Anyway, a Magikarp was battling, and it used... a blue flame attack. o_O

Not Tackle. Not Flail. Definitely not Splash.

I'm guessing it was Dragon Rage. Anyone care to explain? (Or test Dragon Rage's legality with a GameShark?)

Edit: Major rewording.

Second Edit: Can't be Dragonbreath.

[ 10-06-2001: Message edited by: oporaca ]

quote:

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Originally posted by DarkPersian:
If you can't see it again I wouldn't worry about it. It might have been they goofed and Magikarp was using attacks from Gyarados.

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In my eye, the equivalent of seeing Weedle validly use Substitute and passing it off as a glitch. (Butterfree can use Substitute, and the number is only one off. Beedrill is an evolution, and it can use Substitute, as well. Remember that evolution data and Pokemon numbering are the only ways to establish ties between members of evolutionary families.)

Most likely, this is a moveset that can only be obtained in a Japanese promotion, like Flying Raichu. Or it might be a Mobile Adaptor thing, like the Japanese Egg Ticket.

"The following moves were tested on a Magikarp with Pokémon Red in Stadium 1:

Dragon Rage = legal

The following moves were tested on a Magikarp with Pokémon Red in Stadium 2:

Dragon Rage = legal

The following moves were tested on a Magikarp with Pokémon Gold in Stadium 2:

Dragon Rage = legal
Outrage = illegal
Twister = illegal
DragonBreath = illegal

These results seem practical if you consider that Outrage will only do more damage than Dragon Rage if the opponent’s Defense is 198 or lower. So, of all the Dragon-type moves, Dragon Rage is still the best for Magikarp to learn, since it’s based on calculated damage, not his horrible Special Attack.

To be more technical, Magikarp works like a machine. Since there is no room for creativity in his moveset, you can literally evaluate him with simple “If/Then” statements. The standard moveset (Splash, Tackle, Dragon Rage, Flail), will be broken down as follows:

Splash: This move serves no purpose. The only arguable use is for PP wasting.

Tackle: If the opponent’s Defense is less than or equal to 78 AND your HP is above 166, use Tackle over Dragon Rage/Flail. If the opponent’s Defense is above 78 AND your HP is above 166, use Dragon Rage. If the opponent’s Defense is below 78 AND your HP is below 166, use Flail.

Dragon Rage: If the opponent’s Defense is greater than or equal to 78 AND your HP is above 166, use Dragon Rage over Tackle/Flail. If the opponent’s Defense is below 78 AND your HP is above 166, use Tackle. If the opponent’s Defense is below 78 AND your HP is below 166, use Flail.

In case you were wondering, an average opponent (353 HP) with Leftovers will take a total of 18 damage from Dragon Rage.

Flail:

Never use Flail if Magikarp’s HP is between 243 and 167, the base damage will only be 20. Tackle will always do more damage.

If Magikarp’s HP is between 166 and 86 AND the opponent’s Defense is 88 or lower, use Flail over Dragon Rage. Never use Tackle.

If Magikarp’s HP is between 85 and 50 AND the opponent’s Defense is 188 or lower, use Flail over Dragon Rage. Never use Tackle.

If Magikarp’s HP is between 49 and 25 AND the opponent’s Defense is 228 or lower, use Flail over Dragon Rage. Never use Tackle.

If Magikarp’s HP is between 24 and 10 AND the opponent’s Defense is 348 or lower, use Flail over Dragon Rage. Never use Tackle.

If Magikarp’s HP is between 9 and 1 AND the opponent’s Defense is 468 or lower, use Flail over Dragon Rage. Never use Tackle.

If Normal attacks are ineffective against your opponent (Rock/Steel), Dragon Rage will always do more damage than even a 200 based Flail, unless the resistant opponent’s Defense is 228 or lower. So for all practical purposes, Dragon Rage should be used against any Rock/Steel types, regardless of your current HP combined with Flail.

If Normal attacks are unable to damage your opponent (Ghost), Dragon Rage is the only valid option. On the bright side, Dragon Rage will cleanly faint Gengar/Misdreavus in nine turns (or eight if they’ve taken more than two damage), unless they have Leftovers. If they do have Leftovers, it will take eighteen turns.

On average (258 Attack), most opponent’s with STABed attacks (80 base) will deal over half Magikarp’s HP in damage to him. So a general plan of attack is as follows:

If Magikarp is faster (opponent with less than 258 Speed), follow the guide above to pick the correct attack against your opponent (most likely Dragon Rage). If you receive average damage from the opponent, your best course of action would be to Flail. Unless you’re dealing with unusual circumstances or a high Defense opponent. If that is the case, the aforementioned guide will allow you to choose between Tackle or Dragon Rage, instead of Flail.

This method of attack will be called the “Dragon Rage/Flail” combo.

If Magikarp is slower (opponent with greater than 258 Speed) AND you believe the opponent is going to attack, use Flail immediately that turn and continue to do so until fainted. Unless unusual circumstances occur (as mentioned above). If unusual circumstances do occur, (Rock/Steel/Low Defense Opponent), the above guide will allow your Magikarp to pick a good attack and move onto higher glory.

This method of attack will be called the “Flail/Flail” combo.

If Magikarp has the same speed (opponent with 258 Speed), you’d do best to play it safe and use Dragon Rage (unless unusual circumstances). Otherwise, if you go first and chose Flail, you’ll do a pathetic amount of damage and look very silly. However, if you want to be a risk taker, you can use Flail for potentially more damage (as long as you go last AND take damage from the opponent).

The first method of attack will be called the “No Risk Dragon Rage/Flail” combo. The second method of attack will be called the “High Risk Flail/Flail” combo.

To delve into this issue with greater depth, there are a total of nine Pokémon (five full evolutions) that have equal Speed with Magikarp. Those five full evolution Pokémon are: Arbok, Dragonite, Kabutops, Meganium, and Venusaur. Due to Magikarp’s horrible Special Defense (138) and weakness to Grass attacks, Venusaur and Meganium present the greatest threat. Flail should never be used against them, since a single Giga Drain (from either) will always OHKO Magikarp. Rather, the best approach for Venusaur and Meganium is to use Dragon Rage, dealing a vicious 40 damage (17 if they’re packing Leftovers).

On the other end of the spectrum, Arbok presents the least threat, since Magikarp has a lovely Defense (208). Furthermore, standard Arbok don’t wield Super Effective attacks and have disgusting low HP, allowing Dragon Rage to get the biggest bang for its buck. Clearly, Arbok is a Magikarp trainer’s delight, even giving you an easy opportunity to practice the “High Risk Flail/Flail” combo we discussed. This combo works especially well if Magikarp has Leftovers and Arbok deals slightly below average damage with Sludge Bomb twice, allowing Magikarp (if it goes first) to deliver a powerful 200 base Flail for 120 damage.

Dragonite is the most unpredictable of the bunch. If Dragonite is using Wing Attack, Fire Blast, and/or Ice Beam, Magikarp will present a serious threat. A Magikarp with Leftovers can survive TWO Wing Attacks, allowing it to deliver a powerful 200 base Flail to Dragonite (if Magikarp goes first). However, if Dragonite is packing Thunderbolt, Magikarp won’t be able to survive long enough (Leftovers or not) to hit Draggy with any sort of attack (if Dragonite goes first). Therefore, a Magikarp/Dragonite battle depends on the moves Dragonite is carrying. If Draggy isn’t carrying Thunderbolt, go for a “Dragon Rage/Flail/Flail” combo. If Dragonite is carrying Thunderbolt, you’ve got no choice but to use Magikarp’s formidable Dragon Rage attack (causing a crushing 16 points of damage against Leftover Dragonite, if Magikarp goes first).

Last, but definitely not least, we have Kabutops. Fighting Kabutops certainly means a painful death for our friend Magikarp. Kabutops, being a Rock-type, will easily resist even the most powerful Flail attacks any ‘karp can muster. Magikarp’s only hope is to take advantage of Kabutops’ horrible HP (323) and use Dragon Rage to whittle him down. Just like the Ghosts, if Kabutops has even taken TWO damage, Magikarp can faint him in a mere eight turns. Additionally, Magikarp (with Leftovers) can take approximately three Surfs from Kabutops and still remain alive. So sure, Kabutop blocks Magikarp’s powerful Tackle/Flail attacks, but likewise Magikarp stops Kabutop’s almighty Surf attacks. I’m not saying Magikarp can stop Kabutops, that would be near-impossible. I’m saying that Magikarp can put up a valiant battle against Kabutops and isn’t that all we want from our Pokémon? A strong, solid effort? Yes indeed, abandon your Snorlax and Blissey. Make room on your team for Magikarp, the Pokémon that tries really hard!

So, there you have it, folks. The complete guide to using Magikarp. Feel free to distribute this valuable tome of knowledge to all your friends, since I know everyone plays Magikarp these days. And you don’t need to thank me for my assistance; the work itself was reward enough.

Please note, I obtained Dragon Rage via Game Shark; I don’t have any method of legally placing Dragon Rage on Magikarp.

This guide is dedicated to Mr. E – The Magikarp Master"

quote:

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Originally posted by Uiru:
Dragon Rage is legal on Magikarp in RBY? That's so weird... I'm sure somebody's tried to see if the TM works on it anyway, right?

Other than that, maybe it breeds? Though the code saying it doesn't is sort of a clue... But then, the code for it might be somewhere else. (Mew's code in RBY is away from the other 150.)
~Uiru

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Gyarados learns Dragon Rage at L25. Therefore, put a L25 Magikarp with D-Rage onto Stadium. It should show as legal.

Then, try it with a L24 Magikarp. Stadium takes levels into account when compiling illegal moves, so if the moves shows up in pink for L24 but not L25, then we have proof that the designers originally intended for 'Karp to learn Dragon Rage at L25, then took that out (but left its legality in).

If either both are pink or both are legal, then keep trying different levels. Eventually, we'll find what level 'Karp was originally intended to learn D-Rage!