[PRP] [GUIDE] The Bare Basics of Battling

[KoolDewd123 0/300]

Pokemon Battling for Dummies

Have you ever wanted to try playing Pokemon, but don't know how? Well then, this guide is for you!

This is not a strategy guide. Rather, it is meant to help the uninitiated grasp a basic understanding of the game. Understanding strategy will come with practice. For now, just focus on getting by. I'll try to make this as simple as possible.

Stats

Well, I know I just said I was going to make this simple, but unfortunately, we have to start at the most complex part. Pokemon battling, when broken down to its most basic components, is all about stats. Your Pokemon's stats will determine everything about their performance in battle: how hard they hit, how well they take hits, the order in which they attack.

The stats are as follows:

HP - The health bar

Attack - Determines how much damage this Pokemon's physical attacks deal

Special Attack - Determines how much damage this Pokemon's special attacks do

Defense - Determines how much damage this Pokemon takes from physical attacks

Special Defense - Determines how much damage this Pokemon takes from special attacks

Speed - Determines the order in which Pokemon attack. The Pokemon on the field with the higher speed will go first.

Here's a sample:

This is the Pokemon Pidgeot and its stats. The numbers on the far left are its "base stats," what its stats are without any modification. The numbers on the right show the range of possible values after modification through EVs, IVs, and Natures. So what are EVs, IVs, and Natures, you ask? Well, this is where things get a bit tricky.

EVs

Effort Values, or EVs, are the main customizable aspect of a Pokemon's stats. When training a Pokemon, you have 508 total EVs to spread among these six stats, with a max of 252 EVs allowed into any single stat. These are used to optimize a Pokemon's stats to fulfill a certain role or shore up pitfalls where it falls short. However, there is always a trade-off. Giving a Pokemon more EVs in one stat means you have less to give in others. Use them wisely.

IVs

Independent Values, or IVs, are an aspect of battling that new players can effectively ignore. You invest IVs into each of a Pokemon's stats, with a max of 31 IVs per stat. However, unlike EVs, there is no limit to how many total IVs a Pokemon can have. You can give it 31 in every stat, and usually will unless you're going for a higher-level strategy such as Trick Room, which I will not get into here.

Natures

Each Pokemon has a Nature. A Nature raises one non-HP stat by 10% while lowering another by 10%. There are 25 total natures, including 5 that have no effect due to technically raising and lowering the same stat. Here is a list of all the natures and their effects:

Other Stat Modifications

There are other ways to affect a Pokemon's stats, such as through moves, items, and Abilities. I'll cover each in its own section later.

Types

Now that we're through with stats, let's move on to something much simpler but just as important: typing. There are 18 types in total. Each Pokemon has one or two types and each attack has one type. These 18 types all interact with each other like a convoluted game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, as shown below:

(Feel free to right click -> Open image in new tab if it's too small to read)

Yeah, kinda crazy. Don't worry, you'll figure it out in time with enough practice and if you get lost, you can always refer back to this chart. Type effectiveness works in battle by changing the power of moves. If a Pokemon uses a Fire-type move against a Grass-type Pokemon, it would deal damage double than what it would do normally. If it's the other way around (Grass move versus Fire Pokemon), it would only deal half damage. These also stack/cancel. For example, the aforementioned Pidgeot is Normal/Flying type. Normal-type Pokemon take double damage from Fighting-type moves, but Flying types only take half damage. As a result, they cancel each other out and Pidgeot takes normal damage.

Moves

Of course, the big attraction. It's about time we got here! Each Pokemon has a list of moves it can learn through various methods. Moves are divided into two categories: attacking moves and non-attacking moves. Moves, despite their seeming simplicity, actually have quite a few different parts to them, so let's break them down, shall we?

Base Power - Each attacking move has an assigned power to it which is used in calculating how much damage it deals. Higher-power moves usually have a trade-off, such as lower accuracy or lowering the user's stats.

Type - As we've discussed before, each move has an assigned type. Type matchups change the power of attacking moves. In addition, if the move is the same type as the Pokemon using it, it gains a 50% damage boost, known as Same-Type Attack Bonus, or STAB for short.

Accuracy - The likelihood of the move hitting the target. Most moves have 100% accuracy, but some, such as Leaf Storm and Hurricane, are lower.

Category - Whether the move is physical, special, or status. Physical attacking moves use the Attack and Defense stats while calculating damage, while special attacking moves use Sp. Attack and Sp. Defense. Status moves are the game's catch-all term for non-attacking moves.

PP - Power Points, how many times per battle you can use a single move. Doesn't often come into play except during stall battles.

Effect - Most moves have an added effect. They may lower the opponent's stats, raise your stats, inflict status conditions on the opponent, flinch the opponent (preventing them from moving if you're faster), and much more. Attacking moves usually have a low chance of activating their effect, but non-attacking moves will always perform their effects at the cost of dealing no damage to the opponent.

Status Conditions

You can rarely expect to go through a battle without running into a status condition at some point or another. They give various different negative effects to a Pokemon and can easily be either your saving grace or your downfall. They are divided into volatile and non-volatile conditions (although you rarely hear this terminology used). A Pokemon can only have one non-volatile status condition at a time, but there's no limit to how many volatile conditions a single Pokemon can be under.

Non-Volatile Status Conditions

Burn - Halves the Attack stat; deals 1/16 of a Pokemon's max HP each turn. Fire-type Pokemon are immune.

Freeze - The Pokemon is unable to use moves; 20% chance of thawing each turn; will thaw immediately if hit by a damaging Fire-Type move, Scald, or Steam Eruption or if using the move Fusion Flare, Flame Wheel, Sacred Fire, Flare Blitz, Scald, or Steam Eruption. Ice-type Pokemon are immune.

Paralysis - Halves the Speed stat; afflicted Pokemon have a 25% chance to be unable to move each turn. Electric-type Pokemon are immune.

Poison - Deals 1/8 of a Pokemon's max HP each turn. Poison- and Steel-type Pokemon are immune.

Badly Poisoned - Deals compounding damage each turn (1/16 max HP first turn, 2/16 max HP second turn, 3/16 third, etc). Counter resets if switched out. Poison- and Steel-type Pokemon are immune.

Sleep - Afflicted Pokemon is unable to move for 1-3 turns.

Volatile Status Conditions

*All volatile status conditions can be cured by switching out*

*There are many volatile status conditions, so I'm only covering the most common ones*

Confusion - 33% chance for the Pokemon to hurt itself instead of using a move. Lasts 1-4 turns.

Encore - The Pokemon is forced to repeat the same move for 3 turns

Infatuation - Unable to attack 50% of the time. Lasts until switched out.

Leech Seed - Each turn, the Pokemon loses 1/8 of its max HP and the opponent is healed by the same amount. Lasts until switched out. Grass-type Pokemon are immune.

Perish Song - After three turns, all Pokemon who were on the field when Perish Song was used will faint unless switched out.

Taunt - Unable to use any non-attacking moves for 3 turns

Abilities

Each Pokemon also has an Ability. An Ability is a special effect that affects how a Pokemon operates in battle. Most are useful, but some serve either no role or a very niche one, and some are even hindering to the Pokemon. Each species of Pokemon can have up to three Abilities to choose between, but you can only have one on your Pokemon. To get a grasp of what Abilities can do, let's look at our good friend Pidgeot's Abilities:

Keen Eye - This Pokemon's accuracy can't be lowered by others

Tangled Feet - This Pokemon's evasiveness is doubled as long as it is confused

Big Pecks - Prevents other Pokemon from lowering its Defense stat

And that's just a sample of what Abilities can do. Some can heal you, some can give you stat boosts, still others can make you immune to certain moves. It would be lunacy for me to try and list out all 200+ Abilities here, especially since so many of them are unique to a single Pokemon or evolutionary line, but if you want to read through them, they can be found right here.

Items

You can also give your Pokemon an item to hold. They can have a plethora of different effects. Here are some of the more common ones you'll see:

Life Orb - Increases attack power by 1.3x, but user uses 1/10 max HP whenever it attacks

"Choice" Items - The Choice Scarf, Choice Band, and Choice Specs boost Speed, Attack, and Sp. Attack respectively by 1.5x, but lock the user into only using a single move. Resets when switched out.

Leftovers - Heals 1/16 max HP at the end of every turn.

Assault Vest - Increases Sp. Defense by 1.5x, but the user can only use attacking moves.

