(note: first chunk pasted from the original "pokeplans" file on my work computer. Begun in late 2007 because I was bored, and sort of snowballed from there to a full-blown Pokediary. Dates left as-is rather than attempting to create back-dated blog entries for each.)
So....not that I should be doing this, or should be saving it or anything....but I can't think what I was supposed to be doing that didn't require either the SLR stuff to be done, or Todd to have finished completely with MR, or Jan actuals to be available to show in the screenshots. Plus there's apparently no actuals to load today, nor any HT changes to process.
OK then: I wants me a Dusknoir.
The Nat'l Dex says that Duskull can be picked up via radar on Rt. 224; so far, so good -- unless I already have a female in storage from the GTS, which would be even better. (I think I do; I think I brought one in from Ruby named Ophelia.)
Having obtained a female Duskull, the next step is to breed it with Epitaph. This should result in the hatched Duskull inheriting Faint Attack and Ominous Wind, since egg moves are inherited from the father and Epitaph has both of those.
Leveling up the resulting baby Duskull will give me a Dusclops at lvl 37 -- just in time to learn Shadow Punch, I think it is. Gotta check the Dex on that one. Basic idea though is to let it evolve as soon as possible. The restauarant should make this simple enough. I may want to do this with more than one Duskull; this would give me a complete collection of all three stages.
From there, I'll need someone's help to trade my Dusclops with Reaper Cloth attached. I'll probably see Dave or Mark before I see Traci. Either way, ta-daaah! Dusknoir.
Potential problem: I only have one Reaper Cloth, which means I can only get one Dusknoir. I wonder if it's possible to get more than one Reaper Cloth out of Turnback Cave, or if another can be obtained each time you find the platform in time. That'd be awesome...sure simpler than getting a Milotic. Goodness knows that a Dusclops with a Reaper Cloth would be GTS trading GOLD....that might get me that Sableye to complete my ghost collection (now if I could just fight someone who's got Sableye so I could ask for it....).
Also worth noting: According to the Dex, Dusclops can be caught by radar on Rt. 224 too. For my purposes I'd want to start as low-level as possible so that the end result is a stronger Dusknoir, but I might be able to trade them for Murkrow or other Dark types.
Yet another note: I've been trying so darn hard to get Shuppet from the GTS, when all this time I could be breeding them from the Banettes I caught. D'oh.
Names: I know I want to name a Dusclops Gibdo. Heh. So maybe I could do a Zelda theme there. Stalfos, Gibdo, ReDead, and for the females, the names of the Poe sisters. Can't remember all of them, was it Amy, Beth, Meg, and....who? Plus Jalhalla, Protector of the Seal. [the other Poe sister is Joelle)
(12/30/2007)
So OK, CPA is doing its thing and I have an hour to kill (since anything I need to be doing needs Outlooksoft, and the FTE reports particularly...) and this keeps the connection from poofing. Yep.
Breeding Epitaph to Ophelia worked fabulously; all the offspring had Night Shade, Faint Attack, Ominous Wind, and Dream Eater. Since I was aiming for Faint Attack and Ominous Wind, and will maybe replace the other two, this counts as success.
That raises the question, though: what should the final attack set of my nice new Dusknoir?
There's a debate to be had here; turns out that both Duskclops and Dusknoir have Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch as Basic moves -- meaning they won't learn them while leveling, but can recall them through the kind offices of the Move Tutor. Having ALL those elemental attacks plus something like Shadow Punch would make for a very strong and versatile moveset. And all three of those have Power 75, which is quite decent.
On the other hand, though, I didn't breed in Ominous Wind and Faint Attack for nothing, did I? Plus I'd forgotten why Night Shade was so awesome: damage equal to the user's level, guaranteed as long as it hits. At high levels this is even more efficient than Dragon Rage. And then there's a choice of the other Ghost-y moves they can learn: Shadow Sneak, Shadow Punch, Curse....plus the potential TMs. What to do, what to do?
Now, I could raise two Dusknoir (assuming I can find the other Reaper Cloth), one with the Ghost-y movesest, and the other with the elemental moveset. Problem being, though, that the elemental moves won't breed to Duskull, 'cause Duskull can't get those, and they're not Egg Moves.
That means the female could have the elemental attacks, and the male the ones that breed as Egg Moves....hmmm!
OK, then: Poe Meg should learn Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch, and keep Shadow Punch for theme (though, this also won't breed).
Jalhalla can keep Ominous Wind at least, and maybe Faint Attack, and perhaps learn a TM; those will breed into the offspring who will also hopefully be born with Night Shade.
A move comparison is still definitely called for.
Move name-Level-Type-Class-Power-Acc-PP-Effect
Faint Attack-Egg-Dark-Physical-50-100-10-hits without fail
Ominous Wind-Egg-Ghost-Special-60-100-5-10% chance to raise all user's stats
Night Shade-Basic-Ghost-Special-x-100-15-damage equals user's level
Shadow Sneak-22-Ghost-Physical-40-100-30-hits first without fail
Pursuit-25-Dark-Physical-40-100-20-damage doubled if foe switches out
Curse-30-???-Status-10-n-n-sacrifices half max HP to take 1/4 foe's HP each round
Shadow Punch-37-Ghost-Physical-60-n-20-hits without fail
Payback-51-Dark-Physical-50-100-10-damage is doubled if user attacks after foe
Future Sight-61-Psychic-Special-80-90-15-attack hits two rounds later
Shadow Ball-TM30-Ghost-Special-80-100-15-20% chance to lower foe's Sp Def
Dark Pulse-TM79-Dark-Special-80-100-15-20% chance to make foe flinch
They can also learn things like Earthquake, Giga Impact, and Hyper Beam, but eh; those TMs are better suited elsewhere. And they can learn Strength and Rock Smash, but this would only be an advantage if carrying one around on a regular basis.
I don't like moves that rely on specific situations, so Pursuit and Payback are out. Plus I don't like moves that penalize the user's HP, so Curse, as interesting as it is, is also out. I've noticed in battles that a Dusclops using Curse always goes down right after; this would only be an advantage if your opponent has a foe that's a real bitch to take down (like Cynthia's Milotic, for example). There is nothing you can do against Curse except keep using Potions; not even Full Restore will get rid of it. (Destiny Bond would be good for that too, but either way, one of your team is going down, and that's generally not good).
Future Sight can be nice when you know things are gonna take more than a couple rounds -- but it leaves you open for that first crucial round. I've used it with Serenity, and it's purely a strategic move.
That leaves us with -- ack, hang on, copy and paste aren't working! I wonder if that's to do with the processing, or the connection...
(1/9/2008)
OK, totally forgot how long clears can take when I said I'd do that before leaving. D'oh! I have no brains for anything serious, sooo....
One thing I'd forgotten: Ghost attacks don't affect Normal types. So keeping at least one Dark attack in the moveset will be essential.
Move name-Level-Type-Class-Power-Acc-PP-Effect
Faint Attack-Egg-Dark-Physical-50-100-10-hits without fail
Ominous Wind-Egg-Ghost-Special-60-100-5-10% chance to raise all user's stats
Night Shade-Basic-Ghost-Special-100-15-damage equals user's level
Shadow Sneak- lvl 22-Ghost-Physical-40-100-30-hits first without fail
Shadow Punch-lvl 37-Ghost-Physical-60-20-hits without fail
Shadow Ball-TM30-Ghost-Special-80-100-15-20% chance to lower foe's Sp Def
Dark Pulse-TM79-Dark-Special-80-100-15-20% chance to make foe flinch
Faint Attack, Shadow Sneak, and Shadow Punch all hit without fail. It's nice that Shadow Sneak hits first, but with my habit of overleveling, this isn't as important as it might be, plus it's less powerful. Of the three, Faint Attack provides that Dark mix, and Shadow Punch is the most powerful.
The higher the level, of course, the better Night Shade gets, so keep that. As to the TMs - Dusknoir already have a good enough moveset; having two attacks that always hit may well outweigh the TMs' higher power.
Plus if the male's moveset is Faint Attack, Night Shade, Ominous Wind, and Shadow Punch; and the female's is Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, and Shadow Punch....oh, but wait. I'm forgetting that Duskull don't learn Shadow Punch. HMMMM. Still, if the end result is supposed to be a Dusknoir, it'd learn Shadow Punch anyway, so that might be okay....
Next project: Mismagius.
(2/6/2008)
Great googly moogly but my brain's still fried from last night. Still managed to crank out five of the 1-dimension reports though.
Notes on the Duskull-to-Dusknoir stuff above:
--You can indeed find as many Reaper Cloths as you have the patience for. Average of 15 min. to stumble on the right rooms.
--I was able to trade Poe Meg with attached Cloth for a Suicune, level 100. Like I said, trading GOLD.
--I have Poe Amy sitting in storage waiting for her Reaper Cloth; as soon as I can ask for the other legendaries....
--Haven't bred a Poe Beth or Joelle yet. I'm thinking Joelle can be the pair for Jalhalla.
Additional ghosty stuff:
--Haven't tried breeding Shuppets yet....looks like they don't learn much of use, though.
--Borrowed the Sableye from Traci's shinies long enough to get a male and female, no movesets though.
--I did breed a Misdreavus with Destiny Bond and Sucker Punch, level it up to get Psybeam, and now have a lvl 50 Mismagius.
--One more Dusk Stone left....only Misdreavus and Murkrow use it though, and I already have a Honchkrow.
Currently distracted by Skitties but next ghost projects are Shuppets and Sableyes. Sableye in particular can be hard to get, so they ought to be good for trading. I'd like to do the full-blown breeding thing with them though, movesets, pkrs, and all.
