How do you play Pokemon games?

[FPLOON]

Step 1: Throw as many Pokeballs at as many wild Pokemon of various shapes, sizes, and types as I can...
Step 2: Form a diverse Pokemon team for various Trainer/Gym battles, including my starter Pokemon...
Step 3: Form my own ultimate contest team, including my starter Pokemon...
Step 4: Enjoy the endgame content with my starter Pokemon and Co....
Step 5: Repeat for next Pokemon game, if possible...

That covers most of the basic shit that I do with any Pokemon game I play from start to "finish", so to speak... Other than that, I used to be very active in standard PvP among friends and, nowadays, it mainly have been replaced with constantly petting my Pokemon whenever I get bored...

 

[EHKOS]

Well, it can be interesting as it's set up so I don't get my favorite pokemon until it's late in the game and I don't feel like using it anymore. In X I've started to battle competitively and now I'm building my second team. I actually bought Pokemon Bank so I could transfer my first team. I've got a Darmanitan that will wreck damn near anything with one flare blitz.

Luckily with the GTS I can now start off with three Pokemon that I actually like without using some kind of cheat. Basically I play normally like OP while aiming for the E4, then I use the team online when there's nothing left to do by myself.


Too bad my 3DS started flipping out and constantly moving around the Home menu on its own...I miss playing it.

 

[Avalanche91]

I like nuzlocking. It adds a challenge I feel the game normally lacks and forces the player to use pokemon he or she would never even consider.

I've also gone out of my way to obtain all obtainable pokemon in pokemon X. That was a lot of fun.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I have all the GBA games on my phone, I caught them all its like 300 and something, all in all it took..

1 playthrough off Fire red (my "main" game)
2 of leaf green (one of the exclusives and another to get the 3rd legendary beast)
1 of Ruby
1 of Sapphire
1 of Emerald

after that I had to use cheats on emerald to get to the Islands with Mew, Deoxy, Lugia and Ho-oh, and then to get the gen 2 starters. (which I could have got by completing the pokedex on emerald and trading over but I wasnt going to do that 3 times!)

this thing took waaay over a hundred hours but I did it mostly at work over the course of months, so I it was a fun time kill!

Right now im playing through Red on a GBC emulator. I've just beaten the third gym and my team is Wartortle, Charmeleon, Ivysaur, Geodude, Kadabra and empty slot I'l probably fill with an HM slave. I'l maybe ditch Ivysaur too.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I mainly play Pokemon games for the single player adventure. I usually play with a six member team, giving them all lucky eggs to alleviate the need for grinding. Because of this, I don't really care for the exp share personally. I prefer to have each Pokemon level up individually, so I just keep the exp share off. I also have so many hacked Pokemon in the 4th and 5th gen, who are used for future playthroughs, particularly under-leveled legendaries I want to use for fun in a game.

As for catching them all, I have! In Pokemon Bank, I have a living Pokedex of all 719 Pokemon, along with a ton of other important, useful Pokemon. I completed the national dex Black by transferring all the others through the third and fourth gens. It took about a few months of off and on playing. Getting the full Pokedex in X was really easy once I transferred them all to the 6th gen.

I got into battling online in the 6th gen, mainly due to the new super training system. I don't do it often, but it can be exhilarating to battle against a human opponent, especially a good one. I understand how annoying it can be to make a competitive team, but it is well worth the time and effort, and you can find a lot of people to help you build a good team on online communities.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

I kinda do nuzlocke, or at least unintentionally so. I name all my pokemon and try not to let any of them die.

I usually just craft my own story and/or personality for my character (who's usually female,) and simply play to be the best. I never cared for catching them all even as a kid, because some pokemon are lame and I don't want them. I only care to be the very best.

I primarily stick with my starter pokemon, which is usually fire-type, because I like the idea of blazing a path to victory and burning everyone who gets in the way. It represents my burning passion and resolve (And also it seems to be the starter type that would probably hurt the most.) I tend to use my starter pokemon all the time (except in one playthrough of X when Gardevoir was my main,) only obtaining pokemon when required. That's why I like the EXP Share, because it keeps th rest of my party evenly leveled so that they're prepared when I need them.

Then I'd grind for a bit in the first few areas, fighting every encounter until my pokemon is two or three levels above the first gym, so that as the game progress my pokemon becomes several levels above every trainer. When my character wants to be the best, she means it. Basically, I'm the rival.

I get really into my pokemon games.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

My friends all play, so we hold a tourney where we can only use Pokemon from that gen every time a new game is released. After that, all rules are off, but it keeps things fresh. Everything about Pokemon for me is focused towards our battles, although I'll pay a bit of attention to the story itself. I'm waaaaaaay too lazy to fill a Pokedex and the singleplayer is a bit easy these days, so this is what keeps it interesting. I think I would stop if I didn't know people to play- it's not as fun playing online where you can't see them squirm when you Sheer Cold three of their team in a row.

