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RBY
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FRLG
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Abra Line
Abra
Abra FRLG
Type Psychic
Abilities Inner Focus or Synchronize
Gender Ratio 75% Male, 25% Female
Catch Rate 200 (26.1%)
Evolution level 16
Kadabra
Kadabra FRLG
Type Psychic
Abilities Inner Focus or Synchronize
Gender Ratio 75% Male, 25% Female
Catch Rate 100 (13.1%)
Evolution Trade
Alakazam
Alakazam FRLG
Type Psychic
Abilities Inner Focus or Synchronize
Gender Ratio 75% Male, 25% Female
Catch Rate 50 (6.5%)

Abra can be found as a relatively uncommon encounter on Routes 24 and 25, which are north of Cerulean City. Unless inhibited from doing so, it will always use Teleport on its first turn and escape from battle, thus making it quite a difficult Pokémon to catch. It can also be purchased for 120 Coins (in LeafGreen) or 180 Coins (in FireRed) at the Rocket Game Corner in Celadon City.

Oh, Abra, how we all love you. Your line was amazing in the first generation, with all your broken glory, and we still love you today, even though you're not as overpowered anymore. Abras have very, very high Special Attack, with Psychic and Psybeam as its evolved forms’ best naturally learned STAB moves, devastating most Pokémon who aren't resistant or immune, even with a neutral nature. Beware, Future Sight does not grant STAB and does not register as a super-effective move on any Pokémon (at least in this generation). On the other hand, there is no Pokémon that resists it. Leveling Abra up is somewhat of a pain, but thankfully it only needs to make it to level 16 before evolving into the game-wrecking Kadabra.

Besides the two game wrecking Psychic moves, Psychic and Psybeam, Abra's evolutionary line also naturally learns Disable, Reflect, Future Sight, Calm Mind AND Recover, giving it quite the versatile movepool.

Overall, the Abra Line is a wonderful choice for a Nuzlocke, if you can get your hands on one.

Important Matchups[]

  • Gym #2 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): If, by this time, your Abra has not yet evolved into Kadabra, then it should not be fighting, as it lacks any damaging moves (apart from possibly the very weak Thief). If you have taken the time to level your Abra up to level 16 and evolve it into Kadabra, then you’ll have a few options here. A couple Confusions should take out Misty’s Staryu (hopefully it’ll only take one or two if you’re a high enough level), but, as always, her Starmie is much trickier. You could try using Thief, as it’s technically super-effective, but Thief’s very low 40 base power prevents it from doing much damage, super-effective or not. Also, Starmie’s quite dangerous. Kadabra’s much too frail to be sitting there tanking STAB Water Pulses coming off of 100 base Special Attack. Most likely, two hits will be enough to do Kadabra in, and since it’s very unlikely that you’ll 2HKO with Thief, it’s probably best just to leave Kadabra out of this battle.
  • Rival (S.S. Anne): Being that your Abra most definitely should have evolved into Kadabra by now, your Rival's Pidgeotto should prove weak to your Kadabra's overwhelming Confusion/Psybeam. However, it will most likely take a hit, since Pidgeotto is bulkier than it seems and also has Quick Attack. Seeing as Kadabra has abysmal Defense, unless you are overleveled, it is not advisable to use Kadabra here. Your starter is a better choice. Against its Kadabra, the fight will basically be who hits first and who hits harder. If you are overleveled, you will most likely win, but why chance it when your Squirtle or Charmander line starter can reliably one-hit it? Keep your starter in for this one, also. Raticate's STAB Hyper Fang will wreck Kadabra. If you’re going to take on Raticate, be sure that you can OHKO, or you’ll risk being one-shotted by Hyper Fang. Any Kadabra should be able to one hit wreck your rival's Ivysaur, even with the lowly Confusion. It's an almost guaranteed one-hit kill if you’re at a decent level. Kadabra can also 2HKO (at best) the Wartortle with Psybeam, and it's not like it'll hit hard back, but it does have Bite, so be wary. Switch in someone else if you can. Keeping Kadabra in for Charmeleon is not recommended, just because Charmeleon is fast, hits hard, and as a Kadabra, you don't have much defense to begin with.
  • Gym #3 - Lt. Surge (Vermillion City, Electric-type): You should be able to outspeed and OHKO Voltorb and Pikachu with Psybeam (if you’ve reached level 21 by this point, which you should have). Raichu is a bit iffy, as it has the potential to outspeed you and can troll you with Double Team. Also, its Shock Wave is quite powerful, and it has a priority move in Quick Attack that you need to be wary of. It’s better to use Diglett here, but Kadabra’s certainly a viable choice if you need to take a chunk of HP off of Raichu’s health bar.
  • Rival (Pokémon Tower): Pidgeotto should still prove weak to your Kadabra's overwhelming Psybeam power, although you’ll be better off using Shock Wave if you have it. Kadabra is almost certainly faster than Pidgeotto, and can deal much more damage in a shorter amount of time. Kadabra will wreck Growlithe and will almost certainly move before him. You could attempt to take on your rival's Kadabra, but you probably have other Pokémon better suited for the job. You wouldn't want to lose that precious Kadabra due to a lucky critical. Gyarados hits hard, but you will almost certainly move before him, so try to nail it with a Shock Wave OHKO. Pray that it indeed is a OHKO, though; Gyarados has a mountain of Special Defense, and its Thrash will certainly one-shot Kadabra. This is not advisable unless you've done your calculations beforehand. As usual, Kadabra wrecks Ivysaur, and can perform against the annoying but non-dangerous Exeggcute if you taught it Thief via TM46. Kadabra should be able to 2HKO Wartortle with Psybeam or Shock Wave, and it's not like it'll hit hard back, but it does have Bite, so be wary. Switch in someone else if you can. Keeping Kadabra in for Charmeleon is not recommended, just because Charmeleon hits hard, and as a Kadabra, you don't have much defense to begin with.
  • Giovanni (Rocket Hideout, Ground-type): Onix is laughable and will get wrecked quickly by a Psybeam. However, Rhyhorn may be able to tank a Psybeam, but with its only attacking move being Stomp, which doesn’t even gain STAB and does neutral damage, you should be fine if you have Reflect up. Switch Kadabra out if you can against Kangaskhan, though, as that thing will almost surely one-shot Kadabra.
  • Gym #4 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Kadabra will wreck this whole gym faster than meth wrecks lives. Spam Psybeam or Psychic, depending on what you have.
  • Gym #5 - Koga (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): Spam Psychic and watch things die. Muk is the only thing that might possibly be able to tank one, but that’s only if you’re a) underleveled, b) still a Kadabra, or c) both. A sufficiently trained Alakazam should have no problem sweeping this gym.
  • Fighting Dojo (Saffron City, Fighting-type): Spam Psychic and watch things die, yet again.
  • Rival (Silph Co.): Same as last time, really, except now, you have Psychic instead of Psybeam (or, at least, you really should). Remember that STAB Psychic does more damage than super-effective Shock Wave, so against Pokémon like Pidgeot or Blastoise, go for Psychic instead of automatically being drawn to the super-effective option. Gyarados is the only exception, as its weakness is double, but like the other times, be extremely careful of its physical moves and put up Reflect before you fight it, just to be on the safe side.
  • Giovanni (Silph Co., Ground-type): See last time, except there’s the nice fact that you can now OHKO everything with Psychic except Kangaskhan. As with before, stay away from that thing.
  • Gym #6 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): You wall this place to hell and back, but it does the same to you. There are two options here: profit of Kadabra's comparatively less powerful moves to stack up Calm Minds and then wreck the place with whatever you have (not-very-effective Psychic is still stronger than regular Shock Wave), or use Alakazam against Venomoth and nothing else, unless you need to soak up a Psychic from her actually tough Pokémon.
  • Gym #7 - Blaine (Cinnabar Island, Fire-type): Fire Blasts from anything but maybe Growlithe and Ponyta will do a great deal of damage to Alakazam, possibly even OHKO if critical. However, you outspeed them, so you don’t really have to worry about that. You honestly don’t stand a chance against the powerful and bulky Arcanine, but everything else shouldn’t be a problem.
  • Gym #8 - Giovanni (Viridian City, Ground-type): You can easily kill the Nidos and super-frail Dugtrio with Psychic, and both Rhyhorns should also bite it due to their low Special Defense. For Dugtrio, however, make Speed considerations first. If you have a -Speed nature, it may outspeed you, and even its otherwise average Attack is no joke when it starts firing off Earthquakes.
  • Rival (Route 22, pre-Elite Four): Alakazam, Blastoise, and Charizard are bad ideas to fight against. Anything else should be fine, as STAB Psychic from Alakazam is absolutely beastly. Profit of the weaker things to use Calm Mind if and when you can, should you want to solo this.
  • Elite Four Lorelei (Indigo Plateau, Ice-type): Lorelei’s Pokémon are quite bulky, so don’t expect OHKOs here. Also be wary of strong Water and Ice-type moves, as a critical hit could chip away good chunks of Alakazam's health. Still, this should not be a problem as you will have a level advantage against her.
  • Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): Third time: spam Psychic and watch things die, Onix included.
  • Elite Four Agatha (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): All of her Pokémon are Poison-type. Alakazam’s base Speed stat is higher than that of her fastest Pokémon, Gengar. This should be Spam Psychic and Watch Things Die: 4th Edition.
  • Elite Four Lance (Indigo Plateau, Dragon-type): No. All of his Pokémon have the ability to one-shot you with ease by using Hyper Beam, which will come off of high Attack stats and hit a dismal Defense stat. Keep Alakazam out of this fight if you know what’s good for you.
  • Champion Rival (Indigo Plateau): See previous rival battle, except Exeggutor and Arcanine are now on the list of things that Alakazam shouldn't fight. Exeggutor will resist your STAB and respond with annoying moves such as Egg Bomb or Giga Drain, while Arcanine is very strong and relatively bulky. Again, this is doable if you manage to set up Calm Mind. Pidgeot is not the best candidate for that, since it has physical moves, but you can risk it if you have Reflect. Just watch out for critical hits.
  • Post-Game: Dangerous. Mewtwo is the better version of Alakazam and it will take a lot to take it down.

