IOTW: Chesto Berry

Yo, Pokébros. Today we're going to be looking at the Chesto Berry. For those unfamiliar with the Chesto Berry, it wakens a Pokémon from sleep and then is used up.

Before we get into the Chesto Berry's main strategical uses, here are a few tidbits you might not know. When a Pokémon with a Chesto Berry uses Natural Gift, the move that changes depending on which berry is held, the result is a 60 power water move with 100% accuracy. The easiest re-useable method to obtaining a Chesto Berry in Gen V is by catching Minccino or Cinccino, because they have a 50% chance of holding one.

Why not use a Lum Berry then? That cures all bad statuses. Why limit it to only sleep? There is one key strategy that can make a Chesto Berry a deadly tool. Cleverly nicknamed by some fans as "Chestorest," this strategy, unsurprisingly, uses the move "Rest" with Chesto Berry.

We'll use Snorlax, voted "Most likely to have narcolepsy" in Pokéhighschool, for an example of the Chestorest strategy. Your Snorlax is about to die. You've tried to wear down the opponent little by little, but you need a few more turns to make it successful. When your Snorlax is about to faint, right when your opponent thinks they have you on the ropes, you use rest restoring your health all the way. This activates your Chesto Berry, because your Snorlax is asleep, and Snorlax wakes up in an instant. You just recovered all your health using only one turn and with no real loss. If you had used a Lum Berry here, you might accidentaly trigger your berry beforehand if your opponent had used a move like Toxic, Thunderwave, etc..

Unfortunately, like all berries, Chesto Berry is one use only. After that first time, your subsequent rests will leave your Pokémon asleep, and, during those turns, you'll be about as useful as a hockey stick made of Jell-O unless you've inflicted a poison or burn on the opponent beforehand. 

Not only is the strategy not repeatable, but you are itemless after the Chesto Berry's use. I know it might seem a little biased coming from the guy who writes about Pokémon items, but items can be some of the most game changing elements in the game, and your Pokémon will be without one after the Chesto Berry is eaten up. That means no leftovers; no life orb.

However, if used the right way, the Chesto Berry can act almost as an extra life. Sure, you have to use it before you faint, but it can double the amount of turns your Pokémon is alive. For a quick sweeper, that means that you can probably take down another Pokémon before the lights go out. For a wall, that means that your opponent has to plow through you yet again. Think of what that means for a Curse-based wall. Right when you are about to faint, you recover completely using Chestorest, and keep all the Curse bonuses from before. Mmm, this berry is tasty.

Walp, that ends our look at Chesto Berry. Until next time, Poképeople.

~Travis