Had a question in regards to R/S

[Master Rudy]

Ok I was out of Pokémon for a long time and as a result I totally missed this generation for awhile. Recently I had gotten a copy of Ruby at a yard sale for $5. Total steal when you consider that they STILL go for $20-30 at some used game stores. Anyway I had actually read that a team of six Zigzagoon early on in the low level areas with the Pick Up ability can actually get you a decent amount of items almost to the point of being gamebreaking. First off is this true? If I did that then how often can I expect to get an item? Also what kinds of items can I expect? Would it be simple things such as berries and equipable items or would it be some pretty nice items such as Rare Candy and Evolution Stones?

[Austrian ViceMaster Alex]

To my knowledge each Pokémon with the Pickup ability that is not already holding an item has an approx. 10 % chance of picking up an item after each battle. There's again an approx. 10 % chance such picked up item is a Rare Candy or a Revive. Most of the time you'll end up with a Super Potion. There's even a small chance the picked up item is a King's Rock.

So with six Zigzagoose you have a 60 % total chance that you pick up one item after a battle. But honestly, checking the Pokémon after each battle, taking the item, rince repeat ... that'd be too much work for me to bother. Besides Zigzagoose aren't that strong and don't learn a broad range of useful attacks (type-wise) either.

[Number1ChanseyFan]

In Emerald, Pokemon with the Pick Up ability would be able to find new items with every 10 levels that they gain. However, in Ruby/Sapphire, it doesn't matter what Level the Pokemon with Pick Up is at, it will always find the same items. I definitely wouldn't say that stacking a team with 6 Zigzagoon would make the game too easy. It actually would probably be quite challenging considering that Zigzagoon/Linoone is fairly weak, but it is always nice to carry one around to get some items and use it as an HM slave.

Anyways, there is a 10% chance after a battle that a Pokemon with Pickup will be carrying an item after the battle. You must make sure that the Pokemon is not holding anything though, or else it can't pick up anything!!

Here is the percentages of how often Pokemon pick up which items in Ruby/Sapphire...

Super Potion (30%)
Full Heal (10%)
Full Restore (10%)
Nugget (10%)
Rare Candy (10%)
Revive (10%)
Ultra Ball (10%)
Protein (5%)
PP Up (4%)
King's Rock (1%)

[Master Rudy]

Well the plan wasn't to play the game with a team of them
It was merely for the sake of spending a day or two in the starting areas and stockpiling items if it turned out to be worth the time. While I personally don't use too many Rare Candies until the higher levels from the looks of it some of those other items wouldn't be bad either. Ultra Balls, Revives and Nuggets were the three that caught my eye on the list. With enough luck and time I figure I'd have a decent amount of items/money to get through Ruby fairly quick.

Thanks for that breakdown on the items ^_~