Hi everybody!

[Melua]

Hi!

I'm Melua, I'm 23 years old and I've been a fan of Pokémon for around 15 years now.
Sadly my old Pokémon sticker album and Blastoise stuffed toy were thrown away, but I do have some Pikachu stickers that I bought 5 years ago.

I've never watched the anime (the only anime I watched semi-seriously at some point was Yu-Gi-Oh!) and I've never played the TCG.
I'm only interested in the video games. I've played (and finished) Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, Sapphire, Gold... or at least I tried finishing them but had to stop because I was too busy IRL.

I think one of my main issues is that I suck at Pokémon so much so that I usually had to use around 50-100 potions to defeat the Elite Four. Sure, I was 12-15 years old at the time, but still.
I tended to always pick 3/4 fire moves for my Charizard, and all my Pokémon were under-leveled.

I'm now doing a master's degree in English and I've been looking for something that could help me blow off some steam. I think Pokémon would be perfect, especially since I spend countless hours on the computer for my research paper anyway.

I don't know which game to start with. I finished some of them several times but I had such horrible teams/ strategies that it's a miracle I made it through.

I have a knack for choosing the most useless Pokémon out there. I always pick the fierce/aggressive-looking ones. Unfortunately, it doesn't mean they're good.
Magikarp's evolution is okay, but it still has some blatant weaknesses.

I also keep training Pokémon that can't evolve unless they're traded (sigh.)
I could go on and on... I think I just need to learn everything about Pokémon all over again.

Is there a good Pokédex out there that contains info on the "best" Pokémon according to stats? What's the most important stat for a Pokémon?
Can someone explain EV training? I know what it is, I just don't know how you EV train (which Pokémon gives which stats to the Poké you're training.)

What are good staples for R/B?

Well, I think that's it, sorry for the lengthy post and thank you for reading this :)

 

[Sheep]

We've both been Pokemon fans for about the same time. But... it's upsetting to hear that your old merch was tossed, I can honