Sidequest stuff. Nuff said.
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Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff
Type: Normal
Ability(s): Cute Charm
Jigglypuff wishes she was as good as she was in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Available to players who bother to backtrack to Route 115 (presumably to
get the Focus Punch TM), Jigglypuff can be best described as a poor man's version of
Whismur. Like Whismur, JP has normal typing and a very good TM movepool
(compared to Whismur's line, JP's line gets Thunderbolt and Psychic, but
lacks Earthquake), but her stats are quite a bit worse than his, as
I'll get to in the next paragraph. Obviously, normal typing is usually
beneficial to any Pokemon's offense (who doesn't like STAB Return/Secret
Power/Strength?), and defensively, it's not too special, only having an
immunity to a type that's only significant in one endgame boss fight,
and a single weakness that, thankfully, isn't common at this point.
Besides that massive 115 HP stat (in and out of itself awesome for
something that isn't fully evolved), JP's stats are pretty much a bigger
joke than Shaq Fu; 45/45 offenses are pretty pitiful at this point in
the game, while 20/25 defenses coupled with 20 speed is absolutely
fucking disgusting. While evolution does improve this somewhat (and you
can evolve JP as soon as you catch her too, assuming you didn't waste
your only moon stone on a Skitty), you're still dealing with a Pokemon
with Linoone level attack (special attack being five points higher),
Ninjask grade defenses, and a speed stat equivalent to Golem's. At least
140 HP is kind of cool, but all that equates to is the ability to soak
hits better, but at the same time, eating up potions faster than you can
say 'fuck'.
While most players could say that what WT does at least decently is
being a mixed attacker with STAB Strength, Bolt Beam, and maybe something
like Shadow Ball for ghosts, but she's not doing anything of
significance in most boss fights that someone else is doing better (e.g.
Water kings are better dealt with by an electric/grass type or
something that resists water). Still, she's decent at what she does,
though she does beg for a little more speed so she doesn't get
victimized by assholes who use flinching/accuracy dropping moves.
Another thing worth considering is Sing, though you'll need a heart
scale to get it, since it is overridden a long time ago. It is
inaccurate as all hell (only +5% more accurate than a Dynamic Punch),
but the fact that it puts things to sleep can be very helpful for
catching the Regis. It's not the best option available, but it is there
if you need a sleeper or something.
Basically, a slightly bulkier, but weaker and slower Exploud that has
the benefit of evolving as soon as she's caught, but isn't very
spectacular outside of base 140 HP. If only she was as good as she was
in Melee, because if she was, she'd get a top score, but unfortunately,
this is not the case.
4/10
Magnemite/Magneton
Type: Electric/Steel
Ability(s): Sturdy/Magnet Pull
Magnemite is one of the two new Pokemon that can be caught in New
Mauville, and this thing is like Electrike with better special offense
and physical durability, as well as extra steel typing. Unlike
Electrike, Magnemite's beginnings are quite good, coming at Lv22-26 and
being at worst 4 levels from STAB Spark (at best, he will have it
already), and a fairly early Lv30 evolution on top of that. It also
helps that Magnemite joins right before a flying gym, so he can earn
extremely easy exp from there (be very mindful of Winona's Altaria).
In a stark contrast to other electric types (who tend to be of the glass
cannon type), Magneton is quite durable, sporting 50/95/70 defenses and
steel typing, allowing him to take on the likes of the twins and Sid
quite comfortably, and making the Winona battle even more of a joke
(sans Altaria.) Now, this isn't to say Magneton is offensively inept
either, since he sports an incredible 120 base SpA (which is what
Kadabra has), giving him a better offensive game than any of the other
electrics (hell, it's actually enough for him to justify using Spark as
his STAB instead of gobbling up the only free Thunderbolt TM), though 70
speed is a bit of a disappointment. Thankfully, 70 speed is still
enough to outspeed most Pokemon you face, especially with T-Wave backing.
