Soft Resetting Guide Pokémon XY and ORAS!

[Buckert]

Just wanted to mention that you can also use a damage calculator with the stats of the 'mons you're using to check HP/ Speed in order to check Attack / Sp. Atk. There's no need to add it to the guide because it is entirely dependent of which Pokémon you're using, its IV's/EV's, Nature, etc. It's worked fine for me so far (except with boosting Pokémon, and then again, I'm about to take care of that with Taunt lol)

Yeah you could try that, but damage calculations are not reliable enough. Not at all, actually. An example:

Lets say you're aiming for a Modest Xerneas. (The first thing that came up with me, idc xD)

Xerneas with 31 Sp.Atk
0+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Smeargle: 237-279 (75.4 - 88.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Xerneas with 0 Sp.Atk
0+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Smeargle: 211-250 (67.1 - 79.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

If Moonblast does less damage than 237, you do know it doesn't have 31 Sp.Atk. When he has 0 Sp.Atk, a Moonblast can do 250 damage at max, which is between the damage rate of 31 Sp.Atk. You can't be sure what the IV will be when doing damage.

Buckert I'm currently SRing Thundurus and I found it is useful to have smeargle hold a lum berry. Thundurus uses Discharge and has a 30% chance of paralyzing Smeargle and ruin the speed check (I use taunt first turn because I don't want him using agility and consume more turns using rockpolish). I think you should add "give smeargle a lum berry" as recommendation for SRing all pokemon with moves that cause status like heatran and the 3 beasts etc. I think it is more important with thundurus because its Prankster ability makes SRing complicated enough.

Well I haven't tried soft resetting for any of those yet since I just don't care. :p but thanks a lot for mentioning that, I'll add it to the thread right away! :)

Edit: Reshiram and Zekrom are pretty annoying as well with Dragonbreath, since that move'll paralyze you as well. Will add that right away, thanks again. :)

 

[Empoleon_master]

I just wanted to use this post to praise aus_pokedad for making the sableye and how incredibly useful it is. And to also highly praise the person that thought of using an air balloon prankster sableye as that one air balloon has had me flee from no less than 30 rayquaza that would not have perfect speed stats. I swear, when I get the perfect naive rayquaza I am going to have it cloned about 30+ times then trade it for a few nice things, then have it be full redis and give everyone (the people of this thread first) clones of it, as everyone should have a nice rayquaza.

 

[Teru_XD]

Yeah you could try that, but damage calculations are not reliable enough. Not at all, actually. An example:

Lets say you're aiming for a Modest Xerneas. (The first thing that came up with me, idc xD)

Xerneas with 31 Sp.Atk
0+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Smeargle: 237-279 (75.4 - 88.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Xerneas with 0 Sp.Atk
0+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Smeargle: 211-250 (67.1 - 79.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

If Moonblast does less damage than 237, you do know it doesn't have 31 Sp.Atk. When he has 0 Sp.Atk, a Moonblast can do 250 damage at max, which is between the damage rate of 31 Sp.Atk. You can't be sure what the IV will be when doing damage.



Well I haven't tried soft resetting for any of those yet since I just don't care. :p but thanks a lot for mentioning that, I'll add it to the thread right away! :)

Edit: Reshiram and Zekrom are pretty annoying as well with Dragonbreath, since that move'll paralyze you as well. Will add that right away, thanks again. :)

Yes, I'm aware of that. Still, it serves to have the limits at hand (max/min damage). That way, if you see a move doing less damage than minimum for 30-31 IVs, you can just SR. What I'm doing actually is that I let the Pokémon attack me several times, restoring my HP each time it does so. I've been able to detect 31 IVs in Atk / SpAtk that way. If I don't get a conclusive result (i.e. No damage under min), I catch the Pokémon or go on to check its next stat. Hell, with plenty of attempts you even start to notice a damage pattern that lets you know if the Pokémon has 30-31 IVs in the corresponding attacking stat. I've been SRing Regice for a couple of days myself, and the ones I get after checking Damage Calculations have 30-31 IVs in SpAtk. But again, I was just sharing my experience in case someone else feels like trying it.

 

[Raichufan92]

I dont know if you have thought of this but this is how I test for Xerneas (have done it for 5 months this way trying to get modest HP Fire) anyway this is what I used for it and worked quite well.

