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[WIP] Introduction to PokeMMO


DaftKitteh

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This guide is UNFINISHED.  Any input/feedback/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

What this guide is for.

 

The main idea of this guide is to make sure that basic information about PokeMMO is readily available to those who are new or inexperienced with specific or all parts of the PokeMMO experience.  It's designed to give you the bare minimum to get you started, and to set you down the right road.  If successful, this guide will teach you how to get started in various aspects of the game without being too complex or taking too much time to read, but will point you to where you can get more in depth knowledge of a subject if you'd like to continue learning.  Think of it like the instructions manual you get when you buy a new game.

 

This guide is not attempting to be a collection of in depth knowledge.  If you'd like to study a certain aspect of the game in depth, I'd suggest finding a guide in the Guide Tavern Index that covers the topic you're interested in.

 

This guide is also not here to guide you through the storyline, if you're stuck on a part of the storyline then look up a Walk-through of the region you're in.  This guide for the most part assumes you've beaten the E4 in both regions and finished the Sevii Islands quest.
 

Table of Contents:

 

The Most Basic Stuff:

  1. Quick links to useful resources
  2. Guide to using this guide
  3. Where to seek help

Basics of the Game:

  1. Navigating the client.
  2. Some basic things to cover about the game
  3. Basic explanation of the social systems in PokeMMO
  4. Beware of scammers!
  5. Finding a team that suits you

Basics of the Forums:

  1. Probably just gonna link the forum guide

How to Make Money:

  1. Gaining money

Getting Started with Breeding:
 

Getting Started with Competitive Play:

  1. Getting into the Scene
  2. Basic Information About Competitive Play
  3. Building a Competitive Pokemon Collection
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~~The Most Basic stuff~~

Guide to Using This Guide

 

This guide is intended to be read as individual parts, however you can read the whole thing if you choose.  Hopefully when it's complete each section will be independent, so if you're curious about a subject like Competitive play you can just read the section that details Competitive play without having to read any of the others. 

 

Useful Tips:

- Use Ctrl F: The sections are named exactly as they are in the table of contents.  If you're curious how to get into Breeding hit Ctrl F and type Getting Started with Breeding and it'll take you exactly where you need to go.

 

 

Quick Links to Useful Resources

Note: Due to having so many dependencies on links for this guide, some of the things I link in this guide will inevitably stop working.  If a link no longer works and I'm not around to update it, Google/a quick search through the most recent Guide Tavern Index is probably the best way to track down the information you're after.

[spoiler]

Guide Tavern Index

The Guide Tavern Index was written by Noad, and is a collection of the guides that are in the Guide Tavern Section.
Bulbapedia

Bulbapedia is a new players best friend.  It's a vast collection of knowledge including in depth information about Pokemon, moves, abilities, mechanics and various other things.

Showdown Calcs

A damage calculator that allows you to calculate battle scenarios with precision.  Also allows you to see the stats of a Pokemon after EVs, Nature and IVs are added.

Psypoke: Team Type Analysis
Allows you to input the types of the Pokemon in your team, then shows you what your weaknesses/resistances are.

Marriland: Team Type Analysis
I prefer Psypokes because it runs better, but Mariland's team builder has a bit more polish so I figured I'd mention it.  It basically does the same as the Psypokes tool.

[/spoiler]

 

Where to Seek Help

This section is designed to explain what options players have when they have an issue that needs to be addressed.

 

Google:

The first thing I'd recommend any time you have an issue is to google it.  9/10 times you can find the solution to things via a quick google search.

 

On the Forums:

[spoiler]
Messaging a Staff Member:
If you're unsure about something feel free to send a private message to a Staff Member asking for assistance.
 

Technical Support:

When you've got a technical issue that you need assistance in solving you can make a support request here: https://forums.pokemmo.eu/index.php?/forum/47-support-request/
Be sure to read the forum section rules before posting.
 

Reporting a Bug/Glitch:

Occasionally you'll come across something that just isn't working quite right.  If that happens then make a post in Bug Reports about the bug, and describe the bug in as much detail as possible.
Before making a bug report it doesn't hurt to read over the List of Intentional Gameplay Changes Between PokeMMO and Fire Red just to make sure the change isn't intentional.

 

Reporting a Player: 

Unfortunately at some point you may come across a bad egg that's breaking the rules.  If so then go to the Player Report section and make a thread including as much evidence as possible.  As with all the previous Support options, please read the rules of the section before posting.

Here's a list of the Rules for In Game and on the Forums.

[/spoiler]

In Game:

[spoiler]

Gameplay Inquiry:

If google yielded no results, try asking in Global/Channel chats.  Often times a member of our community will be happy to help some one in need of assistance.
 

Make a Support Request Ticket:

You can make a Support Request in game by going Menu > Support Request then selecting the type of support request you'd like to make.
Note: If no one responds to your Support Request in game, it may mean that a moderator is not currently available in game.  If that's the

case then please use one of the options listed above on the forums and a moderator will take care of it whenever they become available. 

 

Examples of when to use the Support Request Feature:

- Technical issues that you might need moderator assistance

- Player reports: Either reporting the player for breaking the Code of Conduct or reporting them for having an inappropriate username.

