How To Get TM64 Explosion in Pokémon Platinum

The only way to get TM64 Explosion is as a prize from the Veilstone City Game Corner. The clerk at the front counter will give you this TM as a memento for playing ten or more slot machine bonus rounds in a row.

If you’re not familiar with the game corner in DPPt, this is actually a fairly complicated task.

But we’ll cover some tips and techniques you can use to quickly pickup your copy of Explosion.

Getting TM64 Explosion

Part 1: Finding the Veilstone Game Corner

TM64 Explosion’s location on the Town Map.

TM64 Explosion is found in the Veilstone City Game Corner. To start the process of acquiring it, you must already have received the Coin Case from the Clown NPC inside a house to the west.

Assuming you already own the Coin Case, you can find the Game Corner by first heading south from the Pokémon Center on the main paved street.

Heading southward from the Veilstone City Pokémon Center.

When you reach the southeast corner of the street, head straight west.

Turning westward at the street corner.

The second staircase you come across leads directly to the front door of the vibrantly-lit Game Corner.

Entering the Veilstone Game Corner.

Once you’re inside, just stand in front of any unoccupied slot machine and press A to start playing.

Sitting at one of the slot machines.

Part 2: Winning Bonus Rounds & How They Work

The dual-screen layout of the Game Corner slot machines.

The first thing you need to know about the Veilstone slot machines is that they are rigged.

Almost every aspect of playing them is randomized, so there is no way to “time” stopping the reels at a certain spot.

In fact, you will barely pay attention to the top screen at all:

Everything that is useful to you will be on the bottom screen, taking place against the moonlit mountain top background.

This is both good and bad.

The randomization taking the guesswork out of the slots can be a relief when it comes to racking up Coins. But when trying to earn the TM for Explosion, the inability to get better at the game can make this one of the most tedious TMs to acquire in the entire game.

Here’s how you can attempt bonus rounds:

Press X to insert Coins (you will have to buy some at the front counter if you don’t have any)
Then press X again (or Up on the D-Pad) to spin the reels.
If nothing is happening on the bottom screen during a spin, just mash the Y, B, and A buttons randomly to stop the reels—it truly does not matter.

Occasionally, a Poké Ball or Poké Ball variant will show up on the bottom screen.

A Great Ball on the bottom screen.

This usually (but not always) means that your next spin will earn you a prize, no matter what your button-press timing is like.

The type of Poké Ball that shows up will determine what the reels land on, and therefore which prize you earn.

After you receive your payout from a winning tun where a Poké Ball was on the bottom screen, most of the time the Poké Ball will roll out of sight and a new spin will start.

But sometimes a Clefairy will pop out of the ball instead.

Clefairy showing up on the bottom screen.

This is your sign that a bonus round is close at hand.

Bonus Spins with Clefairy

Here’s the goal once you have Clefairy out:

You want to spin the reels until you receive a 100-Coin bonus, either by lining up three 7s or three Team Galactic symbols.

This is the only instance that timing factors into the game, since the odds of receiving the 100-Coin payout are slightly higher if you stop the reels to the beat of Clefairy’s clapping.

Lining up 3 Galactic symbols for the 100-Coin bonus.

Once you line up either three 7s or three Galactic symbols and receive your 100 Coins, several numbers will appear on the screen.

The big number on the moon indicates which bonus round is starting.
The “bonus” counter in the top-left of the screen tells you how many spins are left in the round. This number always starts at 15 and counts down with every spin.
The number at the bottom-right of the screen shows how many Coins you have won in the bonus rounds so far.

Starting the first bonus round.

You will win on every spin of a bonus round if you pay attention to Clefairy’s movements and act accordingly:

Press Y when Clefairy points to the left
Press B when Clefairy points up
Press A when Clefairy points to the right

This will get you through all 15 spins of a bonus round.

There is no time limit for stopping each reel, so you can take your time earning the maximum amount of Coins per bonus round.

Clefairy pointing to the left, cueing the player to press the Y button.

How Bonus Rounds End

After a bonus round ends, Clefairy will either:

Begin the next round automatically
Or it will go back inside the Poké Ball, ending the streak

Both of these outcomes are random, and there is little you can do to improve the odds that you’ll jump into the next bonus round.

The only exception is when the moon changes color.

The Moon Colors & Clefairy Styles

If the moon on the bottom screen has a bright white shine during a spin, you want to copy Clefairy’s moves exactly to guarantee it will stay for another round.

Copying Clefairy’s moves during a white moon to ensure another bonus round.

If the moon turns red, copying Clefairy’s moves will tire it out, making Clefairy more likely to leave at the end of the round.

In this scenario you may want to try doing the opposite of Clefairy’s movements, but it’s hard to say for sure. There is no official documentation or leaked code from the game to prove exactly what you should do here — so this is mostly backed my anecdotal data.

A red moon, meaning the bonus round is unlikely to repeat if you copy Clefairy’s moves.

The type of Clefairy on the screen is also an indicator of how often Clefairy will stay for consecutive bonus rounds:

A normal Clefairy can signify regular odds of more bonus rounds
A shiny Clefairy (the one with the green-tipped ears) can signify higher odds of more bonus rounds
A Clefairy that is a transformed Ditto indicates the lowest odds of more bonus rounds

A Ditto Clefairy, meaning the odds of repeating bonus rounds are at their lowest.

Part 3: Getting Your TM

The goal is to play through the bonus rounds until the tenth total round (or more).

Bear in mind that this can happen in just a few minutes, or it can drag on for several hours of restarts, depending on your luck.

Once you have played ten bonus rounds, do not press Start to quit playing.

You will not receive TM64 Explosion if you quit.

Instead you must keep playing bonus rounds endlessly until Clefairy decides to leave on its own.

Bonus round totals after Clefairy leaves.

After the last bonus round is over and you see the totals screen, only then is it safe to press Start and quit.

Then you can head immediately up to the clerk at the counter and she will congratulate your hot streak with the game’s only copy of TM64 Explosion.

The Game Corner clerk congratulating you on your bonus round achievement.

The clerk giving you TM64 as a memento of your streak.

Note: This is the only copy of TM64 Explosion in the game; repeating the bonus round process will not result in getting another copy of the TM. So it’s advisable to be absolutely certain about the Pokémon you use it on.

Explosion Details and Uses

In-game description of TM64 Explosion.

Explosion is a damage-dealing Normal-type physical move. It has the highest base power of any move in the game, but it makes the user faint after it successfully uses the move.

Explosion Move Details
Type	Normal
Category	Physical
Power	250
Accuracy	100%
PP	5 (max. 8)

Not only does Explosion have an obscenely high base power of 250, but it also halves the target’s Defense stat at the time of use. This essentially turns Explosion into a 500 base power move.

This is more than enough to deliver a one-hit KO to any Pokémon in almost any situation, although it can be tricky to strategize with.

One effective strategy is to teach Explosion to dual screeners who set up Light Screen and Reflect early in a battle. This is also because your foe will likely take a couple of hits by the time both barriers are up (so its HP should be getting low anyway).

Exploding on the next turn would knock out your opponent, and it would allow you to switch to a new Pokémon (one that can make the most of the dual screens) without wasting a turn.

Tip: Explosion can also be used to take down some of the extremely bulky Pokémon in Platinum, like Blissey, Snorlax, and Slaking.

Miscellaneous Info about Explosion:

Starting in Gen V, Explosion no longer halves the target’s Defense stat.
A Focus Sash, a Focus Band, or the Ability Sturdy will not prevent the Explosion user from fainting.
Explosion cannot be used if the Ability Damp is present on the field.
The Explosion TM can be sold for 3,750 PokéDollars. Although this isn’t recommended due to its rarity.
If Explosion is used in a Pokémon Contest, it will earn the user no Appeal Points on its own, but will earn 15 bonus Appeal Points if every participant selects the same judge.

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Chris Haygood

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Chris is an American freelance writer and lifelong gamer. RPGs have been his genre of choice ever since he got Pokémon Blue in 1867, but if he finds a good rhythm game, he will prioritize playing it over both eating and breathing.

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