Your personal playstyle

[Megan]

Something I really like to do, is restrict myself to only obtain six Pokemon in one run. I'd take the starter and only catch Pokemon I feel like using until I got a full team of six. All of them get a nickname and also a goal, something they want to achieve during that playthrough. It just gives me that feeling of my Pokemon actually being part of the story, instead of something that wins me battles.
I also tend to ignore the main plot of the story, or at least alter it to an extend, just to add more variety. E.g. there was this one playthrough of White 2 where I made the E4+champ be the main evil guys behind Team Plasma's activities, which was nice, because it gave me some other goal than "being the very best, like no one ever was".

Sometimes I even forego the whole "trainer catches Pokemon and does stuff" thing and consider my party as some kind of RPG heroes who strive through the land to rid the world off all evil.

What's your favorite way to play the games? Which elements do you like to add, in order to enjoy your playthrough? :)

 

[Alfieri]

I always play like a competitive battler. Making sure I have a nice balanced team of 6 with good moves and nicknamed.

 

[Lunarose]

I like to rotate my favorite Pokemon caught throughout the story. I usually keep the same HM Pokemon and maybe flying Pokemon, but I like to give my faves a chance to fight :)

 

[Hiatus]

While going through a new game for first time, I tend to rush through things and have story completed as soon as possible.

Although taking it slow does have its advantageous, if I do go into such a route, I usually wind up forgetting previous in-game events as time goes forward, which ruins my experience. If I go through the game in quicker pace, however, I'm able to avoid this, and generally make it more engaging. In my latter runs, however, it's more or less opposite; I take as much time as I'd like, and try my best not to miss anything.

As far as team-building goes, I have tendency to rely on about one to three Pokémon for majority of my play-through. Less teammates I focus on, the more simple and easy things seem to become for me. Once I'm done with defeating Elite Four and Champion, though, I expand on my crew and make it a proper team.

While going through a new game for first time, I tend to rush through things and have story completed as soon as possible.

Although taking it slow does have its advantageous, if I do go into such a route, I usually wind up forgetting previous in-game events as time goes forward, which ruins my experience. If I go through the game in quicker pace, however, I'm able to avoid this, and generally make it more engaging. In my latter runs, however, it's more or less opposite; I take as much time as I'd like, and try my best not to miss anything.

As far as team-building goes, I have tendency to rely on about one to three Pokémon for majority of my play-through. Less teammates I focus on, the more simple and easy things seem to become for me. Once I'm done with defeating Elite Four and Champion, though, I expand on my crew and make it a proper team.

 

[Evening]

Mine's almost like a nuzlocke, except no permadeath. Other than that, I talk to every NPC for no apparent reason and try to complete the regional dex of the game.

 

[Oreanna]

Mine's almost like a nuzlocke, except no permadeath. Other than that, I talk to every NPC for no apparent reason and try to complete the regional dex of the game.

Almost what I do, but I keep the team's levels the same amount. There's a bit of a grind to it though.

 

[Pendraflare]

In my first times going through Pokémon games, I generally go rather quick, but I do attempt to explore everything I see present. When I beat Omega Ruby, I had 25 hours, and X was a bit below then but White 2 was a fair bit below when I finished those.

As for other types of playthroughs? That's what we have challenges for.

 

[Stormerbuzz35]

I'm very stingy with supplys and usualy my team is leveled enough for us to manage. I pick ones at start that I want, usualy switchin a few for stronger ones as I go. I don't bother dex filling til after the story. This time is the first time I can trade and battle competitivly so I'm doing something I've never bothered with: breeding high IV pokemon. I don't expect to be the best but I'm not going to make a fool of myself totaly losing either.

 

[morrison]

I usually have 6 members which are all within 10 levels of each other most often the starter 5 levels over the rest and the rest withing 5 levels of each other. I like to explore the region in my first run, i usually nickname all my pokes in my team. This time round i sent all my non team catches away on wondertrade. so all my boxes have a wide array of trainer numbers. the best thing i won at the lottery was a maxPP so far xD

 

[Arylett Charnoa]

Hooo boy. Over the years, I have obtained such a personal playstyle due to my neurosis. It's quite a set of rules my brain plays by.

Everything MUST be the same level. And I mean, MUST. If a Pokemon levels up one beyond the rest of the team, it is not used until the other members catch up. Type advantages be damned. And I WILL use a Pokemon that is disadvantageous if it is the only one that isn't leveled up. I tend to brute force the game to bend to my own will like that. And that's also the reason why I used the EXP. Share a bit sparingly in Y.

All Pokemon MUST have a nickname. Even things that I don't intend to use on my team. Most things get a nickname that is random and thought-up on the spot, whilst team members get something a little more deliberate. If it doesn't have a nickname, I don't use it. Period. I don't use event Pokemon or traded Pokemon that haven't been nicknamed, regardless of how powerful and more useful they are. I will breed what can be bred so it can have a nickname. And event Pokemon will just sit in my box as collectables. A nickname is the only cosmetic way a Pokemon can be an individual and without it, a Pokemon just seems like a generic member of its species. It's like having a pet dog and just calling it "Dog." It's wrong to me.

I treat my team as characters in their own right and sometimes act as though they are real. Although I try to catch more females than males, and never let the males outnumber my part. Either an equal ratio or more females than males. That's another rule, because I vastly prefer females. Other than controlling that though, I let the RNG determine natures and abilities and such. Because when you meet a person in real life, you can't control what they're going to be like. It's the randomness of birth and life that makes it so beautiful. And I use these natures and characteristics, as well as gender, to be a part of my Pokemon's characters.

Also, in past games, I tended to grind a LOT because I hated falling behind. Did not like my games to be challenging. Although nowadays, I would prefer a bit more challenge because it's really easy. So I try to impose random limits like only five Potions in my bag at a time, etc.

Moves must be of as varying types as they can as well. I tend to be a bit competitive like that. But HMs tend to screw that up at times. Because my team ALWAYS has to have a full six before the eighth badge, I don't use HM slaves for very long.

A new recent habit is that each member must be played with in Pokemon Amie. And they must have certain amounts of hearts at certain parts in the game to represent our growing bonds with each other. To make me care about them more and make the game feel more real.

And something that drives me crazy is switching out a team member for another, so once something joins my team, it doesn't tend to leave unless it is hideously weak and just can't keep up. Once I choose, it usually isn't removed from the team. Lately though, because of the sheer amount of Pokemon in Kalos and my indecisiveness, there has been a BIT of team switching. But that won't happen so much in my next playthrough.

I used to try not to plan out my teams very much other than the starter and perhaps one other Pokemon, although nowadays I plan out what I'm going to have a bit more extensively. Although I typically like to have at least one slot that will be determined as I'm playing through to give the team less of that deliberately planned out feel.

Also, the second Pokemon to join my team that isn't my starter must ALWAYS be caught in a Premier Ball. Either that, or just at least one team member must be caught in a Premier Ball. I also try to have as much ball diversity as I can, because I prefer it rather than the same boring Pokeballs. So that means breeding is generally limited in main playthroughs.

Another rule that is recent and fun is that I can choose to Wonder Trade twice whenever I reach a new area in the game. It tends to make things interesting to see what I get when stuck on this limit. Although I don't follow the rule super strictly or anything.

Other than that, I play through the games slowly and deliberately as I do with most other games. I tend to get lost quite a bit when exploring new games, so I tend to spend hours on that. But it isn't really a super extensive playthrough. I just take it easy and at my own pace.

 

[Bellsprout]

I typically have a team of six Pokemon that never change throughout the game. I keep them in the order I obtained them and I rotate them as each one gains a level so they stay even. I never nickname them. That's literally it ahahaha.

 

[KostK2Boss]

I do all the side things (Contests, etc) talk to all NPCs and checking all interactable objects (bookshelves, trash cans, etc).

As far as catching Pokemon goes, I just make a team of 6 Pokemon I like as early in the game as possible and catch nothing else, because I'm gonna migrate all Pokemon from my previous game when I have finished the main story. I have all the necessary HMs spread across members of my team, to avoid wasting a party slot on a dedicated HM slave. I try to use all 6 members equally, but usually I end up going into 1-Poke beatdown mode near the end of the game.

 

[DyingWillFlareon]

On my first playthrough of games, I just nab which ever Pokemon catches my eye. Very rarely other than challenges do I plan out a team in full. Maybe like in White I waited for Braviary(didn't even catch a Pidove XD) or I save a place for Eevee and half the time Eevee's evolution is planned. I also like to play through nice and slowly to let the entire game just slowly melt over my feels.
During other playthroughs though, it's usually a challenge.

And I like to RPG the storyline, it makes it feel more memoriable. Each Pokemon is given a personality, each trainer I use is given a personality, even the rivals get personality changes. Even though I repeatedly use Pidgey, Magikarp, and Pikachu. XD The storylines change too, my trainer doesn't want to be a trainer but forced too ends up forcing himself to and fight the bad guys, a trainer who despite everything she's told sympathises with the bad guy, the girl who hates her rivals guts even though he didn't mean to act so rude to her, etc.
(In case you were curious, those were Flora Sky Nuzlocke, White 2, and FireRed Solorun. XD)

What my normal catching habits are:
Starter
First encountered catchable Pokemon
Random fave/flyer
Random fave/surfer
Random fave/gift
Gift Pokemon

I don't use an HM slave if I can help it, and three Pokemon by the second Gym is pretty ideal to me.

 

[Pendraflare]

Most of the times I played through RSE back in the 2000's, my teams would generally be the same generic stuff most of the time, including my starter, Gardevoir or Manectric, sometimes Camerupt, there wouldn't be much variety present. But with ORAS, now that there's the physical/special split, among many other factors, that's changed and I can have a much easier time using what I want to.

 

[Zaphkiel]

I catch my favorites most of the time. Then I choose which of them would I use on that certain gym leader/ the elite four. Then I'll grind them to match the levels. It's pretty much a repetitive process, and sometimes a bit boring. But it really feels satisfying to beat down everyone with your favorites. ALL OF THEM.

 

[Trainer Galza]

I generally have a rotating troupe of Pokemon that I swap in an out based on needs..

I always have a Surfer, not part of the main "battle team" but can hold their own more or less should they need to step in. In XY, this was Golduck who actually went with me all the way to the Elite Four. Which is rare.

I always have a Flyer, who usually stays in my party almost all the time. Pretty sure this is the norm. In XY, this was a Flamebody normal Talonflame, who is still in group at the moment shuttling me around and helping me hatch eggs. So useful, in it's own right.

The rest of the HMs are usually taught to whatever can use it. I had a super low leveled Oddish (Cuttish was his name) with cut.. never saw battle, just trimmed the hedges.

Battle wise, in older Gens I was more limited on what was available.. like Vanilluxe.. the only reason it ended up on the Elite 4 team was because I needed an Ice guy.. and it was either him or the angry snowflake. In XY, there was just so many things available in game that the sky was virtually the limit on what I could use. I generally level up a back up type in case the star player gets taken out in a gym battle as a sort of insurance.. I used a Ducklett once to fight the ground gym in Black and White, even though I had Dewott sitting in the sidelines, for instance. I usually use these guys to soften up the opponent so the big player can come in and clean up. These are the guys I usually rotate in and out throughout the game. Its when I get to the Elite Four that I carefully consider who to take and what to raise. At this point, my Starter is usually retired if I haven't found someone who does their job better in the mean time.

I generally catch stuff I haven't caught. Goes without saying. But in the case of remakes, or playing alternate versions I just skip to the ones I intend to use. I usually have them all back logged in some other game waiting to be imported should I decide to.

 

[Ephemeral Euphoria]

Competitive wise, I use a combination of stallers and revenge killers/wall breakers to put as much pressure on my opponent as possible as quick as I could snap my fingers. I tried set up sweepers before but honestly I prefer going straight for the enemy team's jugular with a CB boosted Earthquake to name an example. In game wise, I use a FWG core more often than not and as far as HMs go, I either have a singular HM slave that I keep in the box for later use or I split the HM duties amongst my whole team and get rid of the useless HMs once I reach the Pokémon League and clean house.

 

[Oblox]

I tend to play the main story with HM's spread out among my team then when I get to the elite 4 I remove all unnecessary ones (usually just keep a surfer and a flyer) I love in OR that I dont even need fly now so I just keep a blastoise HM slave with all the water HM's and strength (although my soon to be added Helioptile will have surf as a move anyway).

 

[d4rk]

Strategically-talking, I maximize my sweeping power since Stallers are a pain to train in-game because of low-leveled wild Pokemon giving few exp and not even being OHKO'd because of common staller's low ATK/SPA. Usually my team consists of 4-5 sweepers, plus 1-2 annoyers that are usually lower-leveled than sweepers. I've never experienced competitive-battling but I think I'd make a poor challenger.


