Pokemon Black and White: Useful Pokemon in-game, Part 1

          Pokemon Black and White have been out in the U.S. for exactly two weeks now, and as I believe many are probably very far in the game at this point, I would like to go into some detail of the many useful new Pokemon to be encountered in the games throughout your journey. I myself have only just reached the Pokemon League, so I have yet to beat the game. With that being said this list will cover useful Pokemon up until this point. I will edit it as I progress, and I will hopefully continue to post more in-game guides, etc in addition to my Competitive posts. I apologize for my absence; I was very busy with school, but now I am on Spring Break and will try to post as much as I can!

Without further adieu:

1. Lillipup

Useful for its ability to acquire rare items early on.

          Literally one of the first useful Pokemon to be encountered in the game is the cute little puppy Lillipup. By catching one of these little guys, you get a 50% chance of it having the ability Pickup which, as you may know, provides a 10% chance of acquiring an item after each battle (trainer or wild Pokemon battle). The best way to go about this is by catching as many Lillipups in your party as you can early in the game. Catch 5 or 6 if you'd like (but make sure they have Pickup, as some might have Vital Spirit)! This will increase your chances of getting rare items like Nugget, Hyper Potion and Ultra Ball, which are all very helpful to have at an early point in your journey. A slight downside to this is that Pickup's effectiveness is based on a Pokemon's level, like previous generations. Also, Lillipup is the only 5th Generation Pokemon to have this ability. This means if you want to use this tip to its fullest potential, you'll have to carry around high leveled Lillipups to acquire these rare items (when it evolves, it loses this magnificent ability). Still, this is a very useful strategy for getting a lot of Nuggets early in the game to help you in the long run. Try it out!

Here is a list of the in-depth Pickup mechanics for Black  and White: http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pickup.shtml

**Credit goes to serebii.net for its useful information. I am not claiming this as my own**

2. Audino

The Pokemon with the 3rd highest Experience yield in the entire game!! 

 

 

          Audino is perhaps the most useful Pokemon in all of Black and White. It doesn't have Chandelure's Special Attack, nor does it have Hydreigon's versatility. In fact, it really isn't very useful at all in battle. So then... what's the deal with this thing? First of all, it appears in almost every route in the game where there is grass. In that sense, it is quite common. Second, and easily most importantly of all, it gives any Pokemon that defeats it a ton of experience points. Literally, a ton. Some lower-leveled Pokemon might be crushed by the amount of experience it gives; they won't know what to do with it all. If its experience were a Pokemon itself, it would be as large as Wailord, with Deoxys A's Attack stats and Deoxys D's Defense. And it would learn every move in existence.
          Ok, so maybe I've made too big a deal of this thing. But seriously, it helps. As long as your Pokemon is around the same level as Audino, it will receive a great amount of experience to help it grow. Slap on a Lucky Egg and a couple Exp. Shares and your Pokemon will have no trouble training for anything. I once raised a Level 1 Pokemon twenty levels just by defeating a level twenty-something Audino with one of my other Pokemon. It received somewhere around 5900 exp.
          One of the most significant factors to consider about this is that in Black and White the entire mechanic of experience yield has been changed. Now, experience points received are dependent on the difference in your Pokemon's level and the Pokemon it is battling. This means if your Pokemon is level 15 and you defeat a level 26 Pokemon, you will receive much more experience than if your own Pokemon was at level 26 as well. Combine this with Audino's superior-to-Arceus experience yield, and you've got yourself one of the easiest means of raising Pokemon. Beat that, Pokemon Trainer Red!

**Note: Audino is only battled in a special way. You must move around outside any patch of grass until you see one square shaking. Once it shakes, walk over to that spot. This is also a way to get certain rare Pokemon in different routes, such as Emolga, the three "Pan" monkeys, Unfezant, etc. Make sure you have some Repels as well!**

I hope this partial guide has helped! As I've said, I will continue to update and post more about Black and White and the new Competitive Battling scene.

Enjoy your Pokemon!

~Scarecrow