What is your approach to the game?

[Elric of Grans]

Back in the day, I played Red alongside someone playing Blue. My approach was to grind *very* hard: I would evolve every Pokemon as soon as it was realistic to do so (eg all who evolved at, say, level 10 would do in the same patch of grass) and would run around in grass until I had captured everything that could appear in it ensuring I captured everything as early as possible. This was to give myself the maximum options, after my disastrous first attempt (where I just used the same two Pokemon and got slaughtered the first time I met a poor match for both of them).

A while back, I picked up a copy of Platinum and tried to take the same approach. I must had had a lot more patience when I was younger! I eventually stopped grinding Pokemon I did not like, and started to get sick of trying to capture new ones when I found a new area (Onix was largely to blame there: so painful to capture on the first appearance!). In the end, I lost interest and stopped playing.

I would like to try picking Platinum up again, probably focusing more on just progressing through the Gyms and less on collecting them all. I was wondering how other people approach the game.

 

[Aquacorde]

I catch Pokémon I like and may use someday. I try to formulate a well-balanced party, but always end up having two or more water types no matter how hard I try, which is fine but strange. I progress through the game at my own pace and don't rush, leveling my Pokémon up in one area till I get bored, then moving on. Once I compete the game and maybe the after-game stuff, I try to catch as many Pokémon as I can and level up ones I like but did not go though the game with in the process.

 

[Sydian]

Same here with grinding. I have to be overleveled, or I am not going to have fun. I hate losing. If it's a new game in a new region with new Pokemon though, I will catch whatever I see that I don't have so I can train it for post game. :) Other than that, I don't have a specific approach.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I catch whatever Pokemon looks appealing in battle and design to me, then I grind them till they're a few levels above the wild Pokemon. I make sure my starter Pokemon is the strongest Pokemon I have, with my other party members a few levels behind.

 

[Kirbychu]

I don't catch that many Pokemon in the beginning. I only obtain my trusty party of 6 Pokemon and focus on them during my journey through the region. If it's my first time playing through the game I will catch the one time Pokemon as well. I only go out of my way to grind if I've lost an important battle; which almost never happens. This is probably because I choose to battle every trainer and Pokemon I come across. Once I finish the story, I start to collect. In White I might focus on 7-10 Pokemon instead of 6, but I'm not quite sure yet.

I always arrange my party from the lowest level to the highest, unless I know there's an important battle coming up.

 

[Christopher]

Used to be I'd take my favorites grind them up to at least 10 levels higher than the nearby trainers and just go through the game with those not caring about catching new ones. I would also reset the game a little bit after I beat the E4. I have taken a different approach to the Ds games though now I try to use Pokemon I do not often Use/Like after I beat the E4 with my little team of misfits I go back and begin catching all the pokemon I've seen.
Oh and I never have to Pokemon of the Same type on my team(barring certain challenges)

 

[Pokemon Master Derrville]

Back in the day I used to run at every site of a wild pokemon unless I hadnt caught it yet. And I used to do whatever it took to avoid trainers. I still managed to beat all the gym leaders and the elite four somehow though.

Now I like to battle all the wild pokemon i see unless Im in a area where the pokemon are really weak like 2-15s. Battling is what the games all about and I make sure all my pokemon get stronger and battle to their maximum strengths.

 

[Clark]

I often plan a team ahead of time, though I may not decide on all six. So I may have half a planned team with me, stumble upon a wild Pokemon I'd like to try out, and make that one my next team member. It's nice to have a set six I've decided on, but it's a bit more interesting to use a few "random" 'Mons.

In every playthrough of any game I make it a point to not use any Pokemon I've used before. Maybe one or two, if there's some reason for it. This also applies to starters, who'll get shoved into the PC half the time (as I've used all of them quite a bit). I keep levels evenly distributed throughout my team, even if it means pitting a 'Mon against a Type it's disadvantaged to so it can catch its level up. Though I try to do as little grinding as possible, I'll go out of my way to battle every trainer I come across.

Usually by the time I beat the champion my Pokedex only consists of the Pokemon on my team and the HM slaves I've caught. I can't be bothered to catch everything as I go along; I've tried it and it's just tedious. Not to mention expensive; I save up all my money for Full Restores and Revives before the E4 and only buy Pokeballs if I really need them.

 

[Yukimi]

I catch 4 of my favorite Pokemon, then battle every trainer I can. Focusing on only 4 Pokemon guarantees they'll all be a few levels higher than the competition.

 

[zoo3891]

I usually go through most of the game with two or three pokemon, then towards the end i'll grab the last of my team and then spend hours grinding.

Upon the way i catch whatever is appealing to me and grind it after the Elite Four.

 

[BHwolfgang]

I used to capture every Pokemon and evolved them through intense grinding. Then, I'd destroy every Gym Leader because my party would be at least five levels higher. Not worried of anything, I grinded for hours. Any trainers I met and any wild Pokemons I found, I would destroy them. No one is spared.