What Magneton has in stats, he lacks in movepool, and let's face it; his
movepool is among the worst in the game. Lv26 Spark is pretty much the
highlight of his level up movepool, and the only other really useful
move is Lv44 Tri Attack, but that isn't going to do a whole hell of a
lot off 60 attack, not to mention that Lv44 is around when you fight
Juan. As for his TM movepool, you're joking, rite? All he gets through
TM are electric and normal moves, and as a lot of guys on Smogon put it,
he is very reliant on Hidden Power for coverage, making it a somewhat
notable, but risky option, though your chances of getting a water, grass, or ice typed Hidden Power with 60+ BP are up a rat's ass.
It should be noted that while it is possible to catch a pre-evolved
Magneton in New Mauville, the encounter rate is the same as Seedot's, so
don't bother.
Good, but not as good as BW2 Magnemite.
7/10
Voltorb/Electrode
Type: Electric
Ability(s): Static/Soundproof
Voltorb is like Magnemite if he was significantly faster and could explode, but worse everywhere else.
Found in the same area as Magnemite, Voltorb looks like a promising
Pokemon to train, considering that he comes at the same level as
Magnemite with the same chance of encounter. Also helping his case is
showing up before a flying gym and waterfest. Unfortunately, he isn't as
good as Magnemite at killing things, despite coming with Spark
regardless of level. I'm going to be perfectly fucking honest with you,
50 SpA is pretty underwhelming at this point in the game, and even with
an early Lv30 evolution, it isn't a whole lot better than Minun's (and
it's actually slightly worse than Plusle's). 140 speed as Electrode is
cute and all, but he begs for more attack power and maybe some better
durability as 60/70/80 defenses are mediocre at best.
Like Magnemite, Voltorb has some severe movepool issues, with his TM
movepool being just as bad as Magnemite's. Outside of Lv21 Spark, he
gets no other electric moves through level (HINT: Use the Thunderbolt TM
as his SpA isn't high enough to get away with using Spark), and
everything else other than Lv27 Self Destruct and Lv54 Explosion is
pretty much not worth jack shit about. Speaking of those moves, that is
pretty much Voltorb's niche amongst electric types, and since he's
insanely fast (out of the Pokemon in the entire National Dex up to the
point when Emerald was released, only Deoxys and Ninjask are faster), he
can easily blow himself up before the opponent can act, though with
only 50 attack, you will find that Self Destruct might fall short on
bulkier opponents. Explosion is a stronger version, but that shows up at
Lv54, a level which I doubt you will be reaching ingame.
Unlike Magnemite (who you have a 1% chance of finding a wild Magneton in
New Mauville; Electrode has the same odds), it is entirely possible to
find wild Electrode in the Aqua Hideout at Lv30, thus allowing you to
skip the massive suck phase that is Voltorb, though you will want to
save before catching them as they have Self Destruct already learned
(and the catch rate fucking sucks, so you will need to weaken them,
increasing the risk of them committing suicide). The only con to this is
that he misses out on Winona.
Basically, Electrode is a mediocre excuse of an electric type, but at
least he gets points for being able to commit suicide, which puts him
above the rats in my opinion.
5/10
Carvanha/Sharpedo
Type: Water/Dark
Ability(s): Rough Skin
The first Pokemon you can catch using the Route 118 good rod, Carvanha
can be best described as Cacnea with water typing and higher speed, but
worse defenses. Catch one at ~Lv25 (the levels range from 10-30, so I
highly recommend running away from anything that is less than Lv25), and
he can begin pulling his weight almost immediately with STAB
Surf/Crunch and with evolution a mere ~5 levels away. Unfortunately,
Carvanha comes at a somewhat inconvenient time since Routes 119 and 120
are full of grass and bug trainers that hit him super effectively as
well as the former resisting Surf, plus most of the gyms that he'd be
great in earlygame are but a distant memory, though the psychic gym is
just around the corner.
As soon as you get the good rod, being a water type isn't anything
special if you decided that you didn't liek Mudkipz or ignored the
opportunity to catch any one of the other water types found in the
western half of Hoenn. Carvanha is one of four new Pokemon that
you can scoop up using your fancy new good rod before you set out for
Fortree, so what's so special about him, when any of the others can make
good Surf bots/dragon killers?
