Guide To POKéMON™ Mechanics

Table of Contents

Introduction

Stat Mechanics

Battle Mechanics

Credits

Introduction

In the past few months, there has been lots of information revealed, regarding the mechanics behind POKéMON™. These revelations were followed by many revolutions in the ways of catching and training Pokémon, as well as in the usefulness of techniques. With these discoveries, many rumors were born, and people became confused with the mechanics of the game. This guide will help you understand how most of the game works (there are still some parts of the game I don't understand, but I will find the remedy for this problem soon).

As we explorate the concepts that make POKéMON™ what it is, you will come to find your own answers to the inquiries about how something works, or why should you do something rather than another. If this guide serves its purpose, trainers will develop their tactical skills in the realm of Pokémon instead of asking the few well-versed ones without understanding why the answer is so.

Stat Mechanics

The first theme to be discussed in this guide is the nature of Stats. This section deals with how Stats are generated, how they grow, and how they affect the Pokémon. It's through a developped understanding of stats that one manages how to evaluate an individual Pokémon or the species as a whole.

Attributes

Many people are already familiar with this term. Attributes are the different aspects of a Pokémon's physical layout. In the first cartridges (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green), there are five known Attributes. They influence a Pokémon as follows:

NOTE: The Dragon type's governing Attributes were determined through the use of the Gold and Silver carts, since the only technique of this type in the first carts (Dragon Rage) deals fixed damage. It is presumed that its governing Attributes remain the same, although there is no way of verifying this through actual gameplay.

Base Stats

Each species of Pokémon has its own strengths and weaknesses. A Gyarados, for instance, enjoys a high Attack rating. Onix has a very high Defense. A species' strengths and weaknesses are determined by Base Stats. These are numerical values, and there is one associated with each Attribute. The higher this numerical value, the stronger this particular attribute will be, for a particular species of Pokémon.

This numerical value represents more or less the Pokémon's average Attributes at Level 50 (this will explained later on). It can go as high as 255 (FF in hexadecimal numerics), but no Pokémon in the first cartidges has a Base Stat of 255. When one looks for a Pokémon with high stats, they are really looking for a Pokémon with high Base Stats. This value is fixed for a particular species of Pokémon, and for a particular Attribute. That's why all Mewtwo have very high Special ratings.

Diversification Value (DV)

All Pokémon, within any species, are different. Though all Snorlax have high HP, some have higher HP than others. This is due to the Diversification Value. This is a variable that acts in combination with the Base Stats to add diversificaion to the Pokémon within the same species. A new DV is generated for each Attribute whenever you catch a Pokémon. The DV can be any integral number between 0 and 15 inclusively. The DV is randomly chosen whenever a new Pokémon is generated (eg. whenever you start a non-linked battle or receive a Pokémon internally), and it can be any of the 16 values. There's one DV selected for each Attribute, and thus not all Attributes of the same Pokémon have the same DV. The higher the DV, the better stat potential your Pokémon has.

If in a particular Attribute, your particular Pokémon has a DV of 15, then your Pokémon has the potential to raise that Attribute to the species' maximum output. A Chansey with a HP DV of 15 has the capability to raise its HP to the species' maximum (703). Another Chansey with a HP DV of 0 could only be capable of raising its HP to a maximum of 673. When people look for Maxed Pokémon (see Max Stats section), they look for a Pokémon with DVs of 15 for every Attribute. In the first carts, the odds of getting such a Pokémon are of 1 048 576 to 1. In the newer ones, the odds are the same as both Special Attack and Special Defense use the same DV. Let's face it, the odds are beyond astronomical, so don't expect to get a Maxed Pokémon on your first try.

Wild Stat Formula

This section is the first of the many sections regarding Stat Formulae. These are used to determine what a Pokémon's stats can be at a particular level. They can also be used to determine what your particular Pokémon's DV is (only with the Wild Stat Formulae), so that you can gauge your particular Pokémon's strengths and weaknesses.

The first of the Stat Formulae is the Wild Stat Formula, which is used when dealing with the Attack, Defense, Speed, Special (Special Attack and Special Defense) Attributes of a Wild Pokémon. Wild Pokémon are qualified as Pokémon just caught in the wild, Pokémon that have only been raised by means of Rare Candies or the Daycare Center, or Pokémon traded with any of the trainers in the cart itself. It is stated as follows:

The Wild Stat is the actual value of your particular Pokémon's stat (decimals included). The Level value represents the level at which you're calculating your Pokémon's stat. The Base Stat is the species' Base Stat value for that particular Attribute. The DV is the Diversification Value. All of the other values are fixed. Note that if you replace the DV by 15, you can obtain the maximum wild value of that species' Attribute at that particular level. When I mentioned earlier that the Base Stats were more or less representative of the species' Attributes at Level 50, you can observe this in the formula. If you replace the Level variant by 50, it cancels itself with the division by 50 involved in the formula, which means that your Pokémon's stats at Level 50 will be equal to its Base Stats + 5 + DV. Because of this, it is also very easy to determine the DV of your Pokémon if it is equal or above Level 50. At Level 50, the intervall between the actual possible stats is of 1. Below Level 50, it's smaller than 1, and above Level 50, it's higher than 1, up to a maximum of 2 at Level 100. I could spend a whole page explaining this to you, but you'll have to check for yourself. Just know that's it's more probable for you to determine your Pokémon's DVs at Levels 50+.

Wild HP Formula

The second of the Stat Formulae is the Wild HP Formula, which is used when dealing with the HP Attribute of a Wild Pokémon. Wild Pokémon are qualified as Pokémon just caught in the wild, Pokémon that have only been raised by means of Rare Candies or the Daycare Center, or Pokémon traded with any of the trainers in the cart itself. HP has its own distinct formula due to its significant superiority in stat potential. It is stated as follows:

The Wild HP is the actual value of your particular Pokémon's HP (decimals included). The Level value represents the level at which you're calculating your Pokémon's stat. The Base HP is the species' Base HP value. The DV is the Diversification Value. All of the other values are fixed. Note that if you replace the DV by 15, you can obtain the maximum wild value of that species' HP at that particular level. All other information explained in the Wild Stat Formula section also applies here.

Real / Apparent Stats

This is a tricky part of the mechanics behind Wild Stats. You see, when you're playing the game, all the stats you see are rounded down. This means that important decimal values will be omitted. With high-level Pokémon, one can neglect the decimals, as the intervalls between each stat are of 1 or greater (Levels 50+). At high levels, one can easily identify the 16 possible DVs, but below Level 50, the margin of error increases greatly. Let's look at a Level 2 Rattata. Its maximum Wild Attack rating is of 8, but its minimum is of 7. There are two Apparent Attack possibilities, but there are still 16 DVs. Since the stats are rounded down, you can't see whether you have an 8,1 or and 8,3. When you keep the decimal values, you can see the Real Stats. Be careful with this. It's not because you caught a Level 2 Rattata with an Apparent Attack rating of 8 that it will have the maximum of the species.

Experience Points

Now that you know all about wild Pokémon, it's time to see what happens when you start training them. Whenever you battle Pokémon (except via link), your Pokémon earns Experience Points. These are accumulated throught the Pokémon's growth, and when your Pokémon has attained a certain number of Experience Points, it gains a new Level. The amount of Exp Pts needed to gain a Level varies with the Pokémon species and a quadratic function. The nature of the function is unknown to me so far, as not all species have the same Experience Point growth. Some Pokémon require 10 000 Exp Pts to rise to level 20, while others need 20 000 Exp Pts. The amount of Exp Pts gained per battle depends on the enemy Pokémon species, and level. The stronger the species, the better the amount of Exp Pts you will gain. Also, the higher the enemy level, the better the Exp Pt award.

When you use more than one Pokémon to battle a single enemy Pokémon, the amount of Exp Pts received is divided equally between the Pokémon that took part in the battle (rounded down). Thus, if you fought a Level 2 Pidgey (which normally awards 15 Exp Pts) with two Pokémon, each will be awarded 7 Exp Pts.

The Exp. All item also distributes additional Exp Pts. The amount of these Exp Pts equals the normal Exp Pt award of the enemy Pokémon, divided by the number of Pokémon that battled the enemy. For example, a Level 6 Metapod normally awards 40 Exp Pts. If fought by only 1 Pokémon, the Exp. All will award 40 additional Exp Pts. If fought by 2 Pokémon, the Exp. All reward is reduced to 20 Exp Pts. Note that this is the total award of the Exp. All. After this is calculated, the additional experience is distributed equally among the number of Pokémon you're carrying (rounded down). If only 1 Pokémon fought that same Metapod, and it's the only Pokémon you're carrying, that Pokémon will be awarded the 40 extra Exp Pts. If you used 2 Pokémon to fight that Metapod, and are carrying 6 Pokémon, each Pokémon will be awarded 3 Exp Pts (40 ÷ 2 ÷ 6 = 3 rounded down).

Whenever you fight a trainer battle internally, the amount of Exp Pts received in battle is increased to 150% of its normal value (rounded down, again). This is cumulative with the rules above. For example, let's look at our last Metapod example. Since you were carrying the Exp. All, each Pokémon would receive 3 additional Exp Pts.. If that were a trainer battle, each Pokémon would have received 5 additional Exp Pts (the rounding is applied at the end of the calculation, 1.5 × 40 ÷ 2 ÷ 6 = 5). But these are additional points. The Pokémon that actively participated in the battle still receive the battle Exp Pts as well. In this case, each of the 2 Pokémon that battles would receive 30 Exp Pts just for the battle (for a total of 35 Exp Pts, considering the enemy Pokémon, trainer battle, and Exp. All).

NOTE: It is theoricized that the amount of Exp Pts received is based on the enemy Pokémon's species's Base HP as Chansey is the species that awards the largest amounts of Exp Pts.

Traded Pokémon & Experience Points

If you've traded Pokémon, you'll notice that these Pokémon tend to be different from Pokémon you've caught yourself. People have been wondering how they were different, and many rumors were born here. Here's a list of all the differences between a traded Pokémon and one you've caught yourself (and I mean all the differences, there are no other):

The main difference is with the ID Number. This is what determines whether or not this Pokémon was traded (of course, not all trainers are named ASH, but the OT isn't taken into account when determining if a Pokémon was traded). If the ID No is different from yours, then the Pokémon's Exp Pts rewards will be increased to 150% of their normal value for this Pokémon. Unlike what the people at NINTENDOŽ say about traded Pokémon, traded Pokémon are not weaker than regular Pokémon. If they ended up weaker, it's because of the 150% Exp Pts multiplier. You can see this for yourself in the following sections.

Stat Experience

Each species of Pokémon has a basic and steady growth, with some variations between different members of the same species (see Diversification Value (DV), Wild Stat Formula, and Wild HP Formula sections). This growth is constant with all Pokémon, regardless of DVs. Still, you'll notice that some Pokémon grow in Attributes faster than others. Whenever you fight a battle internally (by now, you should know what I mean by internally), you not only gain Exp Pts, but you gain what we call Stat Experience Points (Stat Exp). Though totally independent from Exp Pts, these work very much in the same way as Normal Experience works.

As already stated, Stat Exp grows independently from Exp Pts. While Exp Pt awards vary with enemy species and level, Stat Exp only varies with the enemy species. Also, there's one Stat Exp award for every different Attribute. This means that each Attribute grows separately, but the growth rate of all is the same (see Stat Experience Formula section). The amount of the Stat Exp reward for a particular Attribute is equal to the enemy Pokémon's Base Stat in that particular Attribute. For example, when fighting a Mewtwo of any level (unlike Normal Experience, Stat Exp doesn't vary with enemy level), you get 90 Defense Stat Exp and 154 Special (Special Attack in Gold or Silver) Stat Exp, among other rewards.

What this Stat Exp does is much like what Exp Pts do. When you reach a certain number of total Exp Pts, your Pokémon gains a new Level. When you reach a certain number of total Stat Exp, your Pokémon gains a number of additional Stat Points (Stat Pts). These Stat Pts are in addition to your Pokémon's normal growth. Though your Pokémon has a steady growth rate, it can grow even stronger with some effort.

The number of Stat Exp accumulated is unseen during gameplay. Since there's no way, to evaluate how many Stat Exp your Pokémon have attained in their Attributes, it's up to you to figure out a way of finding out how many you've got (either by gauging, or by writing down the number of Pokémon of every species your Pokémon fought and checking with a Base Stat list). Remember that the most Pokémon with high Base Stats you fight, the most likely your Pokémon is to gain Stat Pts in the Attributes associated to those Base Stats.

Note that Stat Exp can't grow indefinitely. All Pokémon, no matter what the species or level, can have up to 65 025 Stat Exp. Besides, who'd want to train the same Pokémon forever?

Stat Enhancers

Stat Enhancers are known throught the world by many names. Some people call them Vitamins, others call them Stat Boosters, but in this guide, their official name is Stat Enhancers. As you may have noticed, these nifty items increase one Pokémon's particular Attribute. But how exactly do these items work? Do they change the Pokémon's Base Stat? Its DV? How do they act?

Here, you have the answer. Stat Enhancers are nothing more than caplets of Stat Exp. You read right. Stat Enhancers are Stat Exp. Each individual application of a HP Up, Protein, Iron, Carbos, or Calcium will add 2 550 Stat Exp to HP, Attack, Defense, Speed or Special (Special Attack and Special Defense) respectively.

Nevertheless, there's a limit to all this free Stat Exp. You can give Stat Enhancers to a particular Pokémon until the particular Attribute you're boosting reaches a total of 25 500 Stat Exp. This means that a Pokémon can use up to 10 of each. When your Pokémon reached this ceiling of Stat Exp, it can take no more of that particular Stat Enhancer. Not only does the Stat Enhancer give out Stat Exp, but it also Updates the Attribute (see Stat Experience vs Experience Points section). Remember, even if you've already started accumulating Stat Exp, you can only go up to 25 500 Stat Exp with the Stat Enhancers.

Stat Experience Formula

So far, you know how to gain Stat Exp, but we haven't discussed how to transform this Stat Exp into Stat Pts. Now we will. Using this formula, you can figure out how many Stat Exp you need to get to gain a particular number of bonus Stat Pts (reminder: Stat Pts earned by Stat Exp are independent from normal Pokémon growth). Here is the formula you need to apply:

Ok, these are pretty complicated terms, so I'll explain it textually. SE represents the amount of Stat Exp acquired so far. Level represents the current Level of your Pokémon. SP represents the number of Stat Pts you wish to accumulate. For those in their final years of high school and that are good at math, you'll notice that this is a quadratic formula. The Stat Pts growth is rather irregular, as the number of Stat Exp needed to gain an additional point keeps growing exponentially, much like Normal Experience. As Necrosaro stated, "This section is not for the weak of mind."

Since there's a maximum value for the Stat Exp, there's also a maximum number of Stat Pts you can acquire in total. After deconstructing the formula, here are two examples of the maximum amount of Stat Pts one can acquire at particular levels, when one reached the 65 025 Stat Exp extremum:

NOTE: Remember that Stat Pts can't be unlimited. To find out whether you can accumulate that number of Stat Pts, enter that number in the SP variable in the formula, and if the SE turns out to be greater than 65 025, than you can't attain that number of Stat Pts.

Stat Experience vs Experience Points

Here comes the tough part when it comes to training. Before telling you why, I'll tell you about Updating Attributes. Whenever you gain a Level, the cart updates the Pokémon's basic growth accordingly to the Wild Stat Formula, but also updates the number of additional Stat Pts accumulated accordingly to the Stat Experience Formula. This is how Attributes grow at each level-up. Attributes also grow with the use of Stat Enhancers because these items update the amount of Stat Pts gained in addition to the Stat Exp gained.

But how does this trouble us when it comes to training? It's very simple. Since your Attributes can only be Updated with level-ups, and you need to gather as much Stat Exp before reaching the next level-up, you need to find a way to get a lot of Stat Exp for a little amount of Exp Pts. But then again, most Pokémon with high Stat Exp (high Base Stats) rewards also have high Exp Pt awards, and the reversed situation is just as likely. It is up to you to gauge where it's best to train a Pokémon. Remember, your main objective is to reach that 65 025 Stat Exp by the time you reach Level 100.

The Box Trick

The Box Trick is a glitch discovered in the first carts (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green). It's related to Stat Exp, so I'll mention it too. The Box Trick works with Pokémon of any Level. What it does is that it Updates Attributes, much like level-ups and Stat Enhancers, without actually leveling-up your Pokémon. What you need to do is have your Pokémon earn Stat Exp, and then depositing into a Box on Bill's PC. When you deposit it into the Box, its Attributes will be Updated. This process can be repeated until your Pokémon has attained the 65 025 Stat Exp maximum.

Domestic Maximum Stat Formula

The Max Stat Formulae have been used a lot since GreyCloak put up his Skill/Stat Finder. To calculate them, he used all of the information discussed so far. Here is the formula that allows you to determine what your Pokémon's maximum Stat Potential will be, for all Attributes except HP:

The Level, Base Stat, and DV variables are the same as the ones dealt with under Wild Stat Formula. With this formula, people discovered that Mewtwo's Maximum Special rating is of 406, for example. In general, people use this formula for the determination of a Pokémon's Max Stats at Level 100.

NOTE: By replacing the DV factor in the formula by 15, you are able to determine the species' maximum stat range.

Domestic Maximum HP Formula

This formula works exactly like the previous one, except that it calculates HP:

The Level, Base HP, and DV variables are the same as the ones dealt with under Wild HP Formula. With this formula, people discovered that Chansey's Maximum HP rating is of 703, for example. In general, people use this formula for the determination of a Pokémon's Max HP at Level 100.

NOTE: By replacing the DV factor in the formula by 15, you are able to determine the species' maximum HP range.

Max Stats

If you've managed to understand all of the previous, then you're capable of understanding what Max Stats are, and how to attain them. Basically, you need to have a Pokémon with a DV of 15 and 65 025 Stat Exp in one Attribute, and be at Level 100 to hit a Max Stat. To get a Maxed Pokémon, you need to get nothing but Max Stats with a particular Pokémon. Now, you can get to work on your training skills.

Battle Mechanics

As seen in the Attributes section, a Pokémon's stats affect its performance in battle. Nevertheless, battles are more than just about stats. There is a wide range of factors one should be aware of if one's goal is to become a master strategist. This section deals with these factors, and anyone who wants to perform excellently in battle should read it. From Types to Critical Hits, here is everything you wanted to know about Battle Mechanics.

Type vs Type Effectiveness

The first thing to learn as a battler is that battles aren't just about Stats. One of the main factors that influence the outcome of the battle is a Pokémon's Type. A Type defines a Pokémon's main elemental affinity. Most Pokémon have one Type but there are many that have two.

A Type affects a Pokémon both offensively and defensively. A Pokémon of the Ice Type will deal more damage with an Ice technique than a Water Pokémon, for instance. While resistant to Grass techniques, a Fire Pokémon will be vulnerable to Water techniques. In order to determine a Pokémon's main strengths and weaknesses, one needs to know its Type(s), and the its(their) properties. Below is a special chart that allows someone to determine a Type's strengths and weaknesses:

When a technique is Super-Effective against one particular Type, that technique will deal Twice the damage it normally would. When a technique is Not Very Effective against one particular Type, the damage it deals is Halved. When a technique has No Effect on a particular Type, it deals No Damage at all.

NOTE: This rule applies principally to techniques with Fixed Power Ratings. For other techniques, special rules apply. For more information on techniques with Fized Power Ratings, see the Technique Power section.

Defensively, all effects doubled or cancelled by multiple Types are cumulative. For instance, Moltres, being of the Fire Type, would normally take double damage from the Ground technique Earthquake, as Ground techniques are Super-Effective on Fire Pokémon. Nevertheless, Moltres is still a Flying Type Pokémon, and Ground techniques have No Effect on Flying Pokémon. In the end, Moltres' Flying Type protects it from Ground techniques. Going on with the same Pokémon, if Moltres were hit by the Rock technique Rock Slide, it would take four times the normal damage, since both Fire and Flying Types are vulnerable to Rock techniques. In the same perspective, Moltres would receive only a quarter of the normal damage the Bug technique Pin Missile would deal. Here is a small chart evaluating the Defensive Capabilities of every Type:

Not only are Types used as a defensive advantage, but as an offensive one too. Whenever a Pokémon uses a technique of its Type(s), the power of the technique is Increased by 50%. Thus, when Exeggutor uses the Grass technique Mega Drain, the power of the technique is increased from 40 to 60 since Exeggutor is of the Grass Type. In a similar example, the power of the Psychic technique Confusion would increase from 50 to 75 when used by the same Pokémon, as Exeggutor is also of the Psychic Type. Offensively, all of the Pokémon's Types (in the case of Pokémon with Two Types) affect techniques as demonstrated here. Here is a small chart evaluating the Offensive Capabilities of every Type:

The real challenge with the choice of the Pokémon's Type lies with the combination of both offensive and defensive. Here is an overall chart of the added offensive and defensive capabilities of Types:

NOTE: I have only evaluated single Types. With the various kinds of Multiple-Type Pokémon, I would rather not evaluate every single combination.

Despite this very simple aspect of Battle Mechanics, there are some techniques that transgress the laws of Type Effectiveness. In the R/B/Y versions, these are as follows:

For the sake of battle effectiveness, these techniques are considered Typeless. The Type normally attributed to those techniques is only there to determine to what element that technique is attuned. Regardless of the enemy Pokémon, these techniques will work normally, neglecting any No Effect limitation.

NOTE: None of these techniques have a Fixed Power Rating. Thus, none of them are affected by Super-Effective or Not Very Effective properties.

Traded Pokémon In Battle

For those of you who have started trading, you'll notice that these Traded Pokémon sometimes act differently in battle than Pokémon you caught on your own. Aside from the differences stated in the Traded Pokémon & Experience Points section, a Traded Pokémon has a special penalty in battle that other Pokémon don't have. Unless you possess the proper Badge, Traded Pokémon of higher levels may disobey your battle commands. When at first you begin your Pokémon journey (and thus have no Badges), Traded Pokémon of levels 11 and up may disregard your commands. In order to command them without flaw, you need to acquire the proper Badge. Depending on the Badge, you may be able to control Traded Pokémon up to a certain level. For instance, the Cascade Badge, that you obtain after defeating Misty, lets you control Traded Pokémon of up to level 30. After that level, you'll need a newer Badge, or the Pokémon will become Unruly. Remember that this only applies to Traded Pokémon. Those you've caught yourself will always obey your commands.

Whenever you command an Unruly Traded Pokémon, there is a 75% chance that it will Disobey. The only commands that are not affected by this are the Item, PkMn, and Run commands.

Status Ailments

At one time or another in battle, your Pokémon may be afflicated by what is called a Status Ailment. These Ailments provide a Pokémon with specific hindrances, each harboring a different effects on the Pokémon's battle performance. Status Ailments classify into two categories, the Fixed Ailments and the Free Ailments. The difference between the two is very simple. Fixed Ailments are permanent for the duration of the battle, and in the case of Local Battles (e.g. those you fight without a Link), they persist even after battle. Here is the list of the Fixed Status Ailments:

As mentioned before, these Status Ailments persist after battle, and must be removed by special means. Usually, a trip to the Pokémon Center cures any such Ailment. There are also special items that may cure one or more Fixed Status Ailments like the Antidote, the Full Heal, or the Revive items. A Pokémon may be afflicted by only one Fixed Status Ailment at one time.

NOTE: Once a Pokémon has been afflicted by a Fixed Status Ailment, it can't be overwritten until the Ailment is erased. Note that Unconsciousness always overwrites any other Status Ailments. Once overwritten, a Fixed Status Ailment will not resurface again. There is a specific way to overwrite Fixed Status Ailments, but it is detailed under the section: Special Techniques.

Free Status Ailments differ from the Fixed ones in the property that they all wear off after battle. In battle, one can also remove them by switching to another Pokémon. After the switch, the effect is cancelled, and switching back to the previously afflicted Pokémon does not cause the Free Ailment to resurface. Whenever a Pokémon Faints, all Free Status Ailments are cancelled. Here is the list of the Free Status Ailments:

Remember that there is a limit of one Fixed Status Ailment at any one time (Bad Poison counts against this limit), but any number of Free Status Ailments can be inflicted, and their effects are cumulative. For example, Exeggcute, could Badly Poison a Pokémon with Toxic, Seed it with Leech Seed, and finally Confuse it with Confusion. All the Status Ailments would have their full effect. This example was done using only Free Status Ailments, but remember that they can also be combined with up to 1 Fixed Ailment. For example, you could replace Toxic in the previous example with Hypnosis, and thus put the enemy Pokémon to Sleep instead of Badly Poisoning it.

Technique PP

Even at full health, a Pokémon can tire itself out. Each of its techniques can be used a certain number of times, depending on the potential strength of the technique. Stronger techniques can be used less often, and wear out the Pokémon much faster. What determine how often a Pokémon can use a technique are the technique's PP. A diminutive for Power Points, PP represent the number of times a Pokémon can use a particular technique before being rejuvenated at a Pokémon Center, or by special items like Elixer or Max Ether. When a technique runs out of PP, it can't be used again until the Pokémon is rejuvenated. The Pokémon may still use any of its other techniques, as long as these still have some PP left. When all of a Pokémon's techniques have run out of PP, using the Fight command will result in a technique called Struggle, which deals relatively low damage, and has a Recoil effect on the Pokémon using it, thus causing it to lose a number of HP equal to a fraction of the Damage dealt. As your Pokémon keeps using Struggle, it will weaken itself, and will eventually Faint. The number of Base PP is usually as low as 5, and can go as high as 40.

PP Ups

There is a special item in the game called the PP Up. When used on a Pokémon, it has the power to raise the number of Maximum PP of one particular technique of one Pokémon, thus allowing it to use the technique more often. With each PP Up, a technique's Maximum PP increase by 20% of the technique's Initial Maximum PP. A maximum of 3 PP Ups can be used on a single technique, thus increasing the technique's PP to 160% of its initial Maximum Value. Though very useful, this item is very rare, and you'll not find many during your Pokémon journey.

Credits

This Guide is Copyright Š2000 of Marcus Majarra. Permission is required to make use of this document. For permission, send an email to Marcus Majarra.