Total Baby - Looking for Tips!

[Moonhawk424]

Hi everyone!

 

I recently discovered Reborn after seeing some cool posts on Tumblr. I'm a lifelong Pokemon fan, but wasn't really able to play the games much growing up. As a result, 99% of my enjoyment of the games has been on my own. 

 

I absolutely love Reborn, and I've got a very vague idea of the metagame elements of the Pokegames in general - I've been using Smogon for team composition and strategies for the last few years for the main series. But I'm conscious that as I get further into the game, I'm going to need to really learn and get my head around strategies / EVs & IVs etc. (I already made what I now know is the rookie error of picking a water starter....)

 

So I'm here to say hi!! And also to ask for any tips you generous folk might have to offer.

 

Something that I've really loved about Pokemon over the years is how generous more experienced and knowledgeable players are - I remember when I started using the online trade function, and people would just give you amazing pokemon because they could?! And I've seen how kind folk are in these forums, which I've been trawling a bit, as well as reviewing the in-game advice. But unfortunately I've recently been struggling with chronic headaches and memory issues due to Long COVID, which means it's hard to retain / parse detail. SO. Hoping to access the hivemind.

 

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(TL;DR) Here are, I guess, my first opening questions / thoughts I'd love to get opinions on:

1. Should I use any of the passwords? I've only got one data chip, and I'm conscious that it's a super limited resource. Is there one in particular folk would recommend? I've been thinking about the HMs one, but I kind of enjoy the in-fiction feeling of how needing utility pokemon makes it harder to survive in battles. (Ditto for poison outside of combat).
2. Can someone give me the dummy's explanation for EVs vs IVs? I think one is fixed and one can be improved with Zinc, Carbos etc? One needs to be bred into pokemon? 
3. Can anyone give me a good rule of thumb on how to judge what a 'good' set of EVs / IVs are?
4. Is there any way to predict / look up what the in-game weather is going to be?
5. Catching overworld pokemon - quite a few just run away, even though I have Pokesnax. Should I be 'using' the Pokesnax when I see them? Or is it that they need specific items? (I was wondering if I needed Honey for Teddiursa, for example)
6. I think Growlithe is the quickest way to get a fire-type, with the police officers. I also read there's a Numel in Peridot but I'm struggling to find it?
7. Any other advice anyone would like to give! <3 

 

 

Definitely not expecting advice on all of these, but if you've got thoughts on any of them, I'd really appreciate it! Please and thank you.

 

For context: I'm two badges down, currently wandering through Malchous forest (the Nuzlocke trap was hilarious). My starter was Froakie, so currently Frogadier with the Protean ability (which has been super useful for cheating a Ghost typing).

 

Other than that, I'm rotating about a dozen pokemon, but team also includes: Swoobat, Emolga, Mightyena, Pachirisu, Kricketune, Budew (on the way to Roselia), Trubbish, Mankey (nearly Primeape).

 

I'm thinking about whether to train up & evolve: Venonat into Venomoth, Spinarak into Ariados, Stunky (eventually) into Skuntank. 

 

I'm feeling the need for any Ground or Fire types, and possibly Ice / Fairies. I've got a Delibird from the event, but not sure if she's worth training up (though just having the ice typing this early feels useful.) It feels like finding that Numel and getting the Growlithe are currently most important.

 

Pretty sure I've got Bug coming up next? So in the absence of Fire, focusing on my flying types. (Also got a Pidgeot just in case). 

[Siewek]

Alright, I'll give it a go:

1.Passwords are a great way to customise your experience, they range from quality of life as: a different starter, not having to worry about IV's, even more difficulty, monotype run helps. I think realistically speaking, only you can decide what kind of experience you're looking for. Passwords are not mandatory by any means, and without using any you can have an amazing experience too. During the gameplay, you can add passwords you might want with a consumable item called Data Chip.

2. Okay, so whenever a pokemon is generated, it has it's own Internal Values, or IV's, they are static and normally can't be changed (There's a limited amount of items in post game that can though, but that's post game). Those values range from 0 to 31 in each stats and you can check them in the EV/IVs menu in summary. You can manipulate those values with breeding, but that's a whole another topic, EV's on the other hand are effort values, basically, whenever you defeat a pokemon, the pokemon you use will get like 1-2 points in a stat assigned to the defeated pokemon, let's say I defeat a machop, for every machop I defeat I am getting +1 EV in attack, Ev's cap at 255 in one stat and I believe at like 512 total I think. Evs are much easier to manipulate and you can decrease and increase them using items, or just raise them fighting pokemon.

3.it depends on a pokemon, but generally almost in every case, maxing out speed and attack/special attack will do the trick, unless you're going for a specific build and obviously maxing out speed on a base 25 speed pokemon will be a waste, I would recomend checking Smogon for some builds for pokemon that you're interested in.

