
  • Case A2 : A Random IV is passed on from either parent (4/5)
  • Case B1 : The DEF IV is passed on from either parent (1/5)
  • Case B2 : A Random IV is passed on from either parent (4/5)
  • Case C1 : The DEF IV is passed on from either parent (1/5)
  • Case C2 : The same IV is passed on from either parent (1/5)
  • Case C3 : A Random IV is passed on from either parent (3/5)

• Step 3 :
  • Case A1 : A random IV is passed on from either parent (4/4)
  • Case A2A : The same IV is passed from a parent (1/4)
  • Case A2B : Random IV is passed on from a parent (3/4)
  • Case B1A : A same IV as Step 1 is passed on from either parent (1/4)
  • Case B1B : Random IV is passed on from either parent ( 3/4 )
  • Case B2A : The same IV from step 2 is passed on (1/4)
  • Case B2B : A Random IV is passed on (3/4)
  • Case C1A : The same IV as step one is passed on (1/4)
  • Case C1B : A Random IV is passed on From either parent. (3/4)
  • Case C2A : The same IV is passed on from either parent (1/4)
  • Case C2B : A Random IV is passed on from either parent (3/4)
  • Case C3A : The same IV from step 1 is passed on (1/4)
  • Case C3B : The same IV from step 2 is passed on (1/4)
  • Case C3C : A Random IV is passed on from either parent (2/4)

Okay now we can combine the steps.

• Case A1 - 3 stats (1/6 * 1/5 * 4/4) = 4/120
• Case A2A - 2 Stats (1/6 * 4/5 * 1/4) = 4/120
• Case A2B - 3 stats (1/6 * 4/5 * 3/4) = 12/120
• Case B1A - 1 Stats (1/6 * 1/5 * 1/4) = 1/120
• Case B1B - 2 Stats (1/6 * 1/5 * 3/4) = 3/120
• Case B2A - 2 Stats (1/6 * 4/5 * 1/4) = 4/120
• Case B2B - 3 stats (1/6 * 4/5 * 3/4) = 12/120
• Case C1A - 2 Stats (4/6 * 1/5 * 1/4) = 4/120
• Case C1B - 3 Stats (4/6 * 1/5 * 3/4) = 12/120
• Case C2A - 1 Stats (4/6 * 1/5 * 1/4) = 4/120
• Case C2B - 2 Stats (4/6 * 1/5 * 3/4) = 12/120
• Case C3A - 2 Stats (4/6 * 3/5 * 1/4) = 12/120
• Case C3B - 2 Stats (4/6 * 3/5 * 1/4) = 12/120
• Case C3C - 3 Stats (4/6 * 3/5 * 2/4) = 24/120

A quick check with the calculator and thankfully it adds up to 120/120. Now combining the possibilities ...

• 3 Stats inherited 3 random
  • A1 + A2B + B2B + C1B + C3C =
    • 4+12+12+12+24 =
      • 64/120
• 2 Stats inherited 4 random
  • A2A + B1B + B2A + C1A + C2B + C3A + C3B =
    • 4+3+4+4+12+12+12 =
      • 51/120
• 1 Stat inherited 5 random
  • B1A + C2A =
    • 1+4 =
      • 5/120

That makes an easier chart of

• 3 Stats = 8/15 or 53.333%
• 2 Stats = 17/40 or 42.500%
• 1 Stat = 1/24 or 04.167%

So how do you maximize your total Stats? Do you got two pokemon who can breed with max HP and max DEF? Chromehawk 19:02, 27 April 2009 (UTC) Chrome

That information is available on Smogon as well. If that information is not already incorporated, an admin ought to ask Smogon if we can use that information too.--Lamb(talk) 01:37, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

Turnback Cave

How does the game determine which kind of room comes next for each entrance? Is there any way to determine if the room the player is entering into will be a pillar room before entering it, or is getting through the cave in three rooms just dumb luck? Each room has four exits, the one the player came from warps them back to the entrance room, while the other three may take the player to several types of rooms filled with rocks or a pillar room.

• Partial Answer: Go to Turnback Cave, take a random room in first room/pillar room, look for the odd rock pattern, approx. 70% of the time I get a pillar. --Giratina's Embodiment. 15:52, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

• Rest of Answer: There is no way to get through the Cave like you can Lost Cave. I have gone through Turnback Cave 20 times now, I have learned that the exit to the pillar room is moved every time you reboot/enter a room. Also, the room count is reset every time you get back to the frist room. It is just dumb luck getting though the cave and into Girarina's room. Truthseeker4449 19:34, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

Flash Fire

Status

Answered and added to the article

The current page says that Flash Fire will activate when the user is burned. However, Flash Fire nullifies Fire attacks, and thus the only moves that can possibly burn a Flash Fire user are Will-O-Wisp and Tri Attack. Flame Orb and Flame Body can also cause a burn.

The question: Does a burn really activate Flash Fire, or did the contributor see an interaction between Will-O-Wisp and Flash Fire and interpreted it incorrectly?

Will-O-Wisp is possibly nullified, since it's a Fire move, and Google says that Flame Orb does not get nullified, so the only case is Tri Attack. Does causing a burn with Tri Attack activate Flash Fire?

Burn does not activate Flash Fire. Tri-Attack, Flame Body, and flame orb, and being the victim of Synchronize/Psycho Shift)can cause burns while not being fire moves should the Pokemon with Flash Fire not be a Fire Type.(All legal Flash Fire Pokemon are Fire types, and thus Immune to burn anyways, which is probably why most would think burn activates it. Flash Fire can be put on Non-Fire types via Skill Swap, Role Play, Trace, or hacking). Similarly, Electivire, Jolteon, and Volt-Absorb Lanturn(As well as Ground Types) can still get Paralyzed by Non-Electric moves. Joe T.E. 18:36, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Iron Fist

Status: Answered

Is the list of moves that count as punches complete? Are there any punches which can't usually be learned by Hitmonchan, yet are boosted by Iron Fist?

• The Mystery Dungeon compatible moves are all tested, as shown on talk page. Were any other moves described as a punch missed?
• Answer: Testing shows Iron Fist only boosts punches compatible with Hitmonchan at some point.
  • The above statement is wrong. See talk page for Iron Fist for reasoning to real answer.

Category:Game mechanics

Shaymin

Some of my friends have told me that Shaymin's Sky Form isn't usable on wi-fi... we need to find out for sure. And to that end, test Rotom's forms. (Would I not be able to use an adorable specimen like him to fight with my friends online? ;_;)

• Partial answer: When going to Wi-fi, Giratina's Platinum Orb is taken off and Shaymin reverts to Land Forme. It's part of the games coding based from what I read some time ago. _*tc26_* 01:34, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

If this applies to the forms of Shaymin and Giratina,it is probably because the forms aren't programmed into the Diamond and Pearl versions.In order to be able to interact with D/P,this has to be done.Therefore I find it safe to assume that Rotom will also reverse into it's normal form. User:Uxie legend 15:46, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Shaymin's Sky Forme is allowed on Wi-Fi in some way. On the page for Platinum version, there is an image of a Wi-Fi battle with Shaymin's Sky Forme.

It's most likely a Local Wireless battle. The forme lockout only applies to Wi-Fi as of now. The alternate formes work fine using local wireless, even when playing against D/P users. The forms work in D/P by having Platinum sorta Patch D/P with knowledge of the items and stats(Though the sprites will look like their normal forme on the D/P user's end. This patching also makes Hypnosis have 60% accuracy over D/P's 70%). I've also seen people able to bypass the Wi-Fi forme lockout using cheats as well, so it has nothing to do with D/P incompatibilitiesJoe T.E. 18:15, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

In addition to this, the "patching" only works if the player of Platinum, HeartGold or SoulSilver is the host of the local wireless battle. Otherwise, the same procedure applies as in WiFi battles (forme reversal and such). hfc2X 01:55, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Solid Rock

Status: Answered

Different sites give different percentages by which damage is reduced with this ability, and from the talk page, this still isn't resolved. What exactly is the correct factor?