IVs are slightly too much effort for me to really give a shit about, but you've gotta get Pokemon with good natures and Super Train them, or otherwise you may as well rock up with a team of Bidoofs. I'll usually try to get interesting teams rather than the obvious ones- Another thing I don't like about online play is that everyone and their mum has a Garchomp and a bunch of totally legit shiny legendaries. It's much easier to love a Pokemon that you don't expect to totally dominate, but beats the everloving shit out of some kid's Groudon he got through Pokebuilder.

 

[redmoretrout]

I really don't play online, or do any competitive shit. I just train a single pokemon I dig, and buy him alot of potions for elite four four fight.

 

[GodofDisaster]

I play through the game using what ever takes my fancy at the time, seldom will I go out of my way to catch a Pokemon with a perfect nature during story mode. But hey, if I happen to catch a wild Ralts and that wild Ralts happens to be modest, then more power to me.

After story mode is done, I will proceed to post game, such as catching what I don't have, legendary hunting and any Battle frontier/battle maison battles.

Which I am doing right now in Alpha Sapphire so far I've beat all sisters in 20 battles.

I'm currently trying to do a super single and it is hard, like really fucking hard.

But I seem to be doing well with My Garchomp Aegislash and Gardevoir at the moment currently on battle 20 so just 30 more to go I do have to seriously question is making it too battle 50 even possible?

I also dabble in wonder trade and I love the secret base features, so I spend a lot of time messing with bonuses like those, whilst playing Pokemon games.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

I use adorable pokemon almost exclusively. I just started Omega Ruby and I'm using the Contest Pikachu (the bonnet is so precious), a Skitty, an Audino (used Pokemon Bank to send over a newly hatched one), and my starter (Grovyle). I might send over an Emolga too. I just have the mentality of a 8-year-old girl when it comes to the Pokemon games. It has the added bonus of upping the difficulty of the game. I'm using Delcatty, Audino, and Contest Pikachu all the way to the end of the game. And no Exp. Share. This could be...challenging.

 

[Ravenbom]

To OP, yeah I like the EXP Share of X/Y. For me, as a person who only wants to beat the game, I have a good variety to choose from. And it helps me from being over-leveled which is the huge downfall of having your one go-to team.

 

[squreky]

Don't play them like I did. I first started when pokemon blue and red came out. I was like 7 then. I didn't know you could heal your pokemon so I always kept dying over and over. Then after like a month of this crap I stumbled across the little building where you can heal your pokemon. I felt like the largest dumbass ever

 

[Elfgore]

I try and catch them all. That is it. I don't EV/IV train, I pick the moves I want, and don't worry about competition. The only effort I put into my team is type balancing.

 

[bug_of_war]

I've gone through about 3 ways of playing. With Sapphire and Diamond (when I was old enough to know how to play them) I tried to catch EVERYTHING. I would battle mates, but we would all use Legendaries and didn't really know what the fuck IVs and EVs were. Then with Black and White I picked it up cause why not, who needs to study in year 10 (or 11, one of em') and I just sorta played because it was there. Now with Y and Alpha Sapphire I've begun making multiple teams and seeing who stands out amongst the rest. So far I've got it down to Steelix, Charizard, Swampert, and Shiny Chatot as main players, and then I alternate depending on who I verse. But to this day I still have no fucking clue what IVs or EVs are, and I plan to keep it that way. THAT STEELIX AND CHATOT ARE MAJESTIC MOTHER FUCKERS!

 

[rorychief]

Always started knowing what my six would be, caught them at earliest opportunity and released everything else including flash or cut platforms. I never liked the idea of putting one of my six even briefly in the pc. For some reason I got it in my head that the 'love' meter that determines when some Pokemon evolve gets reset when deposited. I treated the reationship/love level as though it had in game consequences and then it just became a point of pride to have pokemon never near a pc but instead captured directly into my party, so they'd be in the party from the moment I caught them till forever/reset the game. I since learned it doesn't matter but I'd still play this way as a kind of harmless superstition I like to keep alive for head canon reasons.

 

[Auron225]

I'd play the same as you OP;

Pick a starter I like - as I progress through the game, catch or otherwise obtain whatever I like the look of in accordance with what I need. As far as acquiring Pokemon is concerned; it's as simple as "Hey, that Water one doesn't look half bad and I still need a Water type. It looks more like a female though and this one is male. I'll run around here to find a female and catch it".

I have yet to play X or Y but I love the idea of having more than 6 in a team and being able to switch them out. I mean, I know I could always have done that but that would've involved grinding to keep over 6 levelled enough to continue.

 

[Carl The Manicorn]

Wow. Looking at this thread made me realize that I just play the games so basic.

I never really got into any of the games past Gen 2, so I don't play online that much. I tried at least every generation, but I haven't felt the magic that came to me as a kid playing Silver on long car rides. They just kind of all mesh together now.

My favorite is still Silver. Always Silver. My team on my actual Gameboy is Lugia, Pigeot, Typholsion, Gengar, Onix, and the red Gyarados. I usually get the legendary Pokemon and then all the cool ones I've always wanted as a kid. I make sure to complete a run every year. I don't breed or trade or try to go full 100%. That just feels like a total bore for me. I never struck out and tried to catch em all because it was too boring for me.