For starters, Sharpedo has water/dark typing in his favor, the typing of
which is only shared by one other Pokemon as of Generation V (let alone
just Generation III). While it certainly does him very few favors
defensively (doesn't lose electric/grass weaknesses and gets fighting
and bug tacked on, though you gain a psychic immunity), it is
offensively beneficial against the twins and Phoebe, as well as the
clusterfuck of psychics and hex maniacs inside Mt. Pyre. While the added
fighting weak is a shame, thankfully Brawly is but a distant memory and
black belts are rare lategame.
Statwise, Sharpedo can be best described as a glass cannon. This thing
boasts better offensive bases than Swampert with 10 higher Atk/SpA and a
whopping 35 higher speed, meaning that Sharpedo is consistently hitting
hard and fast. And thank god he does because his durability is the
equivalent of papier mache. With only 70/40/40 in his defenses, Sharpedo
is hard pressed to take any reasonably strong STAB move, and he is not
taking any sort of super effective move like ever. And it is a shame
that his Rough Skin ability is wasted on shit-tastic defenses, since it
would be pretty fucking funny to see the enemy die of self-inflicted
chip damage.
Once you look past that Lv22 Crunch, Sharpedo's level up movepool is
nothing to brag about, and he doesn't get any water moves through level
up, but considering that you will have Surf by this point (you can't
even get the good rod without Surf), this isn't all that big a problem.
His TM movepool could certainly be a bit better, but getting Earthquake
is a plus considering his attack stat, and Ice Beam is readily available
for all your dragon killing needs. Other than that, he can make a
pretty damn good HM slave just in case you needed one (he learns 5 of 8
HMs, the only ones he can't learn being Cut, Fly, and Flash).
Not much more to say, other than being a stronger, faster Swampert with less than half his durability and trades an electric immunity for a psychic immunity.
7.5/10
Corphish/Crawdaunt
Type: Water, Water/Dark (Crawdaunt)
Ability(s): Shell Armor/Hyper Cutter
Caught on Route 117 using the good rod, Corphish is basically Carvanha
that is slightly more geared towards defense, but has worse offensive
parameters as a result. Like Carvanha, he can be caught at a relatively
high level, and with a Lv30 evolution right around the corner, Corphish
can contribute to fights in virtually the same way as Carvanha, though
statwise, he isn't nearly as fast as Sharpedo (actually, he's slower
than Sharpedo by a full 40 points), but has around the same attacking
stats with noticeably better bulk, meaning that he won't die if
something looks at him funny (keep him away from anything packing an
electric/grass attack, though.)
Everything that I said about Sharpedo's boss performance is pretty much
applicable to Crawdaunt (both have the same type and everything), but
with one major difference: Crawdaunt does not learn any damaging dark
moves through level up outside of Lv25 Knock Off (which we aren't
running since lol 20 BP) , meaning that his advantages against the twins
and Phoebe are only defensive. Granted, STAB Surf still rips the twins
apart, and Ice Beam still gets Drake's dragons, but face it: Not getting
proper STAB on your secondary type hurts. Even if Crawdaunt could learn
Crunch like he could in FR/LG, he gets it at Lv51.
So what does Crawdaunt have on Sharpedo, aside from better bulk? For
starters, he has a better physical movepool and the ability to set up.
While not getting Earthquake does kind of bite, he does get Brick Break
and Aerial Ace to make up for the fact that he's lacking dark STAB, the
former of which makes him pretty boss in the Sid and Glacia fights and
the latter covering 3 of his 4 weaknesses all in one move, with the
icing on the cake being Lv44 Swords Dance, which allows him to set up on
bosses and pretty much annihilate them after a few boosts.
Basically, Crawdaunt is a solid water type who wishes that he got a
stronger fucking dark STAB than fucking Knock Off and was a bit faster,
since 55 speed is pretty fucking depressing to look at.
6.5/10
Wailmer/Wailord
Type: Water
Ability(s): Water Veil/Oblivious
Another water type you can catch using the good rod, this time on Route
110, Wailmer is somewhat interesting to look at. Unevolved, he has...
130 HP (5 more than what Lanturn has, and the only Pokemon in the Hoenn
dex that have higher, besides his evolved form, are Wigglytuff,
Hariyama, Slaking, and Wobbuffet), which I have to say is very
impressive, and a lot of fully evolved Pokemon wouldn't mind having that
much HP. However, I can't exactly say the same for his other stats.