Have a fainted sync up front then use a level 100 chansey usually the IV set up I have is 31/31/31/31/31/13 that way its speed can reach 118 (Xerneas has 119 with 31 speed). I do it this way because I can test the speed, HP, att and Spatt of Xerneas.

The set I use

Chansey@Eviolite
Calm Nature
EVS: 252 HP/ 252 Spdef
IVS: 31/31/31/31/31/13 (Can change Evs if you are too lazy to get exactly 13 speed IVS)
Moveset:
- Thunder Wave
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell

This way I can reset for every possible thing. If chansey outspeeds reset, if S-Toss makes it go to yellow health Reset, If moonblast does less than 25 HP damage reset, and if megahorn does more than 105 HP damage reset.

0+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Eviolite Chansey: 25-30 (3.5 - 4.2%)
0- Atk Xerneas Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Chansey: 89-105 (12.6 - 14.9%)

Thats my thought I have spent alot of time with Xerneas trying to reset it to get that flawless HP Fire still works with 30 IVS cause his stats dont change from 30-31 at level 50

 

[rufus drumknott]

Don't know if anybody's mentioned or tried this yet, but I'm using only one Pokemon to SR for Cresselia. I'm going for a 31/xx/31/31/31/31 Cresselia with Bold nature.

Lv. 97 ♂ Xatu @ Macho Brace
Ability: Synchronize
IVs: 0 Speed / EVs: 80 Speed
Bold Nature

- Thunder Wave
- Night Shade
- Roost
- Attract

Obvious Synchronizer. With these IVs and EVs, Xatu hits 208 Speed, which becomes 104 Speed with Macho Brace so if it outspeeds Cresselia, soft-reset. 97*2 = 194 so if one Night Shade puts Cresselia in yellow, soft-reset. Two Night Shades will put it at 1 HP, so you can T-Wave it and start throwing Pokeballs. Not sure if infatuation increases the catch rate (I do not understand Bulbapedia's article on catch rates at all D:) but the less Cresselia hits my Xatu, the better. Roost to regain health, but with Capture Power 3, I rarely have to throw more than 20 Pokeballs at Cresselia, I haven't had a really long battle with it yet and I've been at it for a couple of days.

Btw, completing the Pokedex is a good idea to increase the chances of getting a critical capture (you only need 600+ Pokemon in the dex to get the highest chance of a crit capture but whatever). Bulbapedia says they're rare, but I end up only having to throw a couple of Dive Balls at Cresselia before the ball only shakes once and Cresselia is mine so often that I'd totally recommend it. Not sure if this has been mentioned but it's not in the OP so I'll just throw it out.

 

[iamfanboy]

Question: What would you guys say is the best Deoxys to shoot for? The Smogon guide gives such varying Natures depending on which forme is chosen, and I'm frankly torn between Defense and Speed - I doubt I'll need Deoxys-A, as most Ubers pokes are strong enough to sweep or be wallbreakers by themselves. If I get drawn into an ubers-style match in real life I want to be able to choose the best lead.

 

[Detective Barricade]

Question: What would you guys say is the best Deoxys to shoot for? The Smogon guide gives such varying Natures depending on which forme is chosen, and I'm frankly torn between Defense and Speed - I doubt I'll need Deoxys-A, as most Ubers pokes are strong enough to sweep or be wallbreakers by themselves. If I get drawn into an ubers-style match in real life I want to be able to choose the best lead.

Well Attack Form is the easiest to SR for - its defenses are so nonexistent there's little point in worrying about them at all. I guess you can narrow the list to Jolly for Speed Form or Careful for Defense Form, as why not use Knock Off to cripple an opponent by relieving them of their hold item, but ultimately it's up to you to decide what will benefit your team the most.

 

[vzxt]

Well I haven't tried soft resetting for any of those yet since I just don't care. :p but thanks a lot for mentioning that, I'll add it to the thread right away! :)

Edit: Reshiram and Zekrom are pretty annoying as well with Dragonbreath, since that move'll paralyze you as well. Will add that right away, thanks again. :)

So there's one more annoying thing about SRing thundurus/tornadus besides parahax... There's a chance for them to use priority Agility in turn 1 and 2 (turn 1 Final Gambit with staraptor, turn 2 taunt with smeargle) forcing smeargle to Rock polish twice to speed test, in which case you can also be paralyzed twice in thundurus' case D:

So I decided to change one of smeargle's moves. I changed Recover for Psych Up so Smeargle can copy the 2 Agility boosts(+4speed) instantly after using taunt. This saves time and makes the speed test faster. You can also change Rock Polish for Psych up, as the genies will probably get to +6speed and outspeed smeargle anyway, if you don't use taunt on later turns, but changing recover is the best option imo. If you want to replenish Smeargle's HP its better to use a Full Restores than waste a turn to recover only 50% of health.

Edit: The chance of them using agility twice is 12.5% if I'm not mistaken... I've been very unlucky with this so that's why I decided to do something about it. Since you have to soar to the cloud they appear in everytime, saving one turn can make things easier. Plus with psych up you don't have to pay attention to how many speed boosts they get. So... Turn 1 Final Gambit (HP IV check), Turn 2 Taunt, Turn 3 Psych Up and Turn 4 Spore(Speed IV check) For a guaranteed no brainer Speed check/SR :P

Edit2: tl;dr Use Psych Up instead of Rockpolish for easy speedcheck

 

[hotdogturtle]

For Thundurus I think it's faster to check speed on turn 1 instead of HP (if your setup allows it). If it fails the speed check, you can run from the battle, land in Fortree, and soar again to generate a completely new Thundurus. Once you find one with perfect speed then you can test HP. But if you're checking HP first and it fails the HP test, then you have to reset.

 

[aus_pokedad]

For Thundurus I think it's faster to check speed on turn 1 instead of HP (if your setup allows it). If it fails the speed check, you can run from the battle, land in Fortree, and soar again to generate a completely new Thundurus. Once you find one with perfect speed then you can test HP. But if you're checking HP first and it fails the HP test, then you have to reset.

With Thunderus I think you are better to start with a Prankster Sableye with pain split, taunt and night shade. Turn 1 use pain split. This will give you your HP check, and if Thunderus uses agility or Heal Block you have your speed check. If on the other hand Tornadus uses Crunch or Discharge on turn 2 you use taunt. This allows you to test for speed if Thunderus uses a status attack turn two. If it uses a second damage attack you use NightShade turn 3 to finally get your speed test. You want to sabeye a status curing berry to protect against discharge paralysis .

 

[vzxt]

With Thunderus I think you are better to start with a Prankster Sableye with pain split, taunt and night shade. Turn 1 use pain split. This will give you your HP check, and if Thunderus uses agility or Heal Block you have your speed check. If on the other hand Tornadus uses Crunch or Discharge on turn 2 you use taunt. This allows you to test for speed if Thunderus uses a status attack turn two. If it uses a second damage attack you use pain split turn 3 to finally get your speed test. You want to sabeye a status curing berry to protect against discharge paralysis .

What you say sounds good as you have a 50% chance of doing the speed+Hp check on turn 1, but you still have to status and reduce Tornadus to 1Hp with another pokemon . With what I proposed two posts above you get the Hp and Speed check + you leave tornadus with 1 Hp and asleep in only 4 turns no matter what the genie does. From that point on you only throw pokeballs and spore when it wakes up, if it passed the Hp and speed checks of course.

I Bolded that part of your post because it doesn't make sense. You said use taunt turn2, and in turn 3 you use a priority Pain split? That won't check for speed since Thundurus/Tornadus will use a damaging attack, perhaps you meant NightShade on turn 3? Still with this you still need an extra pokemon to come in status and false swipe the genie forcing you to use at least 6 turns or more before you can try to capture it. Anyways... that 50% chance of HP+Speed check on turn 1 is tempting...

Have you SRed thundurus with this method before can you tell me the specs of the sableye you used (level, nature, EVs etc.)?

 

[aus_pokedad]

Firstly, I did mean NightShade on turn 3 (I will edit it to make sure anyone who reads from now on doesn't get confused).
Second, I haven't actually SR'd Thunderus yet, I have been havong far too much fun working out theoretical means to SR things efficiently.
That Stats I figured for to SR a bold Thunderus are Sableye are Level 76, Neutral nature, 31 IV's, EV's 120 HP 252 SpD 136 Sp. These stats get the 1 under speed allow you to NightShade it down to 2 HP and guarantee that you will survive 3 Critical hits on Discharge. If you are going for a Timid Thunderus then just switch the Sableye's nature to timid also.
Using my method, half the time the moves are Pain Split, Night Shade, Night Shade, Swap to Smeagle, Spore, Throw balls with Thunderus on 2 HP. The other half there is a Taunt as the second move.
All up it is not clear to me which method will end up fastest on average. I will try to do some statistical analysis and get back to you.
UPDATE:
I have done the analysis (I can post the details if wanted) and found that if you are looking for a speed boosted nature the Sableye method is slightly faster on average to get to a reset or ball. However, if you are going for a neutral speed nature Staraptor is slightly faster. In either case the difference is around 5%, so chose whichever method you prefer.