- Bug reports: If you come across a bug or glitch then make a Bug Report.
[gonna seek help on this one just to make sure I cover everything without mistakes]

[/spoiler]

Edited by DaftKitteh
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~~Basics of the Game~~

 

Navigating the Client

Main Window of the Client:
This is what you'll see when you're running around. 

[spoiler]

Screenshot of Main Window
[spoiler]

Note: I'm gonna pretty it up a bit once I have a reasonable amount of this guide done.

ivcBNx1.png[/spoiler]

 

1. Chatbox: Self explanatory, this is for chatting.

  • 1a. Chat Tabs: You can edit these by using the steps described in 1b.
  • 1b. Chatbox Settings: If you open this menu up you're able to add new chat tabs shown in 1a, as well as edit them to show or hide specific chat channels.
  • 1c. Language Settings: Allows you to change your client language(This changes what language you speak in), as well as show/hide specific language channels. So if you only understand English, you can go in here and uncheck all the other language channels and you'll only see the English chat channel.
  • 1d. Current Chat Channel: This is the chat channel you're currently speaking in, so when you type and hit ENTER your message will go to there. Click this box to change chat channels, or alternatively type any of the following commands:
    /n : Changes to Normal Chat
    /ch : Changes to Channel chat
    /gl : Changes to Global Chat
    /tr : Changes to Trade Chat
    /t : Changes to Team Chat
    /s : Changes to Shout Chat
    I'll go more in depth on the different channels when I explain PokeMMO's social structure.
  • 1e. Unlock Chat: If you click this you'll be able to resize the chat box via clicking on the borders and dragging. This will also make the chatbox semi-transparent unless you're typing.

2. Toolbar: Where a variety of useful features are activated via button press.

  • 2a. Game Time: This will tell you what time it currently is in the game.
  • 2b. Bag: Where all your items go. There's an individual pouch for: Standard Items, Key Items, Poke Balls, Berries, and Cosmetics(probably forgetting something, will worry about the specifics later)
  • 2c. Trainer Card: Tells you a variety of different things about your character.
  • 2d. PokeDex: Where you keep all the info on your Pokemon.
  • 2e. Gift Shop: This is where a variety of items are sold for RP. This will be better explained in X (update with location)
  • 2f. Menu: This is where a variety of different settings for the client is. This will be explained better later.

3. Pokemon Party: Where your currently held Pokemon will be displayed. Right click on their icon to see more information about them.

4. Misc. Information: Displays in order: Current location + Current Channel, Current Amount of Held Money, Current Game Time
5. Hotkey Bar: Drag an Item from your Bag to one of these slots, then you can either click the item or press it's assigned hotkey to use said item. Hotkeys can be assigned via Menu > Settings > Controls

[/spoiler]


Some Basic Things to Cover About the Game
 

 

Menu:

Covers the various different options accessible via the Menu button.

[spoiler]

[spoiler]

Spoilers inside spoilers.  Spoilerception.

OMI9h9g.png

[/spoiler]

Party:

Doesn't do anything other than bring your Pokemon Party to the top layer of the screen. 

 

Settings:

Contains the settings that you're able to change such as the screen resolution, volume, controls etc.

 

FAQ:

Lists various frequently asked questions.

 

Change Channel:

This allows you to change the Game Channel that you're in.  There are 8 different channels, and after switching channels you will be on a 120 second cooldown before you can switch channels again.

 

Nearby Players:

Click it, shows all the nearby players. 

 

Select Follower: [Optional]

Assuming you have Heart Gold or Soul Silver working, you'll be able to have a Pokemon in your party follow you.  This option lets you select which one will follow you.  An alternative to this would be dragging the Pokemon from your Party onto the ground.

 

Social:

This will list your Friends List as well as your Block List. 

Friends List: You can add someone to the friends list by right clicking their name/character and selecting "Add Friend".  If they accept your request, you will be added to their list and vice versa. 
Block List: The process is similar to adding a friend, right click their name and click "Block".  Blocking however does not require both parties to accept. 

 

Team:
If you're not in a team clicking this will pop up with an option to make a team. 
If you are in a team, you'll have a menu that allows you to do various things related to team management.  If your permissions are high enough, you can edit the team information, the team roster, and if you're the owner of the team you'll be able to change team permissions.

 

Customization:

I'll get into customization more later, but for now just knowing that this option brings up the Character Customization screen is enough.  If you have any cosmetic items you can open this menu to put them on. 

 

Support Request:

The Support Request is explained better earlier in the guide, but if you have an issue that needs to be addressed by a moderator this is the place to go.  The Support Request function is not for storyline help, and should be used only when necessary. 

[/spoiler]

 

Reward Shop:

The reward shop has a variety of different items for sale for Rewards Points.
[spoiler]
How to get Reward Points:

You can buy rewards points for real world currency by clicking the Get More Reward Points option that will redirect you to a website where you can purchase them. 
 

Donator Status:
Donator status is a purchasable boost that will expire after a given amount of time.  A list of what the donator status boosts can be found on the purchase page.

 

Vanity Items:

Vanity Items are various cosmetic items that can be equipped via the Character Customization screen. 

 

Misc.:

Sells the Name Change Ticket, Makeover Kit, PC Expansion and Amnesia Brace items.  Descriptions for these can be found on the purchase page.