Moves[]

As we all know, Abra starts out with Teleport. Upon evolving into Kadabra at level 16, you’ll get the infinitely better Confusion. At level 18, Disable becomes available, but keep in mind that in this generation, it only has 55% accuracy. Psybeam at level 21 is an absolute must, and Reflect and Recover (levels 23 and 25, respectively) each have their individual uses, though you will probably not use Recover without Reflect as Kadabra is very frail. Future Sight at level 30 and Role Play at level 33 are garbage, but if you’ve evolved Kadabra into Alakazam at this point, instead of Role Play, it’ll try to learn the amazing Calm Mind, which turns Alakazam into an insanely powerful setup sweeper. At level 36, you learn Psychic, and the real fun begins; not many Pokémon can stand in the way of Alakazam’s STAB Psychic. Trick at level 43 is also worth mentioning, as it has the potential to be pretty fun (except in-game trainers almost never attach held items to their Pokémon).

Unfortunately, Alakazam doesn’t get much in the way of TMs (though that was fixed by the time Generation IV rolled around. Focus Blast and Energy Ball galore!). Calm Mind is worth mentioning if you weren’t able to evolve Kadabra by level 33 and therefore did not learn it via level-up. Hidden Power can be useful if it’s a good, special-based type. Light Screen can pair with Reflect for the dreaded Dual Screens combo. Shock Wave and Thief are both useful coverage moves.

Recommended moveset: Psychic, Calm Mind, and any two between Shock Wave / Reflect / Light Screen / Recover

Other[]

Abra's stats[]

Stat Range
At Lv. 50 At Lv. 100
HP: 25
85 - 132 160 - 254
Attack: 20
22 - 79 40 - 152
Defense: 15
18 - 73 31 - 141
Sp.Atk: 105
99 - 172 193 - 339
Sp.Def: 55
54 - 117 103 - 229
Speed: 90
85 - 156 166 - 306
Total: 310   Other Pokémon with this total  
  • Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
  • Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.


Kadabra's stats[]

Stat Range
At Lv. 50 At Lv. 100
HP: 40
100 - 147 190 - 284
Attack: 35
36 - 95 67 - 185
Defense: 30
31 - 90 58 - 174
Sp.Atk: 120
112 - 189 220 - 372
Sp.Def: 70
67 - 134 130 - 262
Speed: 105
99 - 172 193 - 339
Total: 400   Other Pokémon with this total  
  • Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
  • Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.


Alakazam's stats[]

Stat Range
At Lv. 50 At Lv. 100
HP: 55
115 - 162 220 - 314
Attack: 50
49 - 112 94 - 218
Defense: 45
45 - 106 85 - 207
Sp.Atk: 135
126 - 205 247 - 405
Sp.Def: 85
81 - 150 157 - 295
Speed: 120
112 - 189 220 - 372
Total: 490   Other Pokémon with this total  
  • Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
  • Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.


Unknown
Availability
5 Stars
Matchups
5 Stars
Movepool
4
Survivability
3
Type Usefulness
5 Stars
Team Role
5 Stars
Offensive Utility
5 Stars
Defensive Utility
3 Stars
Tankiness
2 Stars
Fun Factor
5 Stars


Overall
5 Stars
  • What Nature do I want? Anything that raises Special Attack is amazing. Modest is, of course, far and away the best, while Quiet is a close second. Rash and Mild are fine, as Alakazam doesn’t really use its defensive stats anyway.
  • At what point in the game should I be evolved? Evolve Abra into Kadabra right after you get it so that it’s actually able to fight. Evolve Kadabra into Alakazam whenever it’s possible. If it’s not, well... Kadabra’s also pretty good, and its STAB Psychic is nearly as powerful as Alakazam’s. You’ll miss out on some crucial KOs if you’re not able to fully evolve it, though.
  • How good is the Abra line in a Nuzlocke? Pretty awesome, if you can catch it. You can kiss the pesky Poison-types that plague Kanto goodbye, and fighting Fighting-types just became a hell of a lot easier. Also, since hardly any opposing Pokémon have a move that Alakazam is weak to, it doesn’t actually have too awful of survivability issues. The main problem is its pathetic physical Defense, but who cares about Defense when you’re OHKOing everything?
  • Weaknesses: Bug, Ghost, Dark
  • Resistances: Fighting, Psychic
  • Immunities: None
  • Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Steel, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Dragon
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