Adventures in Sketching (a showcase and guide)

[tarutaru]

Good point. I didn't think about Duplicat, I think because the ones in Route 13 are too low-level to learn Transform (they only go up to level 32, and it learns it at 33) and that's where I generally end up fighting them. It looks like the ones in the Labyrinth are high enough level though; I'd forgotten they even show up there.

That's probably a better strategy then, yeah. Just use a pokemon that knows only one move, stall until it uses transform, swap out and sketch. This does probably mean that unless you're going after a status move that you can spam safely without killing the duplicat, you might want to invest in X items or something to use to safely waste turns until it transforms...

I've been looking to see if there are other enemy-exclusive moves and it doesn't seem to be the case, I think Spiky Shield is the only one I've come across so far.

There are a few moves that still can't be sketched this way - for instance, you definitely can't get suicide moves (Explosion, Memento, Fission Burst), although that's also true of the other methods available to us right now (you can only sketch those in a double battle where a pokemon with Damp is present, which we obviously can't do now because of the targeting problems). And there are still some moves that are unavailable due to not being learned by anything in the Uranium dex. But the Duplicat option does broaden options considerably, and it should be a lot easier to do than Virtual Trainer shenanigans.

Yep, Duplicats in Labyrinth are rare, but I still think it's better than sketching by enemy mons, or trying limited double battles.

As for several moves you pointed, assuring that it works as same as the canon games (sorry haven't tested them in Uranium)
Memento fails if there were no target. Give Choice Scarf to Poke with only Memento, for example, Linkite. Meet wild Duplicat, waste turns by items until it transforms, and after it does, use Memento. Your Linkite dies, and wild Duplicat's(transformed) Memento fails, as there's no target. Then send Raffiti faster than Linkite, sketch it, and it's done.

Explosion and Fission Burst are easier, as one of few Pokemon with ability Damp learns them: Xenomite familiy. If I'm correct, Damp prevent's yourself's exploding too, so poor Duplicat continues to explode while it's prevented by own ability.