 

Decoration Items:

House customization items are sold here.  These can only be used inside of a Secret Base.
[/spoiler]
 

Note: How to Prevent Item/Pokemon Scamming:

[spoiler]

Things you can do to prevent being scammed:

  1. Triple check everything:  There's two confirmation buttons on the trade request screen, and after both traders are locked in neither player can change anything about the trade.  Be sure to triple check the Pokemon, amount of money, items etc. that your trading partner is putting up both before and after the trade is locked in. 
  2. Check the value of your Pokemon: Doesn't matter if you ask close friends/teamates or use the Value Discussion thread in Trade Corner, make sure you know what your Shiny Pokemon, or even normal Pokemon is worth before selling.

 

[/spoiler]

 

 

Basic Explanation of the Social Systems in PokeMMO

This section is going to be covering the social aspect of the game.  Some of the things I want to cover are the different Chat Channels and when/how to use them.

 

Using the Correct Chat Channels:

Trading in the wrong channel: Players will sometimes use Channel and Global chat to attempt to buy/sell their Pokemon.  This however is against the rules, and repeat offenses will warrant a punishment that scales for each offense.  If someone is doing this, submit a player report with screenshots of the offence, then block the player so that you don't have to see their spam anymore.  Trade Chat is the only place that spamming buy/sell offers is acceptable.

How to create Chat Tabs:

[spoiler]

Chat Tab Settings Window:

[spoiler]

wJvhYLN.png

[/spoiler]

In order to edit or add Chat Tabs to the Chatbox you'll need to click the Settings Icon on the upper right hand corner of the Chatbox to open the menu shown above.  After doing that you can simply edit the tab, remove it or add new tabs from there.

Note: Your menu will look a bit different than mine, I've already gone through the process of editing the chat tabs to my liking. 
My recommendations for chat tabs are:

  1. Normal: Normal, Whispers, Team, Sys. Messages, Shout, Sys. Announcements.
  2. Team: Whispers, Team, Sys. Messages, Sys. Announcements.
  3. Channel: Normal, Whispers, Team, Sys. Messages, Shout, Channel, Sys. Announcements.
  4. Global: Normal, Whispers, Team, Global, Sys. Messages, Shout, Sys. Announcements.
  5. Global + Channel: Normal, Whispers, Team, Global, Sys. Messages, Shout, Channel, Sys. Announcements.
  6. Trade: Normal, Whispers, Team, Sys. Messages, Trade, Sys. Announcements.
  7. Whispers: Whispers.

[/spoiler]

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~~How to Make Money~~

 

Gaining Money as a Beginner
If you're just here to find the best way to make money skip to VS Seeker. 

Note: There are other ways to make money aside from things listed here.  Matter of fact there are quite a few options, however these are just methods to help you get started.  Other options include Item farming, EV Training services, selling Battle Point moves/Items, Shiny Trading, Breeding and various other methods.
 

Payday:

While paydaying isn't the best money in the game, being able to payday while doing other things makes it a pretty good way to gain a bit of extra cash while focusing on a different goal.

[spoiler]

Things to note before Paydaying:
- The Amulet Coin does not boost the payout of Payday.
- Payday will only give money once per battle, and you will receive money equal to 10x the level of the Pokemon you used Payday on.

  • The best Pokemon for Payday: Note: This assumes your Pokemon is level 100.
  • Fearow: Fearow is arguably the best Paydayer, however due to the difficulty in getting Payday on Fearow it's not very new-player friendly.  Fearow requires Battle Points obtained from the Trainer Tower to learn Payday.  Fearow does get False Swipe though, making it a good Pokemon to take while catching wild Pokemon.
  • Persian: Persian is a perfect middle ground.  It's strong, gets STAB boosted payday and is relatively easy to obtain.  If you need a powerful paydayer but don't want to shell out a ton of BP for fearow then Persian will do fine.
  • Smeargle: Smeargle has the benefit of utility.  Smeargle can Sketch any move in the game that it can get it's hands on.  The downside is Smeargle has terrible stats.  The main reason to own a Payday Smeargle is for catching wild Pokemon.  Using False Swipe / Spore / Payday / Trick your Smeargle becomes a decent all around utility, but doesn't excel at anything.(see this for a more in depth explanation of Sketch.)
  • Other Options: I've only listed the main paydayers, however Delcatty(via Battle Points) and Jumpluff(via egg moves) also learn payday but simply don't compare to even Persian.

 

  • Where to Payday: Where you want to payday is dependent on what you're doing, so I'll list a few different scenarios.
  • Only Paydaying: Some of the best places to payday are Icefall Cave and Cerulean Cave.  Paydaying alone however is not the most efficient way to make money.
  • Paydaying and shiny hunting: This is heavily dependent on what shiny you're hunting for.  A list of all currently implemented Pokemon can be found here.  I don't recommend shiny hunting as a way to make money since it's VERY heavily RNG based and most likely won't pay off.  Still, if you want an OT shiny paydaying while looking for one is a good idea.
  • Paydaying and searching for breeders: A list of easily obtainable Pokemon in each Egg Group can be found here.  I recommend Paydaying with a utility Smeargle if you're also looking for breeders as the ability to False Swipe + Spore will come in handy when trying to capture wild Pokemon.  Fearow also works with it's ability to False Swipe and Payday.
  • Paydaying and item hunting: Item hunting will be covered more in depth later, however if you're Paydaying and Item hunting at the same time you'll want to use the Trick Smeargle method, unless the situation demands for something else.  Basically the same as looking for breeders, payday anything that doesn't have what you want and when you encounter the Pokemon that holds the item you want use the Trick method. see INSERT ITEM HUNTING LINK HERE for more details.

