Electivire in SoulGold: Shockwiring, No Guard and Plasma Surge

Electivire is the most fun I had with an innate set in SoulGold. Every innate it has feeds the next one. It comes in charged, it never misses, and at 95 every hit paralyzes.

Why it’s broken

Shockwiring puts Electivire in the charged state the moment it enters battle. That’s the move Charge for free, so its next Electric move does double damage. It fires every time Electivire switches in. No Guard makes every move it uses land, which turns Thunder (110 power, 70% accuracy) and Dynamic Punch (100 power, 50% accuracy) into sure hits. Plasma Surge makes every damaging attack paralyze while Electric Terrain is up, as long as the target can be paralyzed.

Put together at 95, you switch in and hit with a doubled Plasma Fists. Then you set Electric Terrain, and every Earthquake and Dynamic Punch after that lands and leaves the target paralyzed. Electivire has no Sheer Force, so Dynamic Punch still confuses too. One hit gives the target paralysis and confusion at once.

• Ability: Motor Drive, or Vital Spirit as the hidden ability. I use Motor Drive, because an Electric move aimed at you gives you +1 Speed instead of damage.
• Lv 75: Shockwiring. Charged on entry, so the next Electric move does double.
• Lv 85: No Guard. Every move it uses, and every move used on it, always hits.
• Lv 95: Plasma Surge. During Electric Terrain, damaging attacks always paralyze targets that can be paralyzed.

The set

Move	Why
Plasma Fists	Lv 72. Your STAB hit, and the one the free charge doubles.
Electric Terrain	Lv 1, Lv 68, or the tutor. Turns Plasma Surge on at 95.
Dynamic Punch	Tutor or egg move. Sure-hit from 85, and it still confuses on Electivire.
Earthquake	TM26, item ball on Victory Road 1F. Hits the Ground types that ignore Plasma Fists.

Lead with Plasma Fists, because the charge only doubles the next Electric move. Set Electric Terrain after that.

If you’d rather go special, Thunder comes at Lv 58 or from TM25 at the Goldenrod Game Corner, and No Guard makes it a 110-power sure hit. Supercell Slam (tutor) and Wild Charge (TM93, item ball at Kitakami Border) are the other physical Electric options. Volt Switch (TM72, item ball in Vajra Desert East) lets you pivot out and come back in charged again.

For coverage, Ice Punch (TM100) and Fire Punch (Lv 1, or TM69) are both sold at the Goldenrod Dept. Store 5F, and both are egg moves too. Ice Punch is the one I’d swap in for Earthquake, because it hits Ground types and Flying types at once. Knock Off (tutor) handles Ghost and Psychic types.

Tutor moves are in the top-right house in Olivine City. It’s 44,444 once, then you teach them from the summary screen.

Item: Life Orb until 95. Tin Tower 5F and Whirl Islands B1F have one each in item balls, and the Battle Pyramid lobby mart sells it. Once Plasma Surge is on, switch to the Terrain Extender from the Route 32 item ball, which stretches Electric Terrain from 5 turns to 8.

Nature and EVs: Adamant, 252 Attack and 252 Speed, 4 in HP. Its 95 base Speed is good enough to keep, and 67 Defense means you don’t want to sit and take hits anyway. Mints are at the Olivine beach café.

Where to get Electivire

1. Go to Mt. Silver 1F. Electivire is a 15% encounter in both the Item Room and the Waterfall Room, Lv 62 to 63.
2. Catch it. That’s the whole evolution step done for you.
3. Level it to 72 for Plasma Fists. Teach Electric Terrain and Dynamic Punch from the summary screen while you’re at it.

The earlier route is Electabuzz on Route 44, Lv 36 to 40, at 5%. It needs an Electirizer to evolve, and the only Electirizers in the game are rare held items on wild Electabuzz and Electivire. I gave up on that plan after an evening of Route 44 and waited for Mt. Silver.

Don’t stop at Electabuzz either. Its innates are Shockwiring and Lightning Rod, with no No Guard and no Plasma Surge. If you want an Elekid for the dex, breed your Electivire.

When it comes online

Shockwiring turns on at 75, No Guard at 85, Plasma Surge at 95. In the story the cap is 70 until you’re Champion, so for the main game Electivire is a strong Electric type with no innates at all.

Level 85 is the one that counts. The Elite Four rematches and every Title Defense challenger are Lv 85, so they have two innates on and so do you. At 85 Electivire is a charged, sure-hit attacker, and on Hard those fights are doubles. Plasma Surge waits until 95.

The facilities are where you see the whole combo first. Every innate is on at any level in the Battle Tower, Pyramid and Café challenges, and on Factory rentals too. A level 50 Electivire in the Tower’s Classic mode has Shockwiring, No Guard and Plasma Surge on turn one.

In doubles, a Mega Pidgeot partner sets Tailwind on entry at 85 through Windburst, and that Tailwind lasts 4 turns. Doubled base 95 Speed is plenty for a four-turn sweep.

What beats Electivire

• Ground types. They ignore Plasma Fists, Thunder and the free charge. Earthquake, Ice Punch and Dynamic Punch are all you have into them.
• Electric absorbers and Electric types. Lightning Rod, Volt Absorb and Motor Drive eat your Electric moves, and Electric types can’t be paralyzed, so Plasma Surge does nothing to them. Thundurus Therian has Volt Absorb.
• Anything that replaces the terrain. Mega Camerupt’s Heatstorm at 75 overwrites Electric Terrain with its Scorched Field. Mega Chimecho brings Psychic Surge at 95.
• No Guard on the receiving end. With 67 Defense, every Stone Edge and Focus Blast that hits you hurts, and none of them miss.

Next, check my other innate combos for teammates, or the full innate list to see which Title Defense ‘mons carry Lightning Rod.