Gotta Recruit 'em All!

Gotta Recruit 'em All!


So you decided to take on the insane task of recruiting everything for completion's sake, but you don't have any idea where to start? This little guide should be of some help then! This guide will start with the hardest game to recruit them all in, Blue/Red, and then talk about Sky. You'll recruit everything eventually in Super, so I don't mention that game.




Recruiting them all: Blue Rescue Team edition


PREPARATIONS

First off, you'll want a recruiter, which will end up being your most powerful Pokemon. This can be any pokemon of your choosing. I picked Wooper because of Damp and favoritism, but admittedly you'll likely want a mon that is good at room clearing. If your starter is Charmander, it even gets Heat Wave when fully evolved, so you can stick with that the whole game if you want.


While playing through the game, grab and buy every Escape Orb you can. You'll be using a TON of them for recruiting everything, and you'll find yourself hunting for more. The more you get sooner, the more headaches you'll save yourself from.


Next up, buying all the Friend Areas. Getting the money to do so is just something that'll happen with enough time, you'll just have to be patient. Fantasy Strait gives the best money. (mentioned later) If you took Meowth, Pay Day will be a huge asset.


Now that you've picked your recruiter, it's time to make it smart. Max its IQ out, and work at getting it to at LEAST level 90. At level 90 and up you get the max recruit rate bonus, +24%. You can level up while grinding Gummis, which are easily gotten from Sky Tower/Uproar Forest/Stormy Sea.


At max IQ, you get:
Sure Hit Attacker, which makes your default attack never miss. At high enough levels and stats, you can 1shot any non boss with this, even Kecleon!
Trap Seer, which makes you never trip hidden traps (you can still step on them again to trip them and your partners can still trip them, be careful!)
Energy Saver, which makes your hunger drain slower (made useless with a Tight Belt, explained later)
Super Mobile, which lets you cross any terrain, and break through walls with no penalty at all. You can even unearth items in the walls like this, items like vitamins and Sitrus Berries.

In addition to all these great skills, a random stat will get +1 per Gummi, as long as you use them in Friend Areas, randomly getting +1 to all stats. So once you hit max IQ, you're gonna be extremely powerful.


Now that you're the smartest Pokemon around, it's time to become the strongest. Get to level 90. Western Cave gives great experience, but quick runs of Team Hydro's Dojo maze give good exp. Using a linked move on the three in there give about 4.4k exp. Plus, every run of the Dojo refreshes the town's Kecleon Shops. They have a chance of selling Joy Seeds for 3000 Poke a pop in the postgame.


Next up, Wonder Mail. Not every pokemon is going to be appearing in Blue, some are exclusive to Red unless you use Wonder Mail. Once you take a Wonder Mail mission with a missing Pokemon, they'll spawn in their respective dungeons, like Feebas in Waterfall Pond. Also, some dungeons are only gotten this way. Pokemon Wonder Mails needed for Blue are not needed for Red, and vice versa. Listed below are some codes.

Pokemon Wonder Mails needed for Blue Rescue Team:

Feebas:
1 ? 6 9  (F) J Y ?  ? X 6 Q
X J ? Q   F  4 ? 6  Q ! ? X

Mantine:
4 ? ?  N  2 2 (...) ? ? Q 6 J
H 3 ? (M) 8 4   7   0 J N ? W

Plusle:
F ? R P F ? (...) ? ? + 7 ?
C T ? H 6 4   ?   0 R ? ? ?

Porygon:
1 ? 5 8 T 5 + ? 4 J 7 8
W S ? 7 F ? ? R N Q ? X

Roselia:
F ? 4 N + W T ? ? + 6 N
F R ? J F ? 6 6 8 5 ? W



Pokemon Wonder Mails needed for Red Rescue Team:

Aipom:
4 ? R C W (M) T ? ? 0 7 6
F M ? Y 2  4  ? 5 + N ? W

Lapras:
F ? J ? 6 9 0 ? 4 Q 6  C
C ! ? ? 8 ? 6 6 8 Q ? (F)

Magikarp:
X  ? ? S ? ? X ? 4 6 8 ?
(F) + ? ? 9 7 5 6 S Y ? ?

Minun:
4 ? M 9 F Q X ? 2 8 N 7
H R ? H P 5 ? 0 ! 4 ? W

Porygon2:
F ? 5 N - Q F ? ? + 6 !
? H ? ? F ? 6 R 6 9 ? W
(Note! This isn't required as you can recruit Porygon in Buried Relic, but you need to search Wish Cave for an Up-Grade then. This is a much easier solution.)


Dungeons:

Marvelous Sea: ((TIGHT BELTS CAN SPAWN HERE))
? ? M H C J (...) ?   4   4 ? P
C F ? 8 7 J   6   R (...) M ? 1

Fantasy Strait ((LOTS OF MONEY, TIGHT BELTS CAN SPAWN IN HERE))
? ? M 1 C J Y ?   4   4 ? P
H F ? 8 7 J 6 R (...) M ? 1

Oddity Cave:
? ? M S C J (...) ?   4   4 ? P
M F ? 8 7 J   6   R (...) M ? 1

Remains Island:
? ? M 4 C J Y ?   4   4 ? P
C F ? 8 7 J 6 R (...) M ? 1

Of these dungeons, Fantasy Strait is the best one. The others aren't too interesting. Fantasy Strait has the highest Poke pickups of any dungeon, save deeper Wish Cave.


