How to get good at Pokemon battles?

How does one get good at Pokemon battles? I played about six battles today; out of the six, I only won two haha.. I want to be good at them so that when Pokemon X and Y get released, I'll have something to do and will play the game non-stop. I used to be a complete MONSTER at battles back in the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl days, won nearly 9/10 of the battles I've participated in.

A lot is trail and error really. I mean there are "sand" teams and "drought" teams, but you would want to make something of your own. Go with who you like. Make sure they have decent IVs and Ev train them to hell. That be my best advice.

I assume that you're talking about competitive battling. It's not just being gimmicky, you can go mainstream (weather-ed team, weather-less, Trick Room, Trick team, Baton Pass, etc) as well. You just need to learn about the functionality of the Pokemon you use, their niche on your team, and how well they would perform for other Pokemon. With the current metagame (B2W2 or BW), there are a lot of new strategies (i.e., Dream World Abilities) added and it takes time to be familiar with all. You might be thinking twice of putting a status on a Conkeldurr fearing it might have Guts, but actually it had Iron Fist and stuff like that.

Competitive battling has gotten very intense in Generation 5 thanks to the introduction of new moves and Dream World abilities, new items and also there's also getting your EV spreads, IVs, natures, abilities, items and movesets right.

Also, you need to understand all the Pokemon and which purpose they serve in the team, like if it's a defensive wall, offensive sweeper etc. Then there's also teams that have a theme to them, like those based around weather conditions, examples include Sun-based teams being mainly Fire and Grass-types, Rain teams being Water-types, Sandstorm teams being Rock/Ground/Steel dominant and so on.

I think you must check Pokemon stats, and use a move that will cover your Pokemon's weaknesses (these moves could be learned via TM, HM or move tutors), or have a diversity of moves (in types). And if possible, use a move that have a chance of inflicting status effects or lowering stats to your opponent (like Flamethrower or Thunderbolt).

Hikari10 said:

Competitive battling has gotten very intense in Generation 5 thanks to the introduction of new moves and Dream World abilities, new items and also there's also getting your EV spreads, IVs, natures, abilities, items and movesets right.

Also, you need to understand all the Pokemon and which purpose they serve in the team, like if it's a defensive wall, offensive sweeper etc. Then there's also teams that have a theme to them, like those based around weather conditions, examples include Sun-based teams being mainly Fire and Grass-types, Rain teams being Water-types, Sandstorm teams being Rock/Ground/Steel dominant and so on.

Click to expand...

^That sums a lot of what you'll need to know.
You'll also need to learn how to predict. Per say, you have your Salamence against a Ferrothorn. You have Fire Blast, but you have to think- what if your foe switches out with Heatran? That'll boost Heatran's Fire type attacks. Then, he HP Ice's Salemance and sweeps the rest with Fire Blast.

What if you have a Politoed and your foe has Thundurus? Thunder seems pretty expectable from Thunderus, but he may expect for you to switch out with another Pokemon- so he decided to use Focus Blast. You can worry if he's going for the weakness of your Politoed, or if he's going for the weakness of the Chansey he expects for you to send out.

It's a very "complicated" subject, but it's fun! Once you get the swing of things, you'll love it!

I know how you feel man, just getting back into the competitive game myself, and I haven't been doing to hot as of late. What needed to be said as pretty much already been mentioned, but I'll give my two cents just for the heck of it.

Obtain the most EV's & IV's and use them in the most beneficial way you see fit. Expect to put a lot of time into training if you are looking to get any better. Tons of players on this site, as well as online more than likely have maxed out their EV's in their teams, and probably have decent IV's as well. You gotta know that is what you're up against, so train your team to be on par.

Construct your team based off of a specific "theme", if you will. e.g, Baton Pass, Offensive, Defensive, Annoying, Hazard, Turtleish (lol), etc. I can tell Smogon.com has guides on pretty much every pokemon, from Overused to Neverused, for ways in which you can play these specific Pokemon in battles, as well as know their capable roles.

Prediction, as mentioned somewhere above, is also important. You have a short amount of time, to think, and take in a lot of consideration regarding yours and your opponents next move in a battle, nonetheless, take your time, and think before you make a move, also ask yourself why you are making the move you are about to make. Also, with taking in the consideration of what pokemon your opponent has on the field, think how your opponent might respond to what you have. You can counter by switching out, or using a move he/she perhaps might not have expected.


And if you win the battle, don't forget to mindcrush him/her.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I didn't know a THING about IV's and EV's, didn't even know what they were or that they existed. Looks like I have some reading up to do, also have strategies to learn. Hopefully, I'll even match up against some of you guys once Pokemon X and Y is released ;)

Still have ten months to wait for the game to be released, and I'm already forming my team haha. What will you guys prefer on a Dragonite with Dragon Dance, Outrage or Draco Meteor? Also, what nature should I get my Dragonite?