• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Warts and All

Bishie

New Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2014
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
I have a propensity to raise my Pokémon as they come, whilst paying little attention to abilities, EVs, IVs, natures etc. I'm not a competitive battler (yet), but I find the game much less monotonous this way.

Do you accept your Pokémon, warts and all? Or are you more inclined to crunch numbers for the competitive scene?
 
Last edited:
I'm kind of in the middle. I'll usually try and get at least a decent nature, unless it's something hilariously bad and yet still somehow useful (Lonely Latias with a perfect attack IV- hey, she can kinda go mixed!). Usually the only time I'll reset or catch another Pokemon is if it's got a really terrible nature (I hate lax and gentle on almost everything. Just go neutral if you're basically going to do nothing, god). And of course a funny personality is always great (sassy and naughty are best natures).

As for EVs, since those can be fixed later on, I usually just do whatever for a while and then tidy them up a bit (remove excess def and sp def EVs to replace with HP and whatever else it needs, remove EVs from an unused attack stat...)

As for IVs... screw that until the postgame, man.
 
I'll raise a team during the main campaign. I'll give them nicknames, EV drinks, attention, and usage, and they usually are the ones to make it into the Hall of Fame first. However, if I want to actually win on the Battle Spot or Maison, I usually have to retire my team and manipulate the numbers. Sorry, but winning is fun. I like to win, and regular Pokemon aren't capable of taking on other perfect competitors.

Really though, I only focus on the tedious IV stuff in postgame. That's usually when I actually have the resources, like a large quantity of Pokemon, money, items like Everstones and Destiny Knots, and time. None of this perfectionist stuff is really needed to have fun in the regular game (though I do admit, having an Adamant Absol with Play Rough was a huge asset during AS). Hey, one of my most important Pokemon I still have is this Dragonite from my first playthrough ever, before I even knew EV's and IV's were a thing.
 
There's really no reason to go full on try hard in the main game. You'd be perfectly able to skate by with bad IVs and questionable EV spreads, especially since all the trainers you face will end up rounding out your pokemon's stats by the endgame anyway. I personally don't worry about anything more than at least a beneficial nature and useful ability while going through it. I'll occasionally SR for a decent legend if I have a master ball and some time, but that's only because there's only one of each of them.

However, having done nothing but breed, train, and think competitively for the past year, I can't help but cringe every time my Impish Sandslash takes out a Numel. Despite that, I hold off on getting too algebraic until I've beaten the game in its entirety and obtained the assets to breed effectively.
 
I'm really OCD when it comes to things like that, so it's hard for me to avoid thinking about gender, natures and abilities, even for an in-game team. I'm a less pre-occupied with IVs and EVs, since they aren't as visible.
 
It really depends on how I plan to use the Pokemon in question. If it's for an in-game team, I'm not gonna care about EVs, abilities, natures, or whatever. I'm able to get through the story regardless of my Pokemon's attributes. However, if the Pokemon is going to be used for serious play, then these sort of things will be taken into consideration, since the difficulty is going to ramp up considerably. In short, no, I don't care about them when I go through the story, and yes, I care about them if I'm am training for the Battle Maison or competitive matches.
 
I don't really care about natures so long as they aren't terrible. Abilities are more important to me, and I've been known to spend long amounts of time looking for a specific ability on a Pokemon. I don't care at all about IV's, EV's, or junk like that since I don't play competitive and never will.
 
I just hate to see the game reduced to a grind. There is far too much of an emphasis on the competitive aspect. It seems people just breeze through the story. It's no longer the central component, but a means to an end. I like the idea of online battling, but I'm deterred by the strict competition. It's pretty much no contest with regular trained Pokémon.
 
I've honestly never bothered to take Nature into consideration. I'm more of a Hidden Abilities guy. But I definitely have a Main Story team, and a Post Game team. It's essentially the first 6 pokemon that I get that I actually enjoy using (Never have I faced a gym with a Rattatta). After my first bout with the Elite 4, I mix and match. Pretty much toss my HM slave (A Tropius this time around), and replace it with a 'mon that I caught with the specific intent on post-gaming with (My Omega Ruby has a pretty buffed out Medicham in the PC ATM).
 
I hate how there's no way to use your in-game-team for any sort of battling events and actually succeed. I wish they would bring back something like Black City/White Forest where you could use your teams and actually have a chance while still having a challenge to overcome.

In AS I've decided to take my in-game-team and turn them into a full on contest team. That way I won't feel so bad by replacing them with IV bred versions of themselves.
I don't think I've even used Super training once in my play through of AS. So their EVs are completely random.
 
Last two or so years I've bothered with nature and I've always bothered for ability.
 
For me, abilities are like moves. There is a careful selection to make that will affect the battling strategy and usefulness of that Pokemon. I'd rather have a Patrat with Keen Eye than Run Away, just like i'd rather it have Crunch over Bite, and Hyper Fang over Tackle.

Natures are little more than flavour text for me. I don't need perfect IVs to be happy either, I'll usually catch/hatch 2 of a species and look at the stats, choose the better of the two and the other is trading fodder.

EVs are something i can contribute to changing, so i care about them but not overly. I buy the proteins and everything when i can and pretty much just level grind after. My Regigigas in W1 is laughable. It has a -attack nature but attack is still its best stat, even before i maxed out its protein shakes. And crushes everything its own level even with Slow Start. (For taining purposes i let it hold the choice scarf, overruling SS's speed drop.)
 
I just hate to see the game reduced to a grind. There is far too much of an emphasis on the competitive aspect. It seems people just breeze through the story. It's no longer the central component, but a means to an end. I like the idea of online battling, but I'm deterred by the strict competition. It's pretty much no contest with regular trained Pokémon.

I can agree with this. Unfortunately, it has to end at some point, whether you battle competitively or not. I try to enjoy the story as much as I can before I start training for competitive battles.

I don't think I have ever began a game with a starter that had a good nature and not once have I ever used an in-game team for online and regional battles. My Swampert has a perfect IV in Defense but her nature is nothing good. That kind of sucks as I get attached to my in-game team, but it seems like everything was made to box your in-game team to train Pokemon used for competitions. It blows, but them's the breaks, I guess.
 
In-game? I don't mind, except for if I get a crappy nature. In that case, I'll immediately try to get another one with a good nature. However, once I finally do get into competitive, I plan to let everything go- except for one. No matter how bad it is, I'll be keeping Chrom, my Samurott and one of my first Pokemon, on my team. However, I will try to optimize otherwise.
 
I can admit that I can play the game without thinking about those things. However, once the game is over and I'm playing to compete...well then it's all about breeding and abilities and natures.
 
Well, it depends weather you ask me now or me when I first got into compeditve battling; while I do IV breeding, EV training and all that stuff now, as recently as Black and White, I didn't know those things existed, I was just getting 'mons up to Lv. 50 and sending them into battle without any proper training (unless I used my in-game team, which actually did OK). Oh, and as far as in-game teams go, I usually don't give a s***.
 
In-game, as long as the Pokemon has the right nature and the ability I want, that's all that matters. Which is easy enough to arrange by transferring the appropriate Synchronisers into the game at the beginning.

In ORAS though, I'll definitely go for good egg moves using the DexNav if I can.
 
When I catch a Pokemon i'm usually looking for the highest level available to catch at that time and sometimes a certain gender. I've never been that bothered about natures or IVs so I wouldn't say I was fussy. Obviously any shiny is an instant catch. Even if it's a Pokemon I don't like.
 
I have a team that I use strictly for the Battle Maison: usually 4-6IVs with good Natures, movepools and the like. I love them, just as I love my in-game team. My in-game team helped me save the world while my Maison team helps save my skidplate when I really needed it. Yes, my Maison team has been set up for success but that doesn't mean that I don't care for them deeply.

That said, there is one Pokemon who isn't perfect or shiny, was wild caught and I absolutely adore: my Golurk Riser. Although he has a great Nature--Brave--he's nowhere near perfect. He probably wouldn't last in an online battle. His only perfect stat is his Defense, not Attack. But I love him. I absolutely love him, for he's helped me in two different Regions. Warts and all, less than perfect stats and all, I adore that Golurk. I will always love him, the perfectly flawed Automaton that he is.
 
I hate having to transition from main game to post game. After you used a team the whole game and get attached it sucks to sideline them later so I ev train and breed before I start a playthrough, that way I can use the same pokemon to beat the pokemon league and unsuspecting online trainers. However I keep it fresh and challenging by using many different types of teams. Right now I am running a gym leader (monotype) team, Ive tried many different gimmick teams, soon I am gonna start a max immunity team, and im sure I will have more ideas later on. Their are so many pokemon now that you can really get creative and its my goal to try every single pokemon I enjoy (which is many) and then I will finally know my favorites after using every single one. Slowbro and scyther have already secured their spots
 
Please note: The thread is from 9 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom