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What's your playstyle?

ZeekSlider

never finished Gen. 2
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I was listening to a audio review of Pokemon B/W from a website who's reviewer grew up with the franchise and one that never got into it or saw the point. The subject drifted to playstyle towards the middle of it, and the one fan said the PokeDex was one of those things he never did. He would complete the main game, maybe catch the legendaries that were in his version, but he wouldn't be as social as Game Freak designed the game to be. Only battling friends and his nephews who have the game to see who had the better team. He even added that he recognized that the trading aspect has become a marketing ploy by Nintendo, one that he isn't happy with as it goes agains Game Freaks original design intents in making Pokemon a "social game."

This kind of turned my view of the franchise. I never really thought about playing the game this way before. I always play the games with some kind of plan in mind, with certain types and speices to be on my team because they are available in the version I'm playing and fit the niches that I need filled. I never really thought I could make and train a Pokemon team of the ones that I like and just call the game "done."

How do you play? How do your friends play? And with the Wi-Fi battling and trading element, how social is your social gaming now?

If you can't tell, I'm really fasinated by this.
 
I've always played with the two main goals in mind: 1) Train strong pokemon to become the champion and 2) Catch all the pokemon to fill up my pokedex. I don't even pick out the ones I want to use before I get the game, I just decide as I go.
I only trade when my friends have different versions and I want a pokemon I can't get, etc. I don't get on the wi-fi at all and I hardly ever battle other people besides the in-game trainers. I'm usually done after I get bored/beat everything/got a really full dex.
 
During the story mode, I tend to try to collect all the items and battle all of the trainers in any given area (as I'm not likely to look for items there again unless I missed a TM) and battle all of the trainers (so I don't have to worry about them when trying to catch/train a specific Pokemon after the game). I enjoy the story mode, though, and I consider it to be an important and fun part of Pokemon games.

After the game, I spend most of my time trying to make a team for an upcoming Pokemon tournament. To give an example of this, I just spent about 40 minutes looking at the new Pokemon and deciding which ones would make a good competitive team. I also enjoy using this team to completely destroy people with no real knowledge of competitive play. For the most part, though, it's all part of the typical desire to be a champion.
 
Hmm... My playstyle? Well... I like to try to make my dream team and when I get it, I like to train them to have online battles. The PokeDex is something that seams pretty much impossible to me. I'm a bit of a legendary hoarder, but if needs be (E.G: I've been offered a rare event pokemon) I might trade them.
I also love eevee, and have always tried to get the entire family, without much success because I don't have a lot of patience xD
I also make strong bonds with my team, and usually I never really want to switch them...
 
I normally just play through the story with a premeditated team in mind. Collect every item, raise strong pokemon, & fight every trainer. & try to fill the dex (didn't bother in Gen. 3 & 4).

But since B/W came out, I decided to change my style a bit, by catching all the pokemon I like & train them for the fun of it i.e. stopped having premeditated teams.

I would love to battle people/trade/etc. if I had access to wifi, but meh, I don't.
 
Hmm, I have a couple of traditions that I always play by.

For my first playthrough of the story, I only catch the pokemon that are physically appealing to me, and only build a team of male pokemon [unfortunately no one told me that only female combees evolve XD]. I don't really focus on making a team well-rounded or particularly powerful until after I've finished the story.

When I was a kid, my brother and I would be sparring and trading partners, but since he's losing interest in the series, I'm having to branch out to other friends [luckily, college is chock-full of pokenerds]. Of course, as a result of the GTS, there isn't a whole lot of my friends and I relying on each other to get what we need for the pokedex, which I find disappointing.

Unlike the GTS, though, we CAN rely on each other to make reasonable trade offers and obtain pokemon that aren't hacked in any way.

Trading and fighting aside, though, I also like to level my team evenly, without the use of Rare Candy or EXP Shares. Each member of my team gets that unique, individual attention, and when something levels up, I send it to the back of my party to maintain that cycle of even leveling.

I also try, at least during the story, to spread my HMs among multiple team members. I make an HM slave if I have to, but pulling out one of my team members to replace him with a low-level slave can be annoying and sometimes causes my team to be unevenly leveled, since the one in the box won't get to fight while the slave is in my party.

Pokedex-filling is more of a side-quest to me, though. Mostly because of event-exclusive pokemon that the US either never gets or doesn't get for a long time. I just have no motivation when I know I physically can't obtain some pokemon in-game. Plus, the rewards you get for filling the 'dex aren't that exciting. At least not in HeartGold, the only game I did it in.

Sorry for such a long post! =<
 
Pokedex-filling is more of a side-quest to me, though. Mostly because of event-exclusive pokemon that the US either never gets or doesn't get for a long time. I just have no motivation when I know I physically can't obtain some pokemon in-game. Plus, the rewards you get for filling the 'dex aren't that exciting. At least not in HeartGold, the only game I did it in.
They rarely are. I really wish they were, though, and something other than a Black Trainer Card or a stupid certificate.
 