"Confusion Berries" - Also called "50% Berries." Heals 50% of a Pokemon's HP when it drops below 25%. Single use.

Sitrus Berry - Heals 25% of a Pokemon's HP when it drops below 50%. Single use.

"Type" Berries - Reduces damage from a super-effective move. Single use.

Focus Sash - If the user is at max HP and is hit with an attack that would have otherwise KO'd it, it will survive on one HP. Single use.

Eviolite - If the Pokemon is not fully evolved, raises both Defense and Sp. Defense by 1.5x

Z-Crystals - Once per battle, the user can unleash a super-powerful Z-Move instead of a normal attack. Comes in type varieties (Grassium Z, Waterium Z, etc.).

Mega Evolution

Just over 50 Pokemon have alternate forms called Mega Evolutions. Mega Evolutions are stronger versions of their non-Mega counterparts, often with different Abilities and sometimes even typings, but otherwise act the same as normal Pokemon. For example, here is Mega Pidgeot:

As you can see, the stats improve. Its Ability also changes to No Guard, which makes all moves used by or against it have 100% accuracy. So why is this listed under the "Items" category, you may be asking? Well, in order to Mega Evolve, the Pokemon must be holding its Mega Stone. In Pidgeot's case, that's the Pidgeotite. Yes, that's as creative as the names get. If the Pokemon's holding the Mega Stone, then in battle, it can Mega Evolve and attack (in the same turn) with its improved stats right away.

Additional Resources

serebii.net - Your one-stop-shop for everything you need. Here are some direct links to their Pokedex, AttackDex, ItemDex, and AbilityDex.

Pokemon Damage Calculator - Helps you to easily calculate stats and damage calculations

DI's very own Pokemon Showdown server!

@Eastonn8

@13thShade

@Nitro

Anything you think I should add?

[Rufhie 4,080/5000]

Very nicely written! I really need to memorize that type matchup thing.

[Guest SpiritGosu]

I use to be super into Pokemon during Platinum/Diamond haha. It's been years for me since I stepped into a Pokemon scene but man, the level of in-depth information just keeps growing if you want to try-hard this game. Spectacular!

[Fluffy 54/300]

Oh dude amazing, I never played pokemon before. when the time comes ill play it and use this guide!

[Plok 0/300]

thank you for this kooldewd :]

[Eroe 0/300]

Wow this is awesome! One thing you might want to mention is that ( IIRC) burn only does 1/16 in Gen I and Gen VII. It does 1/8 in Gen II-VI.

[Kastion 0/300]

Awesome guide @KoolDewd123!

@Nitro @13thShade :o

Can you guys add this to the Repository?

[KoolDewd123 0/300]

4 minutes ago, Eroe said:

Wow this is awesome! One thing you might want to mention is that ( IIRC) burn only does 1/16 in Gen I and Gen VII. It does 1/8 in Gen II-VI.

The problem is that there's a lot of tiny tweaks like that through the Gens. How long status conditions last, how much damage they can do, how much they reduce stats by, etc. Adding those in would be too complex and I want to make this as simple as possible, so I'm going off of what they do now, not what they did in the past.

[13thShade 4,323/5000]

Approved.

[Guest lutonmad]

This is great, thank you for taking the time to write this!

[Nitro 2,318/3200]

Approved! @KoolDewd123 could you remind me via Discord to add this to the Guide Repository later?

[Eroe 0/300]

8 hours ago, KoolDewd123 said:

The problem is that there's a lot of tiny tweaks like that through the Gens. How long status conditions last, how much damage they can do, how much they reduce stats by, etc. Adding those in would be too complex and I want to make this as simple as possible, so I'm going off of what they do now, not what they did in the past.

Ah yeah. I guess that would be annoying to add everything lol. Either way nice guide!

[Guest quinnchar]

i dont get it

(yes i do)

[QwelloLee 0/300]

Great job @KoolDewd123! However I noticed you didn't mention anything about STAB, maybe add something in the "Moves" section?

[KoolDewd123 0/300]

4 hours ago, QwelloLee said:

Great job @KoolDewd123! However I noticed you didn't mention anything about STAB, maybe add something in the "Moves" section?

Oh right! I meant to add it and forgot. Thanks for reminding me!