Pokemusings, week five

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Ways to speed up happiness evolution

There are three berries that are particularly useful for evolution purposes: Kelpsy Berries (#22), Hondew Berries (#24), and Tamato Berries (#26). These berries make your Pokemon happier, but at the expense of the Attack, Special Attack, and Speed Stats, respectively. Depending on the Pokemon you're raising and how you want to develop it, losing points in these stats shouldn't matter at all.

For example, let's say your end goal is to make a kick-ass Togekiss. Before you can evolve it to Togekiss, you have to turn a Togepi into a Togetic through happiness. If you look at the attacks we recommended for Togekiss inlast week's Pokemusings, you'll notice that they're all based on the Special Attack stat. See what we're getting at? The Attack stat for this Pokemon sucks and no trainer worth a damn should use any moves based on it. This makes Attack points quite expendable. And this, dear friends, is an excellent time to use some Kelpsy Berries.

Just stuff 15 to 20 Kelpsy Berries into your Togepi, level it up once, and voila! You'll have a Togetic in less than an hour. Actually, it shouldn't take much longer than ten minutes. It's really that simple. You just need to have the right berries for the right Pokemon. Attack, Special Attack, and Speed are the easiest stats to sacrifice, depending on the Pokemon you're evolving. There are other berries with the same happiness effect, but we can't imagine wanting to give up Defense, Special Defense, and Hit Points. And yes, we understand that you can compensate for these stats with vitamins and EV training, but why put yourself in a hole?

A diligent Pokemon trainer should have Kelpsy, Hondew, and Tamato plants growing all over Sinnoh. If you tend to these plants as you're making your way through the game, then you'll have a plentiful supply for when you want to evolve your Pokemon. Just in case you don't have these berries, you have a chance to win them and three excellent Pokemon in this week's contest!