Now that you entered all these codes, next up is to get a Tight Belt. The Tight Belt is the best hold item in the game. It's extremely rare, found very rarely in Far-Off Sea, Fantasy Strait, and Marvelous Sea. Your hunger will NEVER go down when one of these is held. The only things that can drain hunger are using linked moves (-1 hunger per use) and walking THROUGH walls. (-5 per turn, breaking them via Super Mobile is free). With this hold item, you can wait on floor after floor waiting for a pokemon you want to spawn until the wind blows. As long as you are on top of the stairs, you can wait for the wind to blow three times safely, but once it happens a third time, GET OUT OF THERE. The Tight Belt is invaluable for recruitment.


Finally, it's time to grab the Friend Bow now! Found on floor 30 of Mt. Faraway behind a locked door, you'll need a Key for this. It shouldn't be a problem for you, though. They can also be found in Joyous Tower, but this is easier and more reliable. This ups your recruit rate by +10%. In level 1 dungeons, it can more than double recruit rates.


Lastly, you may want an Illuminator. This isn't required, but every time the mon gets hit, an enemy spawns. This is awful to have UNLESS you want to recruit everything. Buff one up to tank hits, and have it on your team to take hits. Since you need to level one other than your main, you'll only really be able to recruit 2 other mons a trip, but for Exeggcute and some other hard to get mons, this could be useful. Illuminate mons include the Staryu/Chinchou and Volbeat lines.





RECRUITMENT

This is it, the big one. This is going to be a very long quest, it might take you months to do. You can only recruit up to 3 pokemon a trip, then you must Escape Orb out or finish the dungeon. If they faint and you have no Reviver Seeds, they'll leave forever. You can also only have a party size rating up to 6*, and for this reason, pokemon like Articuno are horrible choices for recruiting. It is highly recommended you go in alone, as your partners can KO enemies, and they won't join. ALWAYS HAVE AN ESCAPE ORB.


First up, make a list of what you need. This will probably take awhile to write, but it will save you headaches later. Plus, erasing one mon from the list can help you visualize how much progress you've made.


Second, legendaries. These are pretty major, but most are just a matter of throwing yourself at them until they join up. Make sure your party size is at 2* or under. Mew is a unique case, it has a very low spawn rate, but can spawn after Registeel until floor 98, as long as you have the Music Box in your inventory. The recruit rate isn't the best, but just keep working at it and you'll get it eventually. Mew loves to Transform, so check the Message Box for this message.

Jirachi and Celebi are special cases, which I'll get into later.


Now, the big one, Kecleon. Kecleon is the most dangerous recruit in the game, and the one with the lowest recruit rate. There is a picture guide for this one, which you can view here: http://i.imgur.com/2j6qgs8.png

I recommend you reset if you don't recruit it, getting all those supplies again is hard work!


Many Pokemon must be obtained through evolution. You'll need a lot of Link Cables, evolution items and Gummis, as well as leveling. Lots of leveling.

Pokemon that evolve through happiness evolve through having enough IQ in this game, and getting high IQ is a nightmare for mons you'll never use. I HIGHLY recommend getting a pair of Lockon Specs, a Pierce Orb, and a lot of Gummis. Go into Tiny Woods, and throw the Gummis through the two Pokemon you're grinding IQ for, doubling the effect. They won't up stats like this, but for mons you won't use, who cares? You'll need a lot of Pierce Orbs though, but they're found in the Buried Relic.


For leveling, do a ton of Team Hydro Dojo runs, and use a Linked Move on the trio. This gets you 150% exp, about 4.4k per run. Check the Kecleon Shop after each run for Joy Seeds. You can Pierce Hurl them through pokemon to level 2 with 1 seed. I HIGHLY recommend doing this for mons like Dragonair and Pupitar, but you can only level them 21 at a time. (19 in bag, 1 held each by the two you level. You hold Lockon Specs, the other item is a Pierce Orb.)

You can also take them on adventures if you want, a good way to get some bonus exp for them. I recommend doing this until you come across a mon you want to recruit. When you see one, equip the Friend Bow, and if you have a team of 4 from recruiting earlier, dismiss a pokemon. DO NOT DISMISS A POKEMON YOU RECRUITED IN THE SAME TRIP, THEY WILL LEAVE FOREVER.


Some evolved pokemon can be recruited, but only mid stages for the most part. This is a huge boon when it comes to Silcoon/Cascoon and midforms of starters, because you don't need to do so many Joyous Tower runs.


Transfer Orbs can be the edge you need to snag that one pokemon, bring a few with, and buy them when you can.