I try to fully complete the game, which means talking to everyone, checking everything, getting all the items, etc. When I'm training my Pokemon, I train one a level, and then move through all of them until they get up one level each. After that, I start the cycle over again. I haven't really tried to ever complete the Nat. Dex, but I want to do complete the BW Nat. Dex.
 
Blitz the story, then go into OCPD mode, catching and training everything. I've already walked through UNova, talking to every NPC and searching every inch of the region with the Dowsing Machine.
 
First I play the story making a team of random catches and I try to catch as many different Pokés than I can or am interested.
After the story plot, it's making the bonus quest appearing after the game completion and cathing pokes.
Then I explore new areas and fights while cathing Pokés.
Then I try to get all TMs and stuff.
At this point, I usually make two or three more teams that I can train.
And then I try to catch all pokémon possible.

No access to Wi-Fi, but still trying.
 
I don't even pick out the ones I want to use before I get the game, I just decide as I go.

I might try to do something like that the next Pokemon game I start fresh in. I'll only plan what starter I'll have. Then I'll pretty much do what you just said, decide as I go.

Ever since I started LeafGreen, I always do now is try to fill up my Pokedex right when I start my adventure. In other words, catch every new Pokemon I encounter..

I always try to have one Dragon Pokemon on my team at some point, and, if it's available, have it know Draco Meteor.
 
I seem to change how I play with each game. In the past completing the Pokedex was an afterthough since I had never done it before but after I completed it in Diamond (post game, of course) I decided that this gen I would try to get as many as I could as the game went on. I've been utilizing the gts like crazy to see how much of the regional dex I could finish before I finished the game. I'm in the ice gym and have seen 103 while getting my hands on 94 so I'm keeping my ratio pretty close. Right now the pokedex is probably the most important aspect to me.

I have a friend that is checking the ivs, natures, and abilities of each pokemon she catches as she goes along and is catching a lot to get good ones. She's not ev training them right now, they are her in game pokemon. I wouldn't have the patience for that, especially since I don't like the idea of not ev training something I know has good stats and I'm not going to slow myself down any more (my god I have been slow with this one) to ev train things I am using in game. Though I have checked the stats on a few things and either thrown them in one box to train later or another box full of things with awful stats/natures.

As for what I am using - I'm picking things up as I go. My team has changed quite a bit. Though I do seem to be mostly sticking to my favorite type (ghost) and am planning on having three ghosts on my team by the end of the game. Normally I put more balance into it but I really don't feel like doing that this time.
 
For the past two generations, I have set aside the first game I get in that generation for the purpose of completing the Pokédex and other "completion" requirements - building up records, earning the trainer card stars, etc. The other games I play through for fun and reset as necessary, to build teams of my favorites. I tend to not be serious about competitive play - just an occasional match with a friend or relative is fine. I might start poking around random matchup from time to time in the future, but I'll still probably stay clear of the stat manipulation.
 
I go through getting Pokemon that I like. I don't build up a strategic team, focusing more on my favorite Pokemon. When I need someone for an HM, for example Fly, I'll think, "hmm, what flying type would I like the most?". When I see a new Pokemon I really like, I replace one in my team with it. I never really select my team before a game, though I sometimes do go back and pick and choose a team after I've beaten the game. It's actually worked pretty well for me, as I've battled my way through Fire Red, Soulsilver, Saphire, and Platinum, and I'm now working on White. And I never even tried to complete the Pokedex. I try to fill it up as much as I can, but I don't feel the need to complete it in its entirety. I just beat the story, then the post game, then I do some additional things after that, then I move on to the next game.
 
On story mode, I tend to defeat every trainer on every map as I progress, completing everything. I also like to use some guides/ look up my pokemon's info and coming attacks ahead of time to plan things out.
 
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During the story mode, I gather my team of men (and the occasional woman) and prepare them all for the toughest of battles, giving them strong moves and moves that can improve their strengths. I also make sure they are always equally leveled.

In online mode, I go for the defensive route. Nothing destroys the opponent more than a Rain Dish Ludicolo with Leftovers and the movesest: Rain Dance, Leech Seed, Giga Drain, and Scald.
 
When I was building my in-game team for Black, I wanted a Grass/Fire/Water trio, a Psychic/Dark/Fighting trio, a Flier, and a Dragon. The three starters satisfied the first requirement, and Emboar is part Fighting. I chose Sigilyph and Hydreigon as well, which meant that all my requirements were fulfilled. The last spot was basically filler; I went with Galvantula due to its good typing and usefulness, as well as an amazing name.

While playing through the story, I kept all levels even and fought every trainer possible. I didn't level up anything apart from those six, with the exception of the monkey in the first gym.
 
It changes with the game for me. For my White, it was to assemble a team of pokemon I liked but were strong at the same time. Pre-game, I spread out my HM moves so each pokemon has one or two at most. Post-game, I get an HM slave or two. My team became Serperior, Carracosta, Chandelure, Zebstrika, Krookodile, and Hydreigon. My HM slaves are Braviary and Basculin.
 
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