People have been asking how I raise my monsters, and while I usually just point them to Dark Phoenix's method, they are often confused because I don't use bananas. So, here it is, my simplified version of Dark Phoenix's Method. It's a pretty good method for intermediate players; one who have an understanding of the lifespan index as outlined in the MRM FAQ. Yes, it is expensive, but your dummy monster can earn cash, drill and rest for 3 weeks of the month almost every month and so it can pay for everything very easily.

Choose your monster carefully for use with this method. I have maxed monsters with it, one a Mocchi taken from the Market who got to all 999s at 5y 6mo, but not every monster can be maxed with this method if they are straight from CD. Some have lifespans that are just too short, and/or statgain patterns which make raising more difficult.

Before you start:

* Get yourself some cash, you'll have opportunities to earn more, but 30,000g should give you a start if your first dummy/moneymaker monster is a baby at the start.

* Clear out your freezer, you will need space for your main monster and a dummy/moneymaker monster.

* Check the potential lifespan of your monster, if it's off a CD, it's usually a few weeks more than a combined monster so I tend to view that as a nice bonus, but I don't count on it. I go with the straight number for the breed as combined.

* Check the monster's life pattern. Then do the math, and figure out exactly when your monster will be going through each stage.

* Print out the Tech chart for the main breed, and note on it which Techs you want, and write their chains down.

* Plan out how many errantries and battles you will need to participate in to get the techs you want. You will try to do as many errantries and battles possible (do the math, figure out how much lifespan will be lost and then make sure you aren't thrown into prime too quickly) while the monster is young, before prime. If you are planning on getting chained Techs, go on the errantries to get the beginnings of the chain, then battle to use them. Save Special Techs and the end of chains for old age. Only battle if you need the usages of techs for chains, or if you need to raise rank to get Special Techs. If you are using a combined monster, you may not need to get any techs, so battle and errantry may be unecessary. Essentially, we will only do errantry and battles in youth and old age.

* Get a Gold Peach and a Silver Peach. They are handy to have beforehand, but a dummy/moneymaker monster could get them during the raising process of your ‘real' monster. Just make sure to plan wisely, so they are available when needed.

* Get a Lump of Ice and Firestone. You will be doing errantry only in months when these have effects. Clear everything else, except that Strong Glue, Nuts Oil, and a Gold & Silver Peach out of your inventory.

* Make plans for your dummy/moneymaker monster (and about 6 more), in terms of what drills to do, and battles to enter. You won't be doing a lot with it, but a combined monster with some techs beyond the basics is helpful, just so you don't have to waste time on it. If you can just get this monster to a point where it can beat C rank easily, you will be fine in terms of cash earnings.

* Check the statgain pattern for your monster. You will want to drill a monster in stats it has good gains in while it is a baby and old, and in what it is not good at during prime. Look carefully at the drills and your options. As I stated before, some monsters can be maxed with this method, some cannot, so plan carefully now which stats you want maxed, and which are ok if they aren't maxed. You should be able to tell if you can max a monster by taking the lifespan, and subtracting 3 weeks for every tournament, and -6 weeks for each errantry. (These are the numbers for hidden lifespan loss, and do not take into the account the week/s used, one for tourneys, 4 for errantry, just by the monster living. Those weeks at least are shown by the game in the weeks lived by the monster.) So, if a monster lives through its first year of life, but goes on an errantry and two battles it is actually 1y 3m old in terms of lifestages and lifespan used. I usually try to keep up with the lifespan/life stages by taking note of each event the monster attends, the date and the age (both real and what the game says) of the monster at that time.

Start Ranching:

If it's not week 4, get your dummy monster out and either drill it, sleep it, or enter it in a tourney.

When you are in week 4, shrine or combine your monster, and try for a monster that is a Tablet lover. If you get tired of resetting for a Tab lover, you can accept almost any other like/dislike except for disliking Tablets. Do not accept a Tab hater. Tab lovers will get the most out of Tabs while their visible like is "Tablets". If their like switches to the breeder name, they are reset to being neutral to tablets. So, if you decide to embellish on this method, be aware that Tabs may not be acting as effectively as you might like.

Regular Drill Week Rotation: Bring your monster to the ranch, feed Nuts Oil, save your game and do a Hard Drill. If the monster fails the drill, I reset. I also reset a few times to see how well the monster can do. You can use the resetting to get Greats, so you can praise or not praise to change nature. (Praising brings them towards Best, not praising brings them towards Worst) I believe that there are about 9 possible outcomes each week -or at least 9 slots. Some weeks it seems that 4 slots might be filled with one option, and 5 with another, but most often, resetting a lot will reveal your options. If you reset to improve your stats, sometimes a Great is not the best numerical outcome, you can often improve your outcome by 2 or more net points. Two or more points may not seem like a lot, except, when looked at over the long haul it equals 96+ additional points per year. This can easily mean an addition 700 points over a monster's lifespan. Greats also mean the monster's fatigue hit is a point or more less than it would be on a regular drill. Since there is no way to tell what the number is exactly each week (it's variable), I don't count on it in the method, but it's a nice extra.

Once the week changes, feed Tablets and take the monster to the freezer.

Unfreeze your dummy/moneymaker and drill, sleep or battle as needed for the next three weeks.

In week 4, freeze the dummy and bring your ‘real' monster back out. Repeat the above steps:
Feed NO, save the game, Hard Drill, reset for stats you want, feed Tabs, freeze. Keep repeating this system until you need to go on an errantry or to a battle. (This is the sequence you will use for almost every week of a monster's life.)

Light Drills: If you need to do Light Drills you have two choices:

1) You can just substitute a LD into the above sequence:
week 4: NO, save, LD, Tab, freeze through weeks 1-3, thaw in week 4 repeat

2) You can do 2 LD as follows:
week 3: Mint, save, LD
week 4: NO, save, LD, Tab freeze through weeks 1 & 2

Errantry: Make sure you will be going in a month when the Lump of Ice or Firestone is in effect. Feed NO, and drill as usual in the week 4 prior to the month you have planned for errantry. Feed Tabs, then feed NO and send on errantry. You will return in week 1, so feed Tabs, and take the monster to the freezer. Have the dummy live through weeks 1-3, and bring your ‘real' monster out on week 4. Feed NO and rest, then feed Tabs, freeze and go back to the regular drill rotation.

Battles: I usually only participate in Official battles, in week 4. Depending on how many uses you need of Tech to complete chains, you may need to battle outside of week 4. If your battle is in a week that is not week 4, feed NO, save and send it out to battle. If the next week is not week 4, freeze and return to the ranch in week 4. If the next week happens to be week 4, or after returning from the freezer feed a NO, do a light drill, feed Tabs, and freeze and return to the regular drill rotation.

Play: Do not play if the monster asks you to.

Once you have hit prime, make sure to note it, so you can feed a Gold Peach a year later. In the week the Peach is fed, week 4 of course, do a Light Drill, feed Tabs, freeze and go back to the regular drill rotation. Try to get a Great in the LD week to help with fatigue buildup. Take note of the date, because you'll want to feed a Silver Peach when the monster is 24 weeks older. Do the same routine: feed Peach, LD, Tab, freeze go back to regular drills.

Feeding other items, like troron, follows the same proceedure as a peach week: feed item, LD, Tab, freeze then go back to regular drills. Try to get a Great in the LD week to help with fatigue.

Keep doing regular drill rotations until you hit old age (or max everything!), then start assessing your situation in terms of remaining errantries and battles, and remaining time for drills. Do errantries and battles as outlined above, and drill until you are either done with lifespan to spare, or a few weeks from death.

Reserve at least 4 weeks (depending on how badly off your monster's form is) at the end of life to adjust your monster's form by feeding Candy or Powder to get it where you want it to be. You can rest during these weeks, so as to prevent fatigue buildup. You can continue to raise in week 4 only, but feed specific foods instead of Tabs to help affect your form change. (Check the Items & Foods chart for details.)