The Best Moves for Staraptor in Pokemon Pearl

Pokemon Move Characteristics

• All Pokemon moves consist of three elements: power, accuracy and power points, or PP. Each Pokemon starts a battle with a certain amount of hit points, or HP. When HP becomes zero, the Pokemon faints. The more power a move has, the more HP damage it will do to an opponent. The higher the accuracy of a move, the more likely your Pokemon is to score a hit with that move. Moves with less than 100 percent accuracy mean your Pokemon could miss, leaving your Pokemon open to a defeating blow. PP is the number of moves of that type your Pokemon has. If Staraptor runs out of PP during a battle, it can no longer use that move. After a battle, if you take your Staraptor to a Pokemon Center to heal, the PP for every move is also restored.

Staraptor's High Power Moves

• Staraptor learns Wing Attack when it grows to Level 9. With a power of 60, this is the strongest move it can learn on its own up to this point. Aerial Ace, which Staraptor learns at Level 28, also has power 60 and never misses. At level 33, Staraptor learns Take Down, which has 90 power but only 85 percent accuracy. Close Combat, with 120 power and 100 percent accuracy, is a very strong move available at Level 34, but the move has only 5 PP and lowers Staraptor's defense stats when used. Brave Bird is the strongest move Staraptor learns on its own. This 120-power, 100-percent-accuracy move comes with a price. Staraptor takes 33 percent of the damage doled out, so the Pokemon should have high HP before using this move. Among the stronger TMs you can teach Staraptor are TM15 Hyper Beam, which has 150 power and 90 percent accuracy, and TM68 Giga Impact, which has 150 power and 90 percent accuracy. The only HM move Staraptor can learn that deals out physical damage is HM02 Fly. This move has 90 power and 95 percent accuracy. It is also a two-part move that protects Staraptor from the opponent's next move if that move doesn't affect a Pokemon in the sky.

Staraptor's Strong Special Moves

• At Level 18, Staraptor can learn Endeavor. Its power depends on the condition of your opponent's Pokemon and can be very powerful if Staraptor has just taken a huge hit. If the opponent's HP is higher than Staraptor's, Endeavor will reduce the opponent's HP until it equals Staraptor's, evening the score. The move"Whirlwind, which Staraptor learns at Level 23, has no physical power associated with it but is valuable when facing a stronger Pokemon. Whirlwind forces the opponent's Pokemon to retreat, replacing it with a random Pokemon from the opponent's team. TM58 Endure, protects Staraptor from a knock-out blow by leaving it with one HP point. This gives you a chance to heal Staraptor with a potion and keep battling.

Learning New Moves and Replacing Old Moves

• A Pokemon with four moves that wants to learn a new move must forget one of the old moves or abandon the new move. The choice to make requires careful consideration because once a Pokemon forgets a move, it may be difficult to get it back. Moves learned through leveling up can only be relearned by visiting a special Move Tutor in Pastoria City, who requires a rare Heart Scale for each move restored. A TM move in "Pokemon Pearl" can be taught only once, and it then disappears from your inventory. HM moves can be taught more than once but cannot be forgotten. You must visit the Move Deleter in Canalave City to remove a Pokemon's HM move. Look at the Power, Accuracy and PP of each new move to determine how powerful and how useful that move is to your battle strategy before forgetting an old move.