I once did a Damage calculation where Solid Rock was considered to lower Super Effective Damage by 2/3rds(1.33 over 2x, and 2.66 over 4)(It was a Max Special Attack Kyogre in Rain using Water Spout on both Solid Rock Pokemon after having a 2.5 Increase to Special Defenses, and Light Screen up, with Camerupt and Rhyperior having Max HP and some Special Defense EV's as well, so that they would survive with about 1-10 HP left afterwards)and after testing it in actual gameplay, it did just as much damage as my calculator estimated it would. All my other calculations using the 2/3rds modifier usually matched up with gameplay to a T. I believe 2/3rds damage reduction is the accurate modifier. Joe T.E. 18:23, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

If you tested it in-game instead of on an online simulator, then that's good enough for me. ~Toastypk - ^Loom. 16:44, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Crush Grip and Combusken

Status: Answered

Throughout places related to Pokémon Battle Revolution, there is talk of a Combusken which knows Crush Grip. Which Colosseum is this Combusken found in, and is it really Crush Grip or Crush Claw?

Answer: It's in the Sunset Colosseum, and it's Crush Claw. ^Chocolate 20:59, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

Fire Fang and Platinum

Can Fire Fang bypass Wonder Guard in Platinum like it can in Diamond and Pearl?

Yes The Placebo Effect 19:31, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Future Sight failing

Sometimes, when Future Sight is used, it goes like "The foe's/wild __________ took the Future Sight Attack! But it failed!" Why does it do this?

• Future Sight has 90% accuracy. "But it failed" triggers when Future Sight misses.

• The same goes for Doom Desire and its 85% accuracy as well.

Reckless

Reckless increases power of moves which cause recoil. Exactly what attacks are affected by Reckless, and does Reckless affect the amount of recoil as well?

See also Talk:Reckless.

The attacks that could be affected by Reckless if Hitmonlee could learn them would be Volt Tackle, Wood Hammer, Brave Bird, Flare Blitz and Head Smash. The moves that are affected are Struggle, Submission, Jump Kick, Take Down, Double-Edge, and Hi Jump Kick. The amount of recoil is affected. ~Steel Phoenix

Hypnosis

In Diamond and Pearl Hypnosis has a base accuracy of 70%, and in Platinum, 60%. How is the accuracy calculated in a battle between Pearl and Platinum? or it becomes 65%?

• It says above, in the Shaymin section, that Platinum's accuracy takes precedence in a local wireless battle. Dunno about over Wi-Fi, but I'd guess DP rules are used there. — Laoris _(Blah) 19:26, 23 January 2009 (UTC)
• If the player of Platinum, HeartGold or SoulSilver is the host, then Hypnosis has 60% accuracy. It has 70% otherwise. hfc2X 01:58, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Technician

Technician increases the base power of the user's moves that have a base power of 60 and/or below. Since Confusion inflicts a base power 40 typeless attack onto the affected Pokémon, does Technician affect this self-inflicted damage as well?

See also Talk:Technician.

I'm pretty sure it's just talking about moves. ~Toastypk - ^Loom. 17:19, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, as in other generations, it is not affected by Technician, because it's not a move. APokemonTrainer (talk) 13:34, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Magic Guard and Toxic Spikes

Does Magic Guard protect the Pokémon from contracting poison due to Toxic Spikes? See Talk:Magic Guard. Yenreb 05:06, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

• It can get poisoned but won't take any poison damage between turns. ~ Solarys 02:32, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

No Guard

Status: Answered

Does No Guard affect all the Pokemon in a Double Battle? Or just between the one Pokemon and the one he/she is fighting at the moment? ~Toastypk - ^Loom. 23:46, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

No Guard only affects user and target. Seems last test I did was me getting lucky. Gywall Talk 22:22, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

Micle Berry

How much does the Micle Berry raise accuracy of the next move by? Or will it always hit? ~Toastypk - ^Loom. 23:52, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

