Pokémon talk

Let's Talk
#1

Seeing that there are some Pokémon players among us, to concentrate Poké-talk in one place (and spare those for whom Pokémon names are “yes, those are certainly words” :sweat_smile: ), I thought it’d be cool to have a dedicated discussion thread, in case there is interest. (And if not, it’ll just be auto-archived in a month.)

I will start off with a question. With the Switch being my first Nintendo console, I only know Pokémon (Sword &) Shield and (Brilliand Diamond &) Shining Pearl. I have seen laments here and elsewhere about how the shared XP system makes the game too easy, maybe pointlessly so. But if, in older games, only the 'mon you had in a fight got XP, how did you evolve a Magikarp into a Gyarados? Did you seriously have to start a fight with Magikarp as your chosen Pokémon, switch it out immediately so that it doesn’t get OHKO’d by just about anything and send in something else in its stead (thus also giving your opponent a free move)? That doesn’t sound like a fun game mechanic at all…

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#2

Yes, that’s how I did it. I started with pokemon yellow and had pokemon red (I think)

Generally, the game was mostly about running around in high grass to farm experience :sweat_smile:

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#3

Thanks for the answer.
I can definitely see the appeal of farming XP for your Pokémon one by one… but I can’t imagine leveling Magikarp, or, to a lesser extent, other (almost-)useless until evolved Pokémon, being fun by any definition.

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#4

And I was a kid and didn’t quite understand everything. I did the same with Kakuna/Metapod because I didn’t realize I’d better evolve a Weeple/Carterpie so they’d have tackle

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#5

It was very satisfying when it finally evolved :blush:

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#6

I see a lot of words. . .

Have fun with your conversation of randomly thrown together letters! :innocent:

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#7

I got into pokemon during the Diamond/Pearl/Platinum generation. I’m slowly working through Platinum now.

You get an item relatively early on that gives some of the experience to the pokemon holding it, as long as said pokemon is in the party. But at the start it is very much putting the weakest pokemon in the front and switching immediately. My Magikarp learned tackle before evolving, so it actually managed to win some fights.

Unrelated, I only figured out recently that the Unown look like the letters they represent. Makes reading the text a lot quicker than trying to catch each one and make notes of which is which.

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#8

Original player here. Yellow was my first game. I always trained the Magikarp until it evolved then into the box it went! I never got on well with Gyarados, due to my Pikachu and it’s Thunderbolt. I always led with it in the Elite Four and whenever I hear the Lance battle theme tune, there is always a bit that is permanently ingrained with the sound of Thunderbolt attack for the initial OHKO.

I have always been a grinder so when Sword and Shield introduced the permanently on EXP Share, it really changed the way you had to play. I didn’t enjoy it at all.

#9

Yeah, earlier games really were all about the grinding. Soulsilver was the worst for that because the final final boss in it is at lv 80. Wild Pokémon in the final dungeon cap out at 45. It’s my favorite game because it was my first, but by the time I beat Red I didn’t want to play more Pokémon for over a year.

#10

Thanks for your responses, it’s interesting reading about how it was before the Switch gen.
I can definitely see how it was more rewarding to level your mons one by one, as it is, it’s quite easy to overlevel your team. (That said, grinding on, at most, lvl45 wild mons to reach anywhere near lvl80 sounds terrifying :no_mouth: )
At least, in BDSP, the “Grand Underground” with its always-near-whatever-level-you-can-catch Pokémon is optional, unlike the Wild Areas in Sword and Shield, thus won’t speed level your teams as much if you don’t deliberately go there.

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#11

Note that bdsp at least also is balanced trainer wise. Sure I’m leveling alot faster, but I’m still on par with the gym leaders just like back in Soulsilver.

#12

I never really used Gyarados either! Can’t remember why, but it was never one of my favorites.

I’m actually pretty amazed, I played in English and didn’t understand much. Still knew what to do, and even knew the tricks how to get Mew! How did I know?!

#13

I use Gyarados when I need something sturdy to hit big with Water :smiley:

#14

Speaking of Gym Leaders, I find it odd (and a little counterintuitive) that Pokémon you encounter in areas you can only access after you defeat a given Gym Leader are lower level than the ones used by said Leader… e.g. I defeated Fantina, who used 'mons up to level 34, now I can access a new area… with L28/29 Pokémon in it.

#15

Question about BPSP – is it possible to fill in the Pokédex (and thus get the national one) while only playing solo? If I understand it correctly, you don’t actually need to have all the 150 'mon (in which case it’d obviously be impossible), only to have seen them, but even so, I’m wondering how one sees all of them.
I’m at the end of the Team Galactic storyline, having captured Palkia, but I’m at about 100/150; for example, from the starters, I have yet to see any of the two evolutions of Piplup or the max evolution of Chimchar (although I’m pretty sure I’ll get to see the latter from my rival).

#16

Google said yes though it’s difficult.

Try this site: How to Unlock the National Dex and Complete the Sinnoh Pokedex | Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (BDSP)｜Game8

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#17

Thanks, I have just found this site, this is also quite useful for finding each still missing Pokémon.

EDIT – I have just discovered it’s another subpage on the same site you linked :upside_down_face: