gaming How do YOU play Pokémon?

[SolarFlare13 15,941]

I'm the kind of guy who likes to take a conservative approach when I'm playing Pokemon. I used to be the kind of guy who used to steam-roll through the game and not give a damn about the story. Now, I take my time and I carefully select my Pokemon, natures and EV's for the battles ahead. I know it's a bit time-consuming at the beginning, but it pays off once you start to get to the REALLY hard fights

 

Overall, I'm NOT into competitive battling  I've had a REALLY bad experience battling people online, I lack the patience to do online battling and it's just not my cup of tea  Also, EV training Pokemon for WI-FI battles (...and creating an effective team that works) is a PAIN in the arse and I DON'T LIKE IT!!!  

 

I still don't know IV's that much. All I know is that certain characteristics give 6 iv's / 31 iv's to certain stats and I often have to look it up on Serebii.net to see which characteristic raises which stat...

Edited December 18, 2017 by SolarFlare13

[SparklingSwirls 21,263]

Battling with other trainers is actually my least favorite part of the games.  I prefer to collect all the pokemon, enjoy the story, and explore the area.

I like shinies but only because I can trade them on the GTS for legendaries  

[HeroSparks 232]

At one point a few years ago I got really into trying to be competitive and I still have all my mons from that. I haven't done any of that since X and Y though. I do have a full living dex in my Pokebank though so when I need data I can just mass transfer stuff box by box

[Here No Longer 5,270]

When I played as a kid, of course I didn't. I just made a ragtag team of the Pokemon I though I liked the most and found the most useful at the time. I tried using them in online battling, and let's just say I failed miserably. I lost all but one battle out of 8!!! XD

 

Though now I may do some now with my experiences with Pokemon Showdown (I got to almost 1400 ELO playing UU in Gen 6. Not bad for someone who hadn't played since Gen 4). I have an understanding of how EVs and IVs work, and I could make a pretty competitive team. Heck, I'm considering making an NU team for Gen 7 that actually has some PU mons in it.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Duzzki

[Photon Jet 5,489]

I'm a competitive Trainer myself who tries to make teams with my favorite Pokemon. There's nothing with using your favorite Pokemon to battles. Sometimes I go on Pokemon Showdown to try out teams but there are times I just breed Pokemon for future team-building.

I'm still looking forward to what new strategies await in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. The more strategies there are, the more team-building possibilities there are!

Come to think of it, I think there should be a Pokemon battle section on here for everypony to have fun if there isn't one already.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Photon Jet

[Will Guide 21,326]

I consider a Pokemon game beaten when I reach the end credits. I don't even try to catch them all.

I usually make a team of 6 different types early on and train them all throughout the journey. Rarely do I switch out for other types.

The only Pokemon games I would reset are the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon spinoffs since they have more of a dramatic story to them I would want to see again compared to the main games.

[Ivan The Adorable 304]

My answer is sort of "all of the above"

I play the games through normally the first time. (Tend to skip generations, I don't go all out on the franchise) My endless project is to create a full dex of competitively groomed mons to create a battle roster to use with friends. Don't do much online battling. Do shiny hunting and focus on training for those I like.

[StormBlaze 992]

no to all those polls. Just always seemed an obsessive and elitist way to play pokemon.

I play more as an RPG in general and in recent years have tried to keep the team to the most accurate way I can to my off game RP lore. I have a set RP team that I try and aquire on each new game that comes out, even if it means trading way ahead of national dex. I play for fun and to add to the lore and adventure. I dont play competitively at all. I dont care for shinies and I do not make a fuss with EV and Pokerus gets. Just as long as I can beat the in game AI, thats all that matters.

[Phill 1,285]

I put the catridge in the Gameboy

I turn on the power for the Gameboy

I load up the game 

And I start playing

That's how I play Pokemon 

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,412]

I catch as many as i can, kep 6 with me, and give  all of them the most ridiculous names I possibly can.

[Jordan D 149]

I used to be very into the competitive scene in my younger years. I spend about 4 years straight playing Pokemon Online (Showdown just isn't the same, man) and had a blast. I was even a member of the Elite 4 on a server I played on, the final member at that! My specialty was Bug Mono, which I use this day, it's one of my better teams, that's for sure. I play a lot of monotype by the way and have teams for nearly every type nowadays, but most kinda stink.

I kind of fell out of it when my favorite server went down and my friends split apart, (we're back together nowadays!) but still sometimes played with my sister. I'm back into it nowadays, but not as hardcore as I used to be. I mostly play in NU/UU and sometimes LC. (P.S. i'm always up for a battle :P)

Casually, I don't really EV train or breed, I save that stuff for Showdown. I do however, try to get optimal/decent natures. I just try to use Pokemon I like rather then Pokemon that are competitive gems. I mean, it usually doesn't matter...Girafarig was one of my top players in my last game and she didn't have a base stat over 100. Sunflora is, by all definitions, a pretty mediocre Pokemon but she was my ace in my Pokemon Omega Red nuzlocke too. As for Nuzlockes, I've played a few of them over the years. I don't think I'll ever forget the time when a Togetic used Metronome and got Thunderbolt on my Gyarados...

[Guest]

on both, my PC and my phone.

[ShadOBabe 18,984]

I will never understand the people that boil down Pokemon to numbers, math, and grinding. Sounds just utterly soul-crushing. My Pokemon are my friends and I immerse myself in the role of an actual trainer.

[Frostgage 7,972]

The truth is that Pokemon is, of course, meant to be played in such a way that the player gets the most enjoyment possible. Everyone works to that end in their own way and none is better than the others; me personally, I mostly just like to mess around somewhat and use my favorites like most other people here.

[Lord Valtasar 12,685]

Last one i played was Emerald/Fire Red (besides pokemon go)so some of these things weren't an option yet,online fighting sounds like something i'd totally be into though

[DixonTheAdversary 1,631]

Attack only. None of this set-up crap. 

In all seriousness though, I don't really care a whole lot for Pokemon, so I just play to beat the game and that's about it, I don't trade or do online battles or anything like that.

[WhoKnows 8]

I really love to breed for shinies. Or, I used to love to do it. It’s just sorta something I did in my free time, but I wasn’t too serious with it. This reminded me of the fun moments I had doing that, and now I wanna go do it some more.

[TBD 17,228]

The only pokemon game I ever played is pokemon go and still do. Since I like battling in a gym and raid, I usually collect rare, strong, and legendary Pokémons.  If I want to evolved a specific strong Pokémon, then I focus on catching it for candies. I don't catch pokemon for the hell of it. 

[Early Sunsets 2,106]

I haven't played Pokémon in a good few years, but when I did I usually based my teams entirely off of what I thought looked the coolest or cutest (Charizard was my favorite starter, I don't care if he's arguably the worst of the three). I also had a soft spot for ridiculously stupid moves like Guillotine and Self Destruct, so I occasionally used a Pokémon or two that knew one of those moves just for fun.

If you couldn't tell, I'm one of those people who runs around in a full-HE KV 2 in WoTs, or a Dire Star (before the heat system got reworked, anyway) in MWO just because of how absurdly stupid and fun they are.

[Thuja 3,658]

I normally like to imagine myself being in the world of Pokémon and I just catch what I would imagine myself catching, or that of my character that I make.  Though tbh, I can't decide between sword and shield right now because on one hand, the wolf with the sword looks cool but on the other, the really cute ponyta is only available on shield.... 

[Cash In 21,600]

I'm sort of a competitive trainer. I breed and raise Pokémon in specific ways so they can have certain advantages. It's fun, but it's something that you have to invest a lot of time into.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Cash_In

[Venomous 18,815]

I have been playing the core Pokémon games since Fire Red version was released. 

I don’t consider myself a competitive player. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about abilities, items, etc. I have certainly done my fair share of research. I am more of a casual player but I also have the knowledge necessary to make it through all sorts of battles.