[/spoiler]

VS Seeker:

VS Seeker is arguably the best money in game.  You rematch trainers in Kanto by using the VS Seeker item, then you beat them and get paid.  A guide can be found here for a more in depth explanation of what Routes you should take. 
[spoiler]
Things to note while VS Seeker grinding: 

- Amulet coin does effect Trainer Payouts by a 1.2x multiplier.

- Payday can be used during Trainer Battles, and will work exactly the same way.  The restriction on only getting money from Payday once per battle still remains. 

[/spoiler]

 

Item Hunting:
Item hunting is the act of hunting for a certain item that is held by wild Pokemon.  A list of items can be found here, along with a list of all the Pokemon that hold them.

[spoiler]

Thief Mechanics:

The Thief/Covet mechanics have been changed slightly, now in MMO if you attempt to steal an item from a Pokemon that is less than 5 levels than your Pokemon there will be a chance for that item to break.
The exact % chance of successfully thieving an item is:
[spoiler]

  • <=5: 100% chance to successfully grab item
  • 6: 85% chance to successfully grab item
  • 7: 60% chance to successfully grab item
  • 8: 45% chance to successfully grab item
  • 9: 30% chance to successfully grab item
  • >=10: 20% chance to successfully grab item

[/spoiler]

  • Some of the more common Items to hunt:
  • Shards: Shards are found on various different fish Pokemon in the game.  They're used for putting moves onto Pokemon via the shard tutors.  A list of the shard tutors and the Pokemon that hold Shards can be found here.
  • Everstones: Everstones can be found on wild Graveler and Geodude.  Arguably the best place to hunt for these is in the Magma Hideout in Hoenn since there are only three encounters there: Geodude, Graveler and Torkoal.  If you're interested in farming everstones the most efficient method is to Thief / Covet the item from them.  The Thief/Covet mechanics have been changed for MMO, which I'll explain a bit later in this guide.  If you're hunting Everstones in Magma Hideout the best setup in my opinion is a Wooper with Recover, Thief and the Damp Ability.  The damp ability is important so that the Geodude/Graveler don't explode whilst you're trying to steal their item.
  • Lucky Eggs: Lucky Eggs are found on wild chansey, which currently are only catchable in the Safari Zone.  Lucky Eggs aren't exactly a good source of money considering their rarity and difficulty to obtain, but they're worth mentioning as each lucky egg is worth a pretty good amount.

[/spoiler]

 

 

Other Methods:

Alt Running:

Alt running consists of making a new character, then progressing through the story while collecting all the valuables such as items and money.  If you're interested in Alt Running for money it requires a bit of knowledge about the games themselves, but here are links to the walkthroughs for each region: Kanto and Hoenn

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~~Getting Started with Competitive Play~~

[spoiler]

 

When I asked a large group of people in game what the hardest thing to get into was, a large majority of them said that it was Competitive play.  This section of the guide is hopefully going to give you the basics that you need to make the jump from total newb to well informed player.  This will not make you a leet comp player, but it will give you the knowledge you need to start practicing and getting better at competitive play.

 

Getting Into the Scene

Getting into the competitive scene is pretty difficult.  There are all these confusing mechanics that you have to learn that really didn't matter when you were just playing through the storyline or battling friends.  Things like IVs, EVs, Natures and a variety of other mechanics can be intimidating so I'll give a brief explanation of them to set you on your way, as well as a few bits of other helpful information like why Teams are important to competitive play.

 

The Social Aspect:

Knowing the right people can be a huge benefit to a player who is new to competitive play. 

[spoiler]

  • Finding a team:
    The first step to getting into competitive play is likely going to be finding a team.  Even if the team isn't competitive centered there's still a lot that can be learned from being in it.  If you're interested in finding a team that can help you grow as a competitive player make an advertisement in the Global chat in game, or look through the threads in the Round Table.   Note that posting a thread in the Round Table saying "LF a comp team!" is against the rules and it will be locked.
     
  • Getting into the competitive social circle:
    Along with getting into a team, it can also be beneficial to make friends with other competitive players.  While it may be difficult to get into a prestigious competitive team, a handful of kind members will have no problem helping you grow.  As with all social things it's important to be polite and respectful. 
    This isn't something you can really try to do though, it's just something that will come naturally.  The best advice I can give you is just be social, go to events and hang out.  If you don't want to compete in them then go there to watch how other competitive players battle which brings me to my next point.

[/spoiler]

 

Information About Tiers:
Our metagame is separated into different tiers which govern what Pokemon can be used in those tiers.

Tier List:

[spoiler]

  • The main tiers are: [I may add tier lists to this guide later]
  • Ubers
  • Overused
  • Underused
  • Neverused

[/spoiler]

Tier Basics:

In each tier you're only allowed to use Pokemon within that tier or lower.  So for instance you want to participate in a UU fight, you can use NU and UU, but not OU or Ubers. 

 

Why Tiers Exist:
Tiers are defined by Pokemon Usage which can be found here, however reading that is unnecessary for now. 
The reason tiers exist is so that Pokemon such as Steelix don't get left out.  In Ubers you have the most powerful Pokemon which were deemed too uncompetitive or powerful for OU.  OU Pokemon likewise were deemed too powerful for UU, and so on.  Tiers were made so that weaker Pokemon can still be used competitively, since without NU and UU we'd only have Ubers and OU and a lot of Pokemon would never see any use.