• The next selected move always hits; it's like an automatic lock-on. I've tested in game with Sheer Cold and it never missed after using Micle berry. Solarys 20:05, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Characteristics

What happens when multiple IVs are the highest ones? For example, 28 in Sp.A. and Speed, 30 in Def. and HP? TTEchidna 02:22, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

• It picks a random one to display. ~ Solarys 02:29, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Pickup and Trace

If a Pokémon traces Pickup, could it have an item it found after battle (assuming it wasn't already holding one? The same goes for Honey Gather. --RiverAura 21:17, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

• No. Trace is only temporary. After battle, it's gone. ^ht14 15:02, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

Evasion and Accuracy in Double Battles

Let's say I'm in a Double Battle and I have Vaporeon and Roserade on my side, against a trainer who has Garchomp and Pikachu. A Sandstorm is up (Garchomp gets +1 Evasion due to Sand Veil) and Pikachu used Double Team 3 times before. Vaporeon decides to use Surf, which affects all Pokémon on the field except the user. Does the move succeed or fail for all Pokémon, or could Pikachu (+3 Evasion) evade the attack while Garchomp (+1 Evasion) can't? For that matter, does the accuracy check (not just evasion) get re-done for each target Pokémon, or is it done only once when the move is about to be executed? Looce 23:17, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

• if Garchomp gets hit, and Pikachu does not, Garchomp will take damage, and for Pikachu, it will say "Pikachu avoided the attack!" (or something to that effect). as for an Accuracy check, it is re-done for each target Pokemon. -- MAGNEDETH 23:38, 15 November 2009

Counter and Mirror Coat

Are Counter and Mirror Coat capable of damaging a Wondertomb or Wondereye, or any Pokémon with wonder Guard?

• No. Not only that, they are incapable of damaging a regular Spiritomb or Sableye, unless Miracle Eye and Odor Sleuth/Foresight is used on it. - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 14:55, 11 February 2010 (UTC)

Flinchax

If a Togekiss is in battle against a paralyzed Pokémon, and it uses Air Slash with a King's Rock equipped and has the ability Serene Grace, then what is the probabilty of the opponent being able to attack? Is the probability of flinching and paralysis added up so the opponent has a 3% chance of attacking, or is the probabilty calculated so that the opponent has a 75% chance of attacking from paralysis, and then 72% of 75% is subracted so there is an ending probability of approximately 18%?

• It's calculated separately. The Pokémon would have a 29.4% (64% chance of flinching with King's Rock, 95% accuracy, 25% chance of paralysis) of attacking. MagicBarrier 01:05, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

Heavy Ball

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, when is the modifier for the Heavy Ball added into the catch rate calculation?--Mando Knight 03:50, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

It's calculated in at the same point any other Pokéball is calculated in.

((3*Max HP-2*Currrent HP)*rate*Pokéballl/(3*Max HP))*status - unsigned comment from Vlax (talk • contribs)

Except that for Heavy Ball it is added, not multiplied. --SnorlaxMonster 23:49, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

In that case, I'd assume that it's added/subtracted from the Pokémon's catch rate (the "rate" value in the above equation)

Trainer Pokémon Stats

Do the Pokémon of Trainers and Gym Leaders not have stats, or are they just not listed here? --Stuart P. Bentley 05:42, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

They can't NOT have stats. We just don't add them because it's not as relevant (that is, you can usually estimate their highest stats and such by what Pokémon it is). That said, I don't think this question even belongs on this page. --AndyPKMN 15:47, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Kadabra and Everstones

Whenever I trade a Kadabra holding an Everstone, it evolves anyway. Is this intentional or just a glitch? Why does it happen? How far back does this even go? It's happened in Platinum and HeartGold. And of course, anyone who's traded for that Haunter in Snowpoint City knows that Everstones are SUPPOSED to stop trade evolutions from happening. - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 14:36, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

What game is this from? ^ht14 15:34, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

Shellos and Gastrodon

Since there are two types of Shellos and Gastrodon, how does the game determine which type to make whenever you breed them? Is it based on location, in which case it will always make West Sea forme, randomly chosen, or based on the parent forme?