 

[Sidfrid]

Just throwing a Master Ball will let you capture useless ones too

On mewtwo:
I think we need to confirm the HP and Spd IVs (only +spd nature since I don't think anyone use neutral spd mewtwo), with your guide will only take 3 turns to catch and you will skip the shitty ones.

 

[Buckert]

On mewtwo:
I think we need to confirm the HP and Spd IVs (only +spd nature since I don't think anyone use neutral spd mewtwo), with your guide will only take 3 turns to catch and you will skip the shitty ones.

Fair enough, I will add that somewhere this week. Have to start on my graduation assignment in a few weeks so I might be a bit busy. I must say, there are lots of interesting opinions here! The guide I wrote is not mandatory, everyone's free to do whatever they think works best. I might add a few of those extra options as well. :)

Keep up the good work guys!

 

[Mulan15262]

Is it faster to use this method or to use a synchronizer and start by throwing Master Balls, and then just keep going to the IV Judge?

I know you can't work this way for most encounters, but on my copy of Y I still have my Master Ball and Zygarde is the only legendary on that game I haven't caught yet.

 

[Sakuretsu]

Is it faster to use this method or to use a synchronizer and start by throwing Master Balls, and then just keep going to the IV Judge?

I know you can't work this way for most encounters, but on my copy of Y I still have my Master Ball and Zygarde is the only legendary on that game I haven't caught yet.

If you're trying to get at least somewhat competitively-viable 'mons, then yes, these methods are far more efficient in the long run.

By simply chucking a master ball, you are not guaranteed that the 3 31s are even in the preferred places, let alone whether or not your Synch worked. With the methods described in the guide along with the multitude of comments, your time for each SR is cut down. As stated in the guide and the comments, by using these methods, you can pretty much confirm whether or not your Synch worked, your current SR attempt has perfect speed, and/or if it has perfect HP. After all three of these are met within a few turns (maximum of 3, I believe), you can capture your 'mon and determine whether the other stats are worth keeping. If not, a simple reset and another attempt will mitigate that.

As for simply chucking master balls and hoping for a correct nature (Summary screen) flawless 5 IV (IV checker) legendary? Yeah, have fun with that.


To summarize, these methods are time-savers. They are quick and efficient ways to do what you want to do without blindly capturing a 'mon each time you SR and hope for a flawless. Of course, if you prefer to simply chuck master balls in the hope that you didn't have to do any other work for a flawless legendary, then that is fine - you are free to do what you wish. We are merely trying to alleviate the SRing process for flawless or near-flawless legendaries in as little effort in the long run.

Did I forget anything?

EDIT:
I see the question in the title now. I'd say we should have calcs for Mewtwo. It would complete the guide and look much nicer with all the other legends' info and calcs.

 

[vzxt]

Firstly, I did mean NightShade on turn 3 (I will edit it to make sure anyone who reads from now on doesn't get confused).
Second, I haven't actually SR'd Thunderus yet, I have been havong far too much fun working out theoretical means to SR things efficiently.
That Stats I figured for to SR a bold Thunderus are Sableye are Level 76, Neutral nature, 31 IV's, EV's 120 HP 252 SpD 136 Sp. These stats get the 1 under speed allow you to NightShade it down to 2 HP and guarantee that you will survive 3 Critical hits on Discharge. If you are going for a Timid Thunderus then just switch the Sableye's nature to timid also.
Using my method, half the time the moves are Pain Split, Night Shade, Night Shade, Swap to Smeagle, Spore, Throw balls with Thunderus on 2 HP. The other half there is a Taunt as the second move.
All up it is not clear to me which method will end up fastest on average. I will try to do some statistical analysis and get back to you.
UPDATE:
I have done the analysis (I can post the details if wanted) and found that if you are looking for a speed boosted nature the Sableye method is slightly faster on average to get to a reset or ball. However, if you are going for a neutral speed nature Staraptor is slightly faster. In either case the difference is around 5%, so chose whichever method you prefer.

Hmm interesting
What basis did you use for your analysis? Fastest capture or reset? Having a faster reset is better over all as the capture is luck based so it can take a random number of turns to finally capture a pokemon.
I would like to see your calcs as that 5% difference depending on the nature sounds weird to me. Shouldn't it be the same no matter the nature?
I don't know if anyone else is interested in following this overly serious discussion about SR Thundurus so PM the analysis if you want xD.

 

[Marvvv]

Hey guys,
a question:
I want to SR Landorus. For Speed checking Ive got a Liepard with 80 Spd plus Choice Scarf which would give it 120 Spd. (Adamant Lando has 121)
For HP checking ive got a staraptor with 31 IVs on HP. Now the guide says to train it to lvl 51 to let it hit 163 HP with 0 EVs.
Now how am I going to train it to 51 with letting it gain HP EVs? I dont have that much rare candys.
Thanks for the help.

 

[flargananddingle]

Hey guys,
a question:
I want to SR Landorus. For Speed checking Ive got a Liepard with 80 Spd plus Choice Scarf which would give it 120 Spd. (Adamant Lando has 121)
For HP checking ive got a staraptor with 31 IVs on HP. Now the guide says to train it to lvl 51 to let it hit 163 HP with 0 EVs.
Now how am I going to train it to 51 with letting it gain HP EVs? I dont have that much rare candys.
Thanks for the help.

Get moar candies
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/a-quickstart-guide-to-oras-breeding-training.3522921/

Go there and pick hordes that don't give hp ivs...use exp power to make your gain faster, in addition to lucky eggs. You could also go a little more in depth and find high level trainers whose mons don't give hp evs, but AFAIK that's not listed anywhere.

Could also just beat stuff up and use hp reducing berries or a reset bag

 

[Marvvv]

Get moar candies
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/a-quickstart-guide-to-oras-breeding-training.3522921/

Go there and pick hordes that don't give hp ivs...use exp power to make your gain faster, in addition to lucky eggs. You could also go a little more in depth and find high level trainers whose mons don't give hp evs, but AFAIK that's not listed anywhere.

Could also just beat stuff up and use hp reducing berries or a reset bag

Thank you, got it now!

 

[Marvvv]

Been SR for an hour or so and i got this:
Landorus
Adamant
HP: 31
Atk: 24-25
Def: 31
S.Atk: XX
S.Def: 28-29
Spd: 31

I mean, the defenses are great, but what do you guys think of the Atk?
Should I reset? I really cant decide...

 

[Buckert]

Got a deadline for next thursday, will post an update few Mewtwo and Azelf after that!

Been SR for an hour or so and i got this:
Landorus
Adamant
HP: 31
Atk: 24-25
Def: 31
S.Atk: XX
S.Def: 28-29
Spd: 31

I mean, the defenses are great, but what do you guys think of the Atk?
Should I reset? I really cant decide...

This thread isn't really meant for discussing the end result. I would've tossed to answer your question, because you only got the default 3 31s. Besides that, you want 31 Atk for Adamant.

 

[JES]

Been SR for an hour or so and i got this:
Landorus
Adamant
HP: 31
Atk: 24-25
Def: 31
S.Atk: XX
S.Def: 28-29
Spd: 31

I mean, the defenses are great, but what do you guys think of the Atk?
Should I reset? I really cant decide...

I'll give my two cents, because I know how it is like to want to get a second opinion:
It depends. Is Attack a really important stat to you in this circumstance? If so, if you can still reset, and really want those max IVs in Attack, then if you can still reset, then go for broke. Go ahead and try again, and good luck.
I'll be curious to see if you can get better results.

 

[Marvvv]

Thanks for the replys and sorry for posting if that was out of place here.
I try for a better Lando, since its gonna be Adamant, and I kinda think the stat you boost should be 31.
I hope I won't regret it.^^

 

[Buckert]

Sorry for the late update, but I have finally added Mewtwo to the guide! I had to design a different Smeargle again though, so if there are people who are planning on resetting for Mewtwo, let me know. I'll breed that Smeargle and put it in my thread, next to all the other Pokémon designed for IV checking. :)

flargananddingle also suggested an update for Azelf, since it's pretty annoying with Nasty Plot and Uproar. Still need to work this out!