Before I knew that it was totally noobish, I used to combo Swagger and Double team, which give satisfying results if you are a sadistic person.
Before I knew that it was totally noobish, I used to overuse 100%-accuracy state moves such as Spore or Confuse Ray. Also very satisfying it was.

In-game, I pay attention to the game's background and try to do side quests, finding special objects, eventually catching Legendaries. I like to build my team around high type-coverage and I've found fav mons representing each type.

The type I don't play a lot is Dark because in Gen I, II, III (the ones I've played trough) Dark moves aren't that powerful. Also I don't play that much Bug Pokemon, it's somehow a weird type to play in my opinion. I guess Bug's condition significantly have gone up since the releases of gen IV, V, VI new moves... When I can I'll give them a try. Also I never use Dragons because I think they are very mainstream. I admit that not-liking mainstreams things is itself a hype trend that I'm trapped in, and I totally assume that paradox. I occasionally use Normal typed Pokemon but I don't really know how to play them so they have a comfortable spot in my team. I have a preference for Psychic, Fire, Ground, Ice, Water, Grass, Fighting, Ghost, Flying, Electric, eventually Poison moves.

I have one or two well-chosen HM Slaves, sometimes HM Slave is even used for Fly since all my parties don't end up with a friggin' bird. I use Sentret and Pelipper for good HM-slaving, but if you have suggestions I'm interested =D Those caves where you have to use the Flash-Rock Smash-Strengh-Surf-Waterfall combo make me sick really. It tears apart my 6-mon team-using and I don't want to teach HMs to Pokemon in my team, there all all sorts of more interesting moves (except for Surf, Waterfall, Dive, but having these three on one single Pokemon is useless to me).

I do not have much interest in Legendaries because usually they're catchable after the main Quest, which is to beat E4 (i.e. Mewtwo, Lugia/Ho-oh,...). Legendaries are overpowered and do not train as regular Pokemon because of high Exp. Curve. I had any ways fun playing Mewtwo, Lugia, Articuno (OHKO is very satisfying). These three are my personal Top 3. I did not use Gen. III Legendaries in serious battles but I think Kyogre would do good. I've had the occasion to try Shaymin Sky in Pokemon Flora Sky and that was great because I love grass type.

The main issue I encounter with Pokemon games is that you can carry only 6 mons, all the rest is stocked in a PC and when you want to change a partner it's very difficult to grind it up to catch missed levels. I'm not very patient. A good answer to this is the Rare Candy cheatcode, I used it in unofficial releases such as my fav rom Hacks. I hate grinding. But I grinded any ways : I feel that universe is disrupted when 1 mon levels up while others not. I feel like I have to maintain all my team to same levels between all trainers so it's annoying sometimes, and when I begin to have levels high enough I just drop this grinding and let my team having 10-levels gaps sometimes. No more.

My overall aims are completing my Pokedex and making a good battler out of every mon I catch, even if there are ones that I don't even want to train, i.e Caterpie, Wurmple, Remoraid, Zubat, baby Pokemons,...
Build different teams in the same game could be nice. But this is screwed up by making TMs work only once :/, any ways I did not succeeded for now in many years of playing, because of some weariness certainly. I'll try that on Pokemon Glazed : this hack seems to have features that make it last eminently longer than official releases.

I've also began some EV training in RSE-likes... Managing this shit is hell. I have a .xls files where I have to write down every EV gained. Also I have to have an eye on IVs (rare-candied to lv. 50 is easier to get close numbers so yeah). Also I have to check on nature. And I imagine that all competitive-battlers make this road in occurences more numerous than I do. Must really be a hell when you train a whole team this way, but I have to say the results is for sure satisfying (had very good Shayminsky and Lucario with EV-training).

Yea that's a long post I did, sorry, but I find it cool sharing on every aspect on the game :D

 

[Leviathan]

I've always tried to blitz my runs, catching only a few pokemon and endeavouring to try and get through the games with minimal grinding. If I'm playing a game from a new generation, I'd go out and catch a team of six. After that I tend to trade over eggs of mons that I'd like to use on other games of the same generation, but can't otherwise obtain.