Mew Available for Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSolver Owners

[TheCarpe]

I was playing last night and went to the Pokemon center, and the nurse said my Pokemon caught the Pokemon virus.

lolwut

Ah, Pokerus. I know it well, my team caught it as well. It's a good thing, Pokemon who have it get a boost to stats when they level. IT will eventually go away and leave a little marker on the status screen. The effects will still be active, but will not be contagious. Keep some Pokemon you never use in a box with the PKRS status on it, because that remains contagious and never goes away as long as it's in the box (iirc, immunity has a chance to happen at midnights). You spread it to non infected pokemon by having them next to infected Pokemon in your party screen. Eventually they will catch it. Give it to a Level 1 and by the time you get it to 50 or so, it will be a force to be reckoned with.

Be happy, I've read the odds of coming into contact with Pokerus are roughly equivalent to finding a wild Shiny.

Took a couple pictures from my game to show you what I mean:

This means your Pokemon still has the virus actively and can spread it to other Pokemon in your party.

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This means your Pokemon no longer has the virus, but is still reaping it's effects.

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[Supreveio]

Technical terms on how Pokérus works, from the competitive community:

Basically, the second your Pokémon is infected with it, all its Effort Values gained through battle are doubled. Forever. Even when it gets "cured" of the virus, its EV gain through battle will still be doubled.

[Zork Nemesis]

If I recall, pokerus is acctually far more rare than a shiny. I've been playing since I got my yellow version. Starting with my original Silver version and not counting the Gyrados at the Lake of Rage, I have only encountered 2 shinies and one instance of pokerus across 9 playthroughs (Silver, Saphire, Fire Red, Emerald-Twice, Diamond, Platinum, Heart, Soul).

According to what i've read, the odds of finding a shiny in the wild are roughly 1/8192, that's taken from a specific binary sequence in the game code. Hatching a shiny from an egg is something like 1/300, but that one isn't quite determined the same.

Pokerus on the other hand is said to show up with a 1/32,768 chance, half the maximum 16-bit number the game can handle. Finding Pokerus is almost like winning that lottery in Jubilife or Goldenrod, only way better.

Like mentioned before, a pokemon with pokerus has all it's stat gains doubled when it levels, and this stacks with other hold items that increase stat growth, including the macho brace. It is contagious for two days (real time) after contraction provided the pokemon remains in your party. Placing an infected in your box halts that timer, but it cannot spread while boxed. It's a good idea to pass it to a bunch of pokemon you'll never use. Unown and legendaries make good canidates.

As an extra, if you use the GTS, it will make your trade recipiants happy if you give them a Pokerus'd pokemon as well. Run of the mill GTS trade, I put out a Seviper for a Zangoose (Ruby/Sapphire versions had one or the other, not both), the Zangoose I got had Pokerus. I already had it, but I was thinking that this guy I got it from was totally awesome for doing that.

I remember when I got pokerus, I had no idea, but it made me feel even better when I realized it was my shiny Crobat that had the confrontation. I spread it to all my legendaries and a bunch of other useless pokemon, and thanks to the fact that I have two DS's, i've always leveled with it.