In most events the host will specify what tiers are allowed for the event.

 

 

Choosing Your Tier:

It's very important to decide which tier you like before you start making comps.  Veteran players often times will play a bit of every tier, however when starting out it's best to find one you like and specialize in only that tier.  This is because each tier is different, a Charizard in UU may need a different set than one in OU.
OU is a great tier to start in since it's the most popular tier and it's very easy to find a fight in Vermilion.  OU also has the benefit of being familiar.  With things like Jolteon, Gyarados, Starmie and many other recognizable Pokemon it's easy to get into. 

 

 

Basic Information About Competitive Play
Before getting into competitive play it's important to know how the mechanics work.  Again I'll be giving you the basics and some links to more in depth guides, but after this you should know how all the important stuff works to some extent.

 

 

Roles:
Roles are what job you want a Pokemon to do.  What role you want a Pokemon to fill in your team is important when deciding what Moveset, EVs, Nature and sometimes Ability to use on it.

A more in depth description of Roles can be found in the Basic Team Building guide. I'd also recommend reading a Tier Guide for the tier you're interested in to get an idea of what sets are most common on the Pokemon of that tier.  Here is a link to the OU, UU, and NU guides.
Note: The UU guide is unfinished as of 7/22/2015 when I'm writing this.

How to Decide What Role Your Pokemon Should Fill:

When making a new Pokemon it's important to know what your Pokemon is good at so that you can get the most out of it.  I'll use Jolteon as an example:
[spoiler]

9mkhwNv.png

[/spoiler]

What you see above is Jolteon's Base Stats.  Base stats are explained a bit more in detail just below this section, however Base Stats are essentially just stats unique to that Pokemon's species. 
If you look at the stats you can see that Jolteon has an exceptionally high Speed and Special Attack stat.  When building a Pokemon it's usually best to play to it's strengths, so in the case of Jolteon you'd focus on getting it's Speed and Special Attack stat as high as possible.
 

 

Stat Affecting Mechanics:

This will be explaining how various different things affect your Pokemon.

[spoiler]

  • Base Stats: Base stats can be found in the PokeDex Entry of a Pokemon.
    Base Stats are the stats unique to the Species of a Pokemon.  If you ever wondered why Jolteon with 31 IVs, 0 EVs and a neutral Nature is faster than a Gengar with the same IVs, EVs and Nature it's because Jolteon's Base Speed is 130 whereas Gengar's is 110.  You can view a species Base Stats in the PokeDex if you have caught that Pokemon, however if you haven't then you can find them at http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/and various other sites by looking up the name of the Pokemon. 
  • IVs: IVs can be found in the 4th tab of a Pokemon's Summary. 
    IVs are a bit complicated to explain, and I'll explain how to alter them via Breeding in the Breeding guide, but for now the most basic explanation I can give is this: The higher they are the better.  There's this misconception that a Competitive Pokemon needs all 31 IVs to be good though, which is nonsense.  I'll explain later when 31 IVs are necessary, but just know that anything over 25 is usually good and anything over 20-23 is acceptable.  
  • EVs: EVs can be found in the 3rd tab of the Pokemon's Summary. 
    EVs, unlike IVs, are able to be changed.  EVs are stat boosts essentially.  You gain EVs by killing wild Pokemon or using Vitamins on your Pokemon.  EVs have a limit to how many you can have.  You can have a total of 510 EVs, and a max of 252 EVs per stat. There are different locations for EV training, but the most efficient EV training locations for each type can be found here.
  • Natures: Natures are displayed on the front page of a Pokemon Summary. 
    A Nature will do one of two things: Improve one stat by 10% and lower another by 10% or do nothing at all.  Natures that do nothing at all are considered Neutral Natures.  A list of natures and what they boost/reduce can be found here.  You can also hover your mouse over the Nature in the Summary and it will tell you what it does. 
  • Pokemon Level: The level of your Pokemon is displayed on all tabs of the Pokemon Summary. 
    This system is already understood by most players so I wont go too in depth: Higher Level = Higher Stats.  By default Tournament Mode sets the Pokemons Level to 50 if it is higher than 50.  If it's lower it will remain lower when a Tourament Mode Duel is started.
  • End Stats: End stats are shown on the 2nd tab of the Pokemon Summary.
    End stats, for lack of a better word, are the stats your Pokemon ends up with after all the previously explained mechanics are calculated.

[/spoiler]

 

Individual Values(IVs):

IVs are something I've seen people ask about quite a lot so this section is just to expand on the previous explanation of IVs.

[spoiler]

Note: I've already covered what IVs are so I'll go ahead and quote the post.

 

  • IVs: IVs can be found in the 4th tab of a Pokemon's Summary. 
    IVs are a bit complicated to explain, and I'll explain how to alter them via Breeding in the Breeding guide, but for now the most basic explanation I can give is this: The higher they are the better.  There's this misconception that a Competitive Pokemon needs all 31 IVs to be good though, which is nonsense.  I'll explain later when 31 IVs are necessary, but just know that anything over 25 is usually good and anything over 20-23 is acceptable.  