4.There's forecasts on tv, as far as I know, weather can't be manipulated anymore, so check forecasts frequently.

5.I assume you mean about pokemon like teddiursa that runs away if you interact with it, those are event pokemon, they don't require pokesnax, sometimes though when conditions are met, you may find pokemon standing in seemingly random questions, if you have pokesnax, you will be prompted to give it to them, if you do, you have a chance to catch it, it's a good way to get some good pokemon early on.

6.Numel is a pokesnax pokemon that stands near Grandview station in peridot, during rain.

7. The best advice, is to have fun, there is no wrong way to play this game.

[Moonhawk424]

Oh my gosh this was so kind and so much more than I was expecting, thank you, that really helps!!!

[Loner]

Well, first of all hello and welcome.

I was in a similar place to you a couple years ago, when I discovered Reborn. And I have to say, I had a blast playing through it. It's an amazing game, with unique characters, a lot of very rewarding sidequests - never felt like skipping one, ever, which for a sidequest is great - and a plot that is always filled with unexpected twists. 

 

Now, to answer your questions:

 

1. Passwords are by no means necessary, but there's a few QoL (quality of life) ones that I highly recommend. I'd suggest applying them on a fresh save myself, but your mileage may vary. In case, you'll need a Data Chip per password, and you'll have to use the PC to activate or deactivate them. I'll go over a few notable ones I use, though they are by no means all the password there are.

easyhms gives you more freedom on movesets, as you can use stuff like Cut without having to dedicate a moveslot to it. No more HM slaves! Which is good, as a lot of "boss" fights are challenging even with a full team of 6. And let's face it, HMs are almost never worth it, compared to other moves.

fieldapp is a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it gives you a lot of help in learning the fields the game introduces. Which is great, as there's quite some side-effects that are not so obvious and can prove surprising (Fire-type moves turning into Dragon-type on the Fairy Tale field, when you face someone who would normally be wrecked by Fire-types, but ends up obliterating them instead). On the other, however, part of the fun in this game is discovering new things and finding the many collectibles. And Field Notes are some of the most interesting ones. I like to scout around for them, and there's a wiki if you feel like learning them outside the game, but... Yeah. You do you.

weathermod is again a double-edged sword. It gives you control on weather, which is great if you want to get all possible special encounters even though you'll get access to every Pokémon anyway later in the game, but sometimes the suspence of facing a tough Grass-type that you need to defeat on a rainy weather, when your best answer is your Fire-type starter, well... Yeah. Again, you do you.

stablweather is the above's lite-mode. It makes weather have a set pattern throughout the week. Easier to foresee when you'll have that sunny weather you want, but I prefer the above as at least I don't have to wait or skip encounters.

freeremotepc gives you access to a remote PC, allowing you to change your team on the fly or check the captured Pokémon you just got/captured to see if it's a viable member for the team or not. Side-effect is, you can deposit a Pokémon and take it out immediately and it'll be healed as if you went to a Pokémon Center. I use this password, but generally refrain from doing that, however it's notable enough to mension. Handy in emergencies. 

pinata is again a bit of a double-edged sword. It makes you skip the repeatable trainers in the Grand Hall, getting Exp candies instead. Cool and all, but I generally add this later in the game, when I have to grind for evolutions or for a new team member, as those trainers are all pretty unique and worth facing at least once, I feel.

earlyincu is another notable one, albeit with a caveat. It gives you an incubator machine in the Pension that allows you to get eggs instantly. Great for breeding and all, but I don't mind the 5 minutes walking around to get eggs throughout the story myself, so I don't use the password. I just get the machine later on in the game as it becomes available.

As I said, there's more, but if you're new to the game, I would encourage you to go light with game-changing ones like the ones tailored to mono-type teams and the like. I'm gonna link you to the password page of the Wiki in case you want to have a look around, but keep in mind what I said here (https://pokemon-reborn.fandom.com/wiki/Passwords). 

 

2. Every Pokémon is unique, as they say in the anime. While the base statistics are common to a species, IVs (Individual Values) are unique to the specific Pokémon. They range from 0 to 31, higher is generally better though there are some (very specific) caveats. These are normally fixed they don't grow or decrease, and they can't be changed, but in Reborn there's a limited supply if items in the post-game that allows you to do so. It's why people breed Pokémon. It's a way to get out of the luck-factor that capturing a Pokémon entails. The odds of having a full 31 one are abysmal, and I'm being generous. By breeding, there's ways to ensure those 31s get passed down to offsprings.

EVs (Effort Values) are earned defeating other Pokémon, and represent how a training improves the Pokémon's performance. They reach their cap at 255, but you can only benefir from multiples of 4, so everything past 252 is a waste. And you can get at most 510 total per Pokémon. So, you gotta be selective, especially in the late game, with what you work on. Notably, every Pokémon species you defeat gives a specific amount of EVs in a stat (or two).

There's a fair bit of strategies for spreads and the like, but my suggestion is to find your own style and work from that, taking a template and seeing what you like (or not) with it. Maybe you like your physical tank to be bulkier on the special side so it can eat at least a special move, compared to the template. Maybe yout want it to outspeed another enemy wall to throw in a move that could potentially make that wall useless. You can adjust the EVs as needed, there's berries to drop them and items to add to them if you don't feel like fighting a specific Pokémon for the EVs you want (HP UP, Protein, you know the list).

 

3. Very subjective, your mileage may vary, but I go at it like this:

early game (pretty much until the 5-6 badge) everything 20+ is good. I can go lower on not "needed" stats (defense on sweepers, as an example);

mid game (up until about 12 badge) 25+ on "needed" stats, 20+ everywhere else, as by this point the enemies are given pretty much perfect IVs that make it very hard for Pokémon with terrible IVs to shine;

late game is everything past 12 badge and before the Pokémon League (worth underlining, BEFORE) everything 25+, better if there's a "needed" IV at 30+ or two.

For the Pokémon League and after, I'd aim as close to perfection as possible, as those are nothing like the original games. They're MUCH harder, with a combo of field effects and weather, plus movesets that gain boosts from at least one of the two. And the AI can take advantage from that surprisingly well. My exception is generally my starter, which as a rule I never take off my team, for which I reset until I get a good one (25+ everywhere, better if higher). 

 

4. This ties in to the password section of my response, but there's daily broadcasts on TV that you can watch to hear how the weather will change.

 

5. PokéSnax enable you to have an encounter with some special Pokémon. They will all be accessible eventually, you don't actually need to get all encounters to complete your Pokédex, but having, as an example, a Numel before Gym 2 can be very helpful, as opposed to having to wait till a few Gyms later. And Teddiursa can be a wrecking ball in the early game. The way PokéSnax works is, if you have at least one in your bag when you talk to the eligible Pokémon, it'll either join your team for free or allow you to fight it to capture it. Side note, you can also use PokéSnax to raise friendship. Not really worth it, especially until late game, but in a pinch...

 

6. The Numel is in front of the train station where you begin playing, if the weather is rainy. I kinda mentioned it above by incident, didn't mean to, but... Yeah.

In terms of Fire-types, the absolute earliest would be the Fire elemental Monkey (Pansear, I think?) under the bridge, before Gym 1, if rainy. 50% odds, could be the Water-type one instead (Panpour? Again, I can't keep their name in mind no matter how hard I try).

Numel is the second.

There's also a Litleo, but it's gated behind a pretty tough fight for this point in the game. You want something capable of tanking hits (especially Steel-type and Electric-type attacks) and possibly inflict passive damage (burn, Leech Seed, confusion, or possibly sleep so you can attack in the off-time). You can trigger this by going in the southern alley in the Obsidia Wards. Tough but very satisfying, if you ask me.

Growlithe comes after that, gotta help the Police first.

 

7. My recommendation is to take everything I said with a grain of salt, as I mentioned this comes from my experience, which was blessed with A LOT OF LUCK, yours may differ.

Talk with everyone, there's a lot of cool items that NPCs would gladly give you, if only you spoke to them.

Don't be surprised when some of your Pokémon fall off being useful, especially in the later game you'll be facing stuff like Garchomp, Megas, Z-Moves and the like. Some Pokémon are just not able to respond. On the bright side, completing your Pokédex gives you access to some neat TMs, aswell as rare Pokémon. Definitely worth doing, if you ask me.

Keep every Pokémon you get with a different Original Trainer than yours in your PC, don't trade them. They're useful for the lottery, but you'll also need some of them later in the game for a Very Important SideQuest (not spoiling you more than that). Specifically: don't evolve Igglybuff nor the Pokémon you'll buy in 7th Street (you'll see what I mean when you get there). Breed them if you wish, level them up, but don't evolve them. This will save you a lot of headaches later on in the game. Trust me on this.

Another consideration is, use the Wiki I linked you to sparingly, unfortunately it's a bit of a spolier by virtue of containing information about the game.

Generally speaking, I'd suggest using it to keep an eye on special encounters, and possibly TM availability, more than anything else. Just in case that Pokémon or TM you wanted is available at the point in game you are. Also, some of them are very well hidden, so much so that I wouldn't have found them EVER without checking the page for that. Still great to go through all the hoops though, very satisfying.

And of course, the usual have fun, don't put too much pressure on yourself, enjoy the game as much as you can. It's so good you can see different things in different playthroughs, and it can always be surprising, even if you've played it before.

 

Best of luck for your playthrough, have a wonderful time!

[Moonhawk424]

Thank you so so so much!!!! This is so thorough and thoughtful and incredibly helpful. Aaaaah I'm nervous and excited to get back into the game now! :D Thank you!