Some pokemon have a very low spawn rate. For example, Exeggcute has about a 0.62% spawn rate on floor 14 of Howling Forest, and is ONLY recruitable there. For these types, you might want to give in and wish.


Save up at least 6 Irons. You need to use them on Tyrouge to get Hitmonchan and Hitmontop, since Tyrouge's levels favor Attack. You'll need to make sure it's Attack is equal to Defense for Hitmontop. PIERCE HURL THE VITAMINS, you don't want to need 12 Irons.


Jirachi can grant wishes, which at max rank, "Something Good!" will give you a random mon you DON'T have 100% of the time. This includes Unown. DO NOT WISH WITHOUT HAVING THEM ALL. There's nothing less fun than spending 2 hours getting to Jirachi only to get Unown Q. I recommend you recruit Jirachi last, wishing is very useful, and once you get Wish Cave down, runs are easy enough. Tactics are listed later.


Don't waste your time getting Chansey normally, the chance of you getting one, let alone two, is impossibly low. Wish for it instead.


Joyous Tower has many pokemon found only there, including some questionable choices REALLY deep in. Ponyta is the biggest offender, 57 floors in! You may want to wish for some of these.


Celebi requires a 99 floor run of Purity Forest. Tactics for doing this, as well as Wish Cave, are listed in my other guide, shown here: http://pastebin.com/nAMMGxA2


REMEMBER YOUR ESCAPE ORBS! Also, bring along a Cleanse Orb just in case. If you run out, you can grab more from Howling Forest, Grand Sea, and Pitfall Valley.


Making it to the midway point of a dungeon, those spots with Kangaskhan Rocks, count as making it out of the dungeon. This allows you to recruit up to 6 pokemon per trip, to these dungeons anyways. I recommend taking advantage of this for Onix. Go in, recruit an Oniox, hit the midway point, send Onix back, and recruit one more on Magma Cavern Pif F1. This saves you a very long trip 21+ floors down to get just one more Onix. DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN GROUDON, you cannot recruit Groudon with a pokemon as large as Onix on your team.





Recruiting them all: Explorers of Sky edition


Sky is FAR easier to get everything in, for many reasons.
You can recruit as many Pokemon as you want a run, and send them out without risking their lives
You get an IQ skill upping recruit rate, and a VASTLY more powerful recruitment item or two, the Golden Mask/Amber Tear.
No Wonder Mail codes needed to make certain mons spawn
No level 1 dungeon exclusives

Regardless, you still have a lot of work.


PREPARATIONS

First off, get the recruiter. Jirachi is far and away THE best for this, since if you just do missions, you'll get it in the postgame no problem. You'll get the mission to get it eventually in Spinda's Cafe, but you may have to finish Special Episode 1 first. It gets Fast Friend, Pierce Hurler, and Nature Gifter. In order, that raises recruit rates by +1% across the board, allows thrown items to pierce forever, and pass the effects of any Seed/Berry to the rest of the team. (THIS INCLUDES JOY/GOLDEN SEEDS!) Without Fast Friend, you cannot get Kecleon.


Second, leveling. This will come in time, just be patient. Take Golden Chamber missions, they may give a Golden Seed!


Third, get the Golden Mask/Amber Tear! The Golden Mask is at the end of Zero Isle North, not a hard dungeon if you buffed a few mons up a ton, the Amber Tear is in Zero Isle West, a level 1 dungeon, but shorter than North.


Now, get the Secret Slab/Mystery Part! These are gotten though random missions, you'll need to escort a mon until you find it. Keep checking the guild for a mission that nets you one! This item, when kept in the bag, makes legendaries spawn on certain floors of certain dungeons, shown here. http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Mystery_Part_and_Secret_Slab


Finally, max Jirachi's IQ! If you're Guildmaster Rank, run Inferno Cave to get the IQ Booster. If not, pray to get lucky with Prism Tickets at the drawing.



RECRUITMENT



Don't recruit Kecleon in Star Cave, you can't do it there. Give Shimmer Hill a shot instead.

Some pokemon are only found in post checkpoint areas of dungeons, like Porygon in Deep Spacial Rift.

Story legendaries, like the Lake Trio, join you 100% of the time as long as you beat them. Mystery Part/Secret Slab legends are not like this.

Many pokemon can be recruited via missions. If a mission has its reward listed as "???" you have a good chance at the client asking to join. This can be a way to get mons like Dragonite without grinding.

For IQ, it's far easier now. You can bring a trio of happiness evos into a dungeon with Jirachi, equip Lockon Specs, and launch Gummis through them for triple the effect. You can find many in the Marine Resort, as well as the town shop.

For level, it's easier as well. Eat Joy/Golden seeds with Nature Gifter on, and the whole party levels.

Need Joy Seeds AND Gummis? Check out Sky Peak's Secret Bazaars! I made a guide for them, see here http://pastebin.com/2JgjjLCt

Running out of Escape Orbs? They're everywhere in Marowak Dojo.



It's a journey, but keep at it!