70's in either offense with mono water are serviceable at best, but what
drags this tub of shit down is his durability. 35's in either of his
defenses are god fucking awful for this point in the game, and despite
having a high HP buffer to mitigate this somewhat, you will find that he
still gets 2HKO'd by any reasonably strong STAB attack (super effective
hits pretty much kill you in at least 2 hits no matter what). 60 speed
is also piss poor by this point, and you will also find that he's
getting outsped by basically any reasonably fast opponent.
Unfortunately, unlike the other three water types you can get using the
good rod, Wailmer evolves at the high level of 40, which is the same as
Loudred and the fossils. What this equates to is that Wailmer's
contributions are quite worse than Sharpedo or Crawdaunt's since they
get their evolution bonuses earlier. And even once he does evolve, he
still happens to be worse than them. Evolution gives him 170 HP and
90/90 offenses, which are good in and out of themselves, but his speed
doesn't improve and his defenses are only 5 points higher than
Sharpedo's. And unlike the last two good rod Pokemon I rated, he doesn't
get either dark STAB or a good physical movepool, but at the very
least, he does get Surf, Ice Beam, and Strength. Earthquake is an option
as well, but too bad everyone and their fucking great-grandmother wants
that. However, one move of note in his movepool is Lv44 Water Spout,
which is basically a reverse Flail that gets weaker as your HP
diminishes, which considering your speed, or lack thereof, will be
happening a lot.
Basically, Wailord can do mostly the same things as other water types
can do with Surf, and is decently bulky (those defenses can only do so
much, high HP or no), but it wishes it were about 20 points faster and
perhaps had 20 more defenses. Until that happens, Wailmer isn't
something I would highly recommend to an efficient player.
6/10
Barboach/Whiscash
Type: Water/Ground
Ability(s): Oblivious
Barboach is like Mudkip if he had worse overall stats except HP, but got crucial moves earlier.
Caught using the good rod on Route 111 in the pond just outside of the
Winstrate's house, Barboach is probably the last new water type you'll
see for a while before you get Dive and the super rod. Coming at the
same level as the other good rod joiners, Barboach is already dressed to
kill with STAB Surf and Magnitude right off the bat and evolution
happening at Lv30, the same as Carvanha and Corphish, which means that
like the rest of them, he's already positively contributing.
However, his unevolved phase is somewhat worse than theirs due to
overall crappy base stats as Barboach, because let's face it, 48/46/60
offenses just plain suck at this point and 50/43/41 defenses hold up a
lot worse than Wailmer's. Evolution does wonders for Whiscash, giving
him better attacking and defending stats (they are still pretty modest
in comparison to the hard hitters/defenders) as well as a massive
increase in HP, though his speed does not improve as Whiscash, so expect
to be outsped a lot. Granted, this doesn't bug him as much as, say,
Wigglytuff, since his defenses are actually decent and he only has one
weakness to contend with.
Speaking of weaknesses, the big thing he has going for him is the
water/ground typing he shares with Mudkip's evolved forms. Like I
mentioned with Mudkip's rating, this typing renders Whiscash immune to
electricity and gives him one solitary weakness to a rare type.
Unfortunately, the areas around Fortree are littered with Pokemon
Rangers that specialize in grass, so Routes 119 and 120 might not be the
best places in the world to do your training. You also have resistances
to poison and rock, which quite frankly, do not really matter at this
point, but you don't have the same resistance to water that your
brethren have.
Whiscash has pretty much no issues with movepool whatsoever. He already
has two good moves in Surf and Magnitude, with Earthquake coming as
early as Lv31 if you postpone Barboach's evolution, which means that
he's pretty much set for STABs. This, along with the Ice Beam TM to
smack grass and dragon types around, means that he has no issues with
coverage whatsoever. This also allows him to run something like Amnesia
to combat special heavy bosses better (READ: twins, Glacia, and the water kings).
Whiscash, while not bad, is in the unfortunate position of being
inferior to Swampert. But then again, I could say the same for any water
type that wasn't Swampert, so I'm not going to hold that against him.
7/10
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