• From Shellos's article: the two forms are still able to interbreed (the child takes the mother's form). Werdnae (talk) 05:22, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

Magic Guard and abilities that cause damage

Does Magic Guard protect against Rough Skin, Bad Dreams, and other such abilities? --RiverAura 00:42, 17 December 2010 (UTC)

Starter Pokémon in Amity Square

What are the items and and rarities of things that can be found by the forms of the starter Pokémon in Amity Square in Platinum?

Host Questions

For the most part, if there's a discrepancy between versions (e.g. Hypnosis has 70% accuracy in D/P but 60% in Pt/HG/SS), the game uses the host version to settle the dispute (e.g. if Diamond is the host, Hypnosis has 70% accuracy; if Platinum is the host, it has 60% accuracy). However, I have a couple of other questions:

• If a Japanese and an English game link up, is this still the case? In this post, it's stated that the English version always takes precedence, but he doesn't state which game is the host.
• Does the host still take precedence when "glitched" moves are involved? (e.g. The U-turn glitch only exists in Diamond/Pearl. If a Diamond player hosts, will the glitch still take effect on the Platinum game?) MagicBarrier 00:10, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

Abilities or STAB ?

How is the base stat of, say Bullet Punch calculated by a Scizor with Technician ? Does Technician double it and then STAB is taken into account or something else ? Stephen Keane 21:42, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Seems it's base 90, nevermind Stephen Keane 12:26, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Route 212

Status: Open

What are the specific conditions that allow the player to pass through the north gate to Route 212? Currently the article states the following:

In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, the north gate, connecting with Hearthome City, is blocked off by a reporter and cameraman until the player visits Solaceon Town. In Pokémon Platinum, the pair will continue to block the path until Maylene is defeated.

However, on the talk page, one user notes that in Platinum it appears that accessing Route 212 from the east is sufficient to grant access to the north gate, even without defeating Maylene. Nerfie also pointed this out on the Bulbapedia Discord. Could someone confirm the specific trigger and update the page accordingly? --SnorlaxMonster 10:06, 27 January 2019 (UTC)

Moods

For the past four months I have tried to find out every single thing about following Pokémon and their moods. I have indexed every text file and organized them and I found Text 265, which contains every following Pokémon interaction. As a fun challenge I tried to get all of them, but there are over 700. I have gone in every area with every type of Pokémon and I still can't get some of them. They can't be unused, can they? I was surprised that despite it being a pretty big feature and the most remembered gimmick in the game, no one has looked into it to see how it works. The scripts (which there are over 800 of them) don't seem to contain info about what the interactions are in each location, but I have mostly looked at the data associated with the maps.

As I see this is a hard question, I will ask a more specific one: How do you get the "Pokémon is looking into the depths and shivering..." interaction? You can get "Pokémon is staring into the depths…" on route 46 tall grass, but I have tried with multiple types and the interaction didn't appear

Is there anyone that researched this before? Is there a way to see where a string is used? And what are the odds for an interaction to appear? Or is it unique to a Pokémon? Please help.

I have terrorized other people on different forums and servers, including Bulbagarden, ProjectPokémon, the Bulbapedia Discord server and the pret server. The Bulbapedia discord figured out that each interaction modified a Pokémon's mood value, so I made a spreadsheet for some reason to index every interaction and mood value:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VsecjaMqt2pmcozipOtvd-bD0wSzE71QBZ1VVBXibXQ/edit?usp=sharing You can find the mood value of a Pokémon in a save by using PKHeX, under OT/Misc, Extra Bytes, 0x87.

The Bulbapedia Discord also figured out some other very important stuff:

• Speaking with the Pokémon can send the mood both up, and down. It seems to cap at a value of 127.
• The bottom floor of Pokémon centers only let the pokemon react in two ways, "stretching out and relaxing