First I'd like to clear up some misconceptions:

Not every Pokemon needs 6x31 IVs.  When you make a comp 6x31 IVs are completely unnecessary.  Most of the time anything over 25 is good and anything over 20-23 is acceptable, except in certain Pokemon where some 31 IVs are a necessity. 

 

When 31s are necessary:

  • Speed:
    Speed is one of the IVs that on some species is a requirement.  For sweepers like Jolteon 31 speed is a necessity on most sets.  If your Jolteon doesn't have 31 speed, it cannot outspeed other jolteon with 31 speed and the same nature and EVs.  A Pokemon like Weezing however doesn't absolutely need 31 speed because it's role is not to outspeed other Pokemon but rather to wall them. 
  • Attack/Special Attack:
    Offensive stats don't really need 31s, however for sweepers it's very highly recommended. 
  • Situational IVs: Note: I wouldn't worry too much about this when you're first getting into competitive play. 
    For moves like Flail and Reversal, moves that gain power the lower HP you have, it can be important to have a specific HP IV.  The point here is that for Substitute to get you down to 1HP you HP needs to be divisible by 4 and still leave you with 1 HP-4% of your HP left which gives you the maximum amount of damage from Flail/Reversal.  If you're not running a Pokemon with Substitute + Flail/Reversal you shouldn't need to worry about this except in rare occasions.

Unnecessary IVs: 

If you're building a Pokemon sometimes certain IVs are completely useless, so you don't even have to worry about keeping them high.  
A good example of this is a Physical Sweeper such as Aerodactyl which can't feasibly use Special Attacking moves.  On such a poke you could have a 0 Special Attack IV and it wouldn't have any negative impact on the Pokemon's competitive ability. 
On a Mixed Attacker like Arcanine Special Attack and Attack IVs are sometimes both important because Arcanine's only STABs, which I'll cover later, are Special Attacking moves but Arcanine gains a lot of useful physical moves.

[/spoiler]

 

Combat Affecting Mechanics:

This will cover the various mechanics that will affect your combat experience such as Typing, STABs, status etc.

[spoiler]

  • Typing:
    This section is about Pokemon Types.  A brief explanation of the typing system in Pokemon is that you have three different damage changes based on typing: Super Effective(Does Double Damage), Normal Effectiveness(No Damage Boost), and Not Very Effective(Does Half Damage).  What effectiveness your attack has is based on the typing of the attack and the typing of the Pokemon it's used on.  Here is a link to a Bulbapedia article which explains typing a bit more in depth, as well as lists the various different types.
  • Dual Typing:
    Some Pokemon have two types.  These Pokemon retain the multipliers from both types.  Say for instance you're up against a Water + Grass type Pokemon and you use a Fire type move.  Because Fire is Super Effective to Grass but Not Very Effective to Water the move will do normal damage.  It's the same for boosts, if your opponent has a Rock + Ground type and it gets hit by a Water move the damage done will be four times as much as normal. 
  • STABs: Same-type attack bonus
    STABs are a 50% increase in damage from a move when the move is the same type as the user.  Example: A Ludicolo will get STABs from both Surf and Giga drain because Ludi is Grass + Water typing
  • Priority:
    These moves have an increased priority which causes them to go before or after the standard moves depending on their priority number.  Example: Extremespeed will move before Body Slam because Extremespeed has +2 priority.  A more in depth article can be found on Bulbapedia that also lists the priority tables. 
  • Abilities:
    An ability provides an effect in battle unique to that ability.  Some Pokemon will have more than one possible ability, so it's important to check Bulbapedia or a similar site for information on that species ability. 
    This is one of the harder parts of getting into comp play because of how many different abilities and Pokemon there are in the game.  My advice is whenever you're battling check Bulbapedia for the ability of your opponents Pokemon and then start writing the name of the species + the abilities it can have down in a text document.  This will save you having to google every Pokemon you fight and allows the use of the Ctrl F feature(assuming you use a text editor that supports it)
  • Status:
    The three main Status conditions you'll come up against are Burn, Poison and Paralysis.  You should already be somewhat familiar with Status Conditions by now but there are some hidden mechanics that some might not know about.
    - Burn: When burned a Pokemon will loose small amounts of health per turn, as well as have any damage dealt with a Physical move decreased by half.
    - Poison: When poisoned a Pokemon will loose small amounts of HP per turn.  When hit by the move Toxic however the mechanics are a bit different.
    - Toxic(move) Poison: When hit by the move toxic you will loose a small amount of HP on the first turn, and then each consecutive turn the amount of HP lost will double.
    - Paralysis: Paralysis has a 25% chance to make you loose your turn.  On top of that, paralysis also lowers your Speed Stat by 25%.
    - Other minor conditions: Confusion, has a 50% chance of causing a Pokemon to damage itself.  Infatuation, causes a Pokemon to have a 50% chance to not attack.
  • AFK Timeout:
    leaving this blank for now

 

 

[/spoiler]

Stat Stages:

Stat stages can be affected by various moves, items and abilities.

[spoiler]

UIa3eyg.png

[/spoiler]

 

 

Physical/Special Move Types:
Moves are separated into 
A full list of the different Physical and Special moves can be found here.

This is something that I've never struggled with because when the Physical/Special split came to PokeMMO I already had a basic understanding of which moves were physical and which were special.  If you hover over the Move in the Pokemon summary it'll tell you if it's Physical or Special. 

  • Physical Moves: Physical Moves are moves that make contact with the opponent, as well as do damaged based on your Pokemon's Attack stat, and the rival Pokemon's Defense stat.  
  • Special Moves: Special Moves are moves that use the Special Attack stat and don't make contact with the opponent.  Special Attacking moves deal damaged based on your Pokemon's Sp. Atk. stat and the rival Pokemon's Special Defense stat.

 

 

Competitive Held Items:

Held Items are items that you can give your Pokemon to provide them with various boosts or effects.  I'll list some of the more common and useful ones and give a brief explanation of how they work.

[spoiler]

Items that Affect Your Health:
These are items that will in some way cause you to gain health back.

  • Leftovers: Leftovers are one of the most common items in competitive play.  Leftovers restore 1/16th of your health(rounded down) after each turn, which makes them great for walls.  Aside from walls they're also a good go-to item for any Pokemon that doesn't gain much from any other items.
  • Sitrus Berries: I've rarely seen Sitrus berries used in competitive play because they're one time use, but figured I'd mention them anyways.  If your Pokemon is holding a Sitrus berry and it's health falls below 1/3rds the Sitrus berry will be consumed and restore 30 HP.

Items That Boost Stats:

  • Various Berries: When a Pokemon's health goes under 25% these berries will activate and give various stat boosts which will consume the item(it disappears).
    - Liechi Berry: When consumed Attack is boosted by 1 stage.
    - Petya Berry: When consumed Special Attack is boosted by 1 stage.
    - Salac Berry: When consumed Speed is boosted by 1 stage.
    Note: I didn't include the berries for Sp. Def. or Def. simply because they're not commonly used in competitive play.  If you get below 25% health a special defense or defense boost wont help much.  While I'm sure there are legitimate strategies that use these berries, they're not very common from what I've seen and seem kind of gimmicky. 
     

Damage Boosting Items:

  • Choice Band: Choice band is a common item for strong Physical attackers, however it's mechanics have some negatives to balance out the massive boost to attack it gives. 
    Choice band boosts Attack by 50%, but only allows you to use the first move that you use.  This means if your Heracross uses Brick Break while holding a Choice Band it can only use Brick Break until it either switches out or has the item taken from it(via a pokemon using trick on it or knock off).
  • Type-enhancing Items: Each of these items boosts the power of a single move type by 20%.  I'll list them below even though they aren't widely used in competitive play from what I've seen, but they can still be useful if used right. [spoiler]

    - Black Belt: Fight Type
    - Black Glasses: Dark Type
    - Charcoal: Fire Type
    - Dragon Fang: Dragon Type
    - Hard Stone: Rock Type
    - Magnet: Electric Type
    - Metal Coat: Steel Type
    - Miracle Seed: Grass Type
    - Mystic Water: Water Type
    - Never-melt Ice: Ice Type
    - Poison Barb: Poison Type
    - Sharp Beak: Flying Type
    - Silver Powder: Bug Type
    - Soft Sand: Ground Type
    - Spell Tag: Ghost Type
    - Twisted Spoon: Psychic Type
    [/spoiler]
     

 

Other Items:

  • Scope Lens: Increases the holder's critical hit ratio by one stage.

Banned Items:

Banned items are items that were deemed overpowered or uncompetitive and were banned from use in Tournament Mode Duels. 
Quoted from the Official PokeMMO List of Clauses, the banned items are:
 

 

- Hax Items Clause: BrightPowder, Focus Band, Quick Claw, Lax Incense and King's Rock cannot be held by your Pokemon.

[/spoiler]

 

PokeMMO Official Events

These are events hosted by the PokeMMO Staff which are completely free to sign up for.  A list of planned events can be found in the Events Corner section. 

 

reminder to add details on how to sign up and tell people that not all events are competititve events

[/spoiler]

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~~Getting Started with Breeding~~

Breeding is one of our main end games which allows you to improve your Pokemon's IVs, Nature and moves.  Breeding for yourself is a great idea because it allows you to custom build your Pokemon, rather than being at the mercy of whatever comps are currently being sold.

 

Breeding Mechanics

The breeding mechanics have been changed for various reasons, so this section will explain how the PokeMMO breeding mechanics work.  On a most basic level, breeding is trading away two parents to receive a much higher quality child.

Basics:
Getting Started:
Really Important Note: When you breed two Pokemon you trade away two parents in order to improve the stats of the child Pokemon.  You will loose both parents.  This was done for various economic and gameplay improvements.
There are two 'Breeding guys' in PokeMMO:
Kanto: The Kanto breeder is located Four Island.
Hoenn: The Hoenn breeder is located just west of Mauville.
 
Both breeders are found just outside of the Day Care Center.  You can talk to these men to trade away two Pokemon for breeding, but there are various different mechanics that you should be aware of before breeding.
 
Egg Hatch Times:
If you go to this guide here you'll find a list of the different Pokemon and their hatch times. 

Gender Costs:
You're allowed to select the gender of your child Pokemon for a fee:  This fee is dependent upon the Gender Ratio of the Pokemon's Species.  If you're curious what the Gender Ratio of your Pokemon is go to Bulbapedia and look up the name of the Pokemon. 

Breeding Items:
There are different items that can be given to the child Pokemon which will alter the child Pokemon, allowing you to guarantee IVs to pass down and/or guarantee a nature passes to the child. 
Here is a quick list of these items:

  • IV Braces:
    IV Braces come in 6 different types, one for each stat type, and are given to the Pokemon and will guarantee that stat will pass down to the child Pokemon.
  • Everstones:
    Everstones, like IV braces, are held items given to a parent Pokemon.  When holding an Everstone that Pokemon will have a 100% chance of passing it's nature to the child Pokemon.  The only exception to this is if both parent Pokemon are holding an Everstone, then it'll be 50/50 chance and a complete waste of an everstone.

These items will be explained better in their respective sections, but note that you are limited 1 item per parent since the item is a Held Item. 

 

 

Nature Inheritance:

Natures, which are explained in more detail in the Competitve Section, are stat boosts.

With an Everstone:
When breeding if you make a single parent Pokemon hold an Everstone the child will have a 100% chance to inherit that Nature.  Keep in mind that giving a parent an Everstone to pass the nature will take up the Held Items slot, so you cannot give that Pokemon an IV Brace.
 

Without an Everstone:
When breeding without an Everstone your Pokemon will receive a random nature from a list of natures.  Note that breeding two Pokemon with the same nature will not guarantee that nature to be passed down.

IV Inheritance:

Move Inheritance:

 

Ability Inheritance:
 
 



 

 
 
 
 
basics of breeding mechanics
   Also explain why they've been changed
Breeding Items
breeds don't need to be 6x31
Where to get breeders
What to look for in breeders


Link in depth guides

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This should be enough. 
I'm making this because it's recently been brought up that readily available information is hard to come by for new players.  By making an easy to read introductory course to PokeMMO things it'll fill that gap between brand new player and experienced player that we have.  As of right now it's a bit hard to know where to go after finishing the storyline. 

When trying to get into competitive play and breeding it can be a bit intimidating to new players, and I know this feeling very well.  I had the same feeling when I was trying to learn programming, this kind of "I have so far to go and so much to learn before I can do anything useful" and it kinda kills all motivation to get better at something.  I found a nice guide to the Python scripting language that was able to give you the tools you needed to get started and start doing something fun and useful without overburdening you with more complex concepts, which is what I hope to do with this guide. 

 

EDIT: Should also mention this is an unofficial thing.  This is a personal project of mine.

I'll also need loads of input from players.  I'll probably set up interview-like things to figure out what's frightening as a new player and what needs more information available.

Edited by DaftKitteh
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I'm not sure if you should have a section on a shiny trading guide. If you want to become a shiny trader, you should join a team that can actually help you with that. Prices are not always stable, and you often need friends to help seal deals. There are two ways to go about shiny trading. 1. Take advantage of noobs and basically scam them. or 2. Be very patient and wait for the good deals. If you are impatient with your trades you will end up losing a lot and will have to rebattle grind a hell of a lot more.

just my two cents.

(note: I'm not a shiny trader myself, so take my words with a grain of salt. But I have been in one of the top, if not the top, shiny trading teams for pretty much 2 years now).


As far as the rest of the guide is going, looking good!

Also, when you talk about the chats, maybe put in there how they can change the language of the chat they speak in? (if you weren't planning on doing that already)

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I'm not sure if you should have a section on a shiny trading guide. If you want to become a shiny trader, you should join a team that can actually help you with that. Prices are not always stable, and you often need friends to help seal deals. There are two ways to go about shiny trading. 1. Take advantage of noobs and basically scam them. or 2. Be very patient and wait for the good deals. If you are impatient with your trades you will end up losing a lot and will have to rebattle grind a hell of a lot more.

just my two cents.

(note: I'm not a shiny trader myself, so take my words with a grain of salt. But I have been in one of the top, if not the top, shiny trading teams for pretty much 2 years now).


As far as the rest of the guide is going, looking good!

Also, when you talk about the chats, maybe put in there how they can change the language of the chat they speak in? (if you weren't planning on doing that already)

Yeah for the most part I wont be covering the really deep stuff.  I'll list the basics like what you mentioned, finding a team that can help you, then add various other stuff and maybe even add some basic merchanting practices like buy low sell high.  Just a small bit of information to let players know what shiny trading is and how they can get into it if they're interested.  That entire section will probably be written by someone else though, as I have no experience with shiny trading.

I'll add the part about changing the language, thanks for letting me know, and thank you for the feeback~

Edited months later to say that I removed the shiny trading thing because you were right~
Shiny trading could use a how to guide, but it definitely shouldn't have a part in a 'Beginners guide' since it's something you have to have a pretty good amount of money to be in any way successful.

Edited by DaftKitteh
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Alright competitive section is done.Note: No it isn't  Could use some feedback on it though~

EDIT:

things to add to competitive section:
More in depth on Tiers
Held items list + explanation

Stages for stats

Clarify everything: Make it easier to read and less of an encyclopedia : I'll work on this later

difference between tourney mode and normal

 

old to do list for competitive section

 

To Do list:

not in this order:

[spoiler]

finding a team

interview some new players, figure out what confuses them

tiers

choosing your tiers

basic strategy like chess stuff

explain stabs

explain priority

explain base stats

explain typing

explain ivs

explain abilities
explain evs

explain natures

explain status

explain roles

explain afk time out

mention stuff about official and unnoffical events
link a bunch of more in depth articles

[/spoiler]

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  • 2 months later...
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