However, that was the old me. Nowadays, I am actually cautious of who I battle. After finding out about natures, effort value, IV breeding, and the use of some berries, I took Pokemon training a little bit more serious. Now I still go around destroying everyone, but at least it's balanced out now. Also, once I'm done with that Pokemon, I use the EV reducing berries to erase any of the uneeded EVs that particular Pokemon gained during grinding.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

I plan my full team of six Pokemon in advance, and take the time to do intense level grinding. I like to be 5-7 levels ahead of the Gym Leader so I can cream them. I usually take the time to catch all the Pokemon I can on a particular route and take the time to battle every trainer since I'm a completionist by nature.

Once I've played through the entire game, including the post-game events, then I'll feed my Pokemon the EV-reducing berries and commence proper EV training.

 

[ManhattanTheStarr]

Usually I like to just jump into the game, and plan my team out as I go along. But lately, I almost ALWAYS plan out my team beforehand, but I notice that it kinda sucks the fun out of the game. >.> I don't always use my favorite Pokemon. But it HAS to have a decent design. I wouldn't use an ugly Pokemon even if it had crazy good stats. u_u I actually don't care that much about stats at all. Heck, atm, I'm raising a Togepi in HeartGold that has a decline in Sp. Atk (which is supposed to be one of its highest stats as a Togekiss), but I accepted it because it was female and had Serene Grace (<3).

I also ALWAYS level up my team together. I could never have varying levels in my team... it just doesn't feel right at all. >< And usually before a Gym, I try to get my team at least 3 levels ahead of the Gym Leader's strongest Pokemon. That way, getting through the gym is funner and easier. :3 Even though I recently failed in HeartGold by being only 1 level ahead of Falkner's stupid Pidgeotto (what a shame... >.>). Not like it was hard though. T^T

I also hope I'm not alone when I say this, but I actually feel slightly sad when my Pokemon become fully evolved. That means there's no more excitement for when that moment comes when its time for them to evolve. D: So I actually sometimes postpone their evolution for a couple of levels until I feel that they really DO need to evolve (like they're too weak to fight some of the more stronger Pokemon >.>). I just Everstone'd my Marill in HeartGold until I become bored of Marill... but I just enjoy walking with it so much for some reason. xP

The last thing I'll state, is how I pretty much HAVE to catch every Pokemon available in each route. I never did this before though, but once I started in LG and Sapphire, I just got hooked into doing it. xD Now I feel that's it's necessary to "catch 'em all" (lol, I'm sooo corny). If I don't have all the Pokemon in each route, I get upset... It could be simply because I like reading the information for each Pokemon (yeah, I'm a nerd :B).

So yeahhh... that's how I be playing my Pokemon games. T^T
Long post is long.

 

[psychomew2]

I always plan my team ahead of time, if I play a version through multiple times i like to use different pokemon each time.
I'm almost always underleveled though. I just dont like to grind, and it ends up showing. It also makes the games more challenging and therefore makes them last longer. Thats my view on it anyways.
I dont tend to catch pokemon I dont need on my team unless they are particularly cool or rare.

 

[Haberdasher]

I always underlevel my Pokemon- I avoid grinding whenever possible. I usually don't plan my team out beforehand, I just grab whatever seems to round out my team. And I always evolve my Pokemon ASAP unless I have a concrete reason to do so, like waiting to get a certain attack before leveling.

 

[XBA]

I usually just start without planning, then catch whatever I feel like catching.
Then, I only grind a wee bit, to at least equal the gym leader's Pokemon.
For the E4, however, I grind up to the Champion's levels.

 

[jonycleark]

I go to my full team of six Pokemon in advance, and take the time to make an adjustment in flat and hard. I want to be 5-7 levels before the Gym Leader so I have assembled. I tend to take the time to capture all the Pokemon that I can on a particular route and time to fight for every coach, because I'm the kind Completionist.

 

[Blast Aftermath]

I usually grind one or two, like for example now in my blue runthrough I am 4 hours in with one badge, almost five hours and i have a lvl 14 butterfree and lvl 17 charmeleon. The only game and playthrough that I thought was cheap and kind of felt guilty about was when I first beat emerald a few weeks ago I had 5 or so pokemon maybe 4 all at the same level, so they were still slightly underleveled. I Masterballed Rayquaza at lvl 75 before the E4 and wrecked shop. I felt this was hilarious, even though I should feel bad, I feel like since I didn't really like any of my pokemon including starter that I made the game my own.

 

[Poster]

My style is of the 'expendable tactitian'. I make Pokemon games look like Fire Emblem lol

-I grind A LOT (for example, I beat Falkner in HG with 3 Pokemon being on level 16)

-I catch EVERY Pokemon that I haven't caught before (pokedex collection? typical)

-I step at least once on every tile of a map D: you never know what's coming for ya

-I talk to everyone

-I save once every two minutes

So that's about it. And I enjoy it to teh fullest.

 

[SquirtleGirl]

I'm the kinda player who likes to savour the game rather than speed pel-mell from one place to the next. :L I train up until the training gets far too slow, battle every single one of the gym trainers, talk to people hanging around. The only thing I don't do is catch Pokéon unless they're for my team or they're rare/shiny.