HeartGold / SoulSilver anticipation

It's 2-1/2 weeks away, and I've been considering the release...

Good:
I've heard the graphics look amazing.
16 badges.
The trainer "Red" has level 80+ Pokemon - that is pretty high end...I'm guessing there's enough experience points in the storyline to merit that kind of battle.
Lucky Eggs can be found starting with level 41 Pokemon with Pickup.
Auto-leveling Pokemon for one-on-one battles, through the regular wireless. This is a boon if you want to play a random pick-up game.

Unknown:
Pokéwalker - is it distracting, or a welcome addition?

I pre-ordered SS, so I could get the Lugia figure. I never got into Ho-Oh - even in the TFG, Lugia was so good-looking. And I wanted a Vulpix/Ninetales, which is exclusive to SS.

Starter Pokemon - Feraligatr (Totodile). He was cool in the TFG, and his move-set gives the most variety in types, followed by Typhlosion. Meganium, well, tough love.

What are you looking forward to?

Jirachi download

Officially announced today - Jirachi download for Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, at GameStop locations around the US from Saturday February 27th - March 13th.

Jirachi was previously only released in the US as a special promo Pokemon, included on a bonus disc for Pokemon Colosseum.

This new promotional download will feature a level 5 Jirachi, allegedly holding a Leichi Berry. (I was hoping to finally see berry 63 released - that one was only released through a special download in Japan.)

Announcement is here:
http://www.pokemon.com/us/special/jirachi

Shiny Pichu download

Between January 30th and February 14th, you can download a shiny Pichu into your Diamond/Pearl/Platinum game. This will take place in GameStop stores around the US...

Later, if you transfer it into your HeartGold or SoulSilver, it lets you meet the spiky-eared Pichu.

http://www.pokemon.com/us/news/vg_pichu_promo_final-2010-01-25/

Battling and catch up

My Rainy Day team has gotten beaten up a lot in the wi-fi random battles in Pokemon Battle Revolution. So many people battling with uber-Pokemon (Darkrai, Palkia, Dialga, Giratina, even an Arceus). I'm building some Pokemon that I can pack as my 2 extra Pokemon, to function as my thugs in case of ubers.

Once I test them, I'll post my answering Pokemon, along with how the worked out in the field. One of them is Porygon-Z. The IVs on it were crazy good. I wanted a Togetic with a move from the Emerald move tutor, but all of my Togetic Pokemon are no longer in the gameboy advance games...and you can't find them in the wild. Tough love!

Upcoming download! I don't think it's official from the Pokemon site yet, but people have been saying that the Arceus download event for D/P/Pt will be at Toys R Us from November 7th - November 15th.

New Battles

I recently started battling again, this time with a friend I haven't seen for awhile. We organized a late night wi-fi double battle, 4 Pokemon, level 30 - expanded Sinnoh dex.

I got crushed, his 3 matches to my one. We swapped out Pokemon between matches - I stayed away from my favorite Weavile, as he was running it consistently. He had some killer Pokemon - Drapion, Gliscor, Blissey, and Scizor, to name a few. (His Umbreon was a tank!)

My Sunny Day team didn't get off the ground - Weavile's Ice moves wrecked shop on all the Grass Pokemon. I figure I need to get a fast Fire-type to get Sunny Day started. That's some good feedback, at least.

Double battle is tough - you don't have time for a lot of tricks, because you have two Pokemon threatening to double team your set-up. My only win came from using my better Pokemon from an earlier tournament, and my opponent using a 'B' team. My next post, I'll cover my new Pokemon team, for the rematch!

Oak's Letter for Platinum

You'll be able to download "Oak's Letter" for your Pokemon Platinum game, from Monday September 28th through November 8th. (2009, probably US only.)

This Mystery Gift can be received through the Ninteno Wi-Fi Connection, which will unlock a special event to catch a Level 30 Shaymin.

In a related note, you can stop by Floaroma Town, and pick up the Gracidea Flower key item - this will allow Shaymin to use its Sky Forme - it has a higher Special Attack and Speed, as well as different move tutor attacks.

Explaining Catch Rates

You’ll probably want to refer to guides to see what the catch rate for individual Pokemon are. (Serebii lists the Pokemon catch rates.) CatchRate is specific to each Pokemon. Higher is easier to catch. Abra is a 200, which means it is more difficult to catch than Geodude, which is 255.

There’s a math formula for figuring out how easy it is to catch a Pokemon:

( ( 3*MaxHP - 2*CurrentHP) * CatchRate) / 3*MaxHP

When you throw a PokeBall, it’ll quickly figure out your chances, against a random number that is generated between 0 to 255.

Let’s try to catch that Abra. It uses Teleport as its only attack, so we'll only get one shot at it. The level 8 Abra has 24 HP. I’ll try to throw a regular Pokeball, while Abra is unhurt. It’s MaxHP and Current HP are the same – it works out to 3(24) – 2(24) = 1(24) = 24. Multiply it by 200, Abra’s CatchRate, and you end up with 4800. Divided by three times its MaxHP, it’s got a 67. Against the random number generator, you’ll catch an unhurt 24 HP Abra about 25% of the time, before it teleports away.

Improving capture methods:

The actual formula adds more modifiers, for special conditions and what kind of ball you use:

Status * BallModifier * ( ( 3*MaxHP - 2*CurrentHP) * CatchRate) / 3*MaxHP

Status is the effect of a special condition, the higher the number, the better.

Frozen or Asleep: 2

Paralyzed, Poisoned, or Burned: 1.5

Other conditions/no condition: 1

As you can see, Asleep is the best modifier (Frozen is really good, but hard to use - there aren't a lot of moves that freeze reliably.) If Asleep won't work against the Pokemon, I'll try Paralyzed...it doesn't run the risk of KO'ing the Pokemon, like Poisoned or Burned does.

The higher the BallModifier, the more your chances improve:

(Specialty Balls always have a minimum multiplier of x1.)

Poke Ball, Premier Ball, Luxury Ball, Heal Ball: x1

Great Ball: x1.5

Ultra Ball: x2

Dive Ball: x3.5 for underwater Pokemon (Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald) or Pokemon in water for other games

Nest Ball: x3 for Pokemon levels 1-19, x2 for levels 20-29

Net Ball: x3, but only for Water-type and Bug-type

Repeat Ball: x3, but only for Pokemon you’ve already caught

Dusk Ball: x4, but only works at night or underground

Quick Ball: x4, but decreases every 5 rounds – after round 16 it stays at x1

Timer Ball: x4 at 30 rounds or more, x3 for 20-29 rounds, x2 for 10-19 rounds

Let’s take a second look at catching that Abra. If I manage to get it Asleep before it uses Teleport, I double my chances catching it with a Poke Ball. If I use an Ultra Ball, it doubles my chances again – my 67 * 4 = 268 will always be higher than the random number being generated.

In wrap-up, there are several different formulas out there for figuring out catch rates. Some of them didn’t work mathematically, while others didn’t match my experiences. As nothing official has ever been posted about it, I’d use these as ideas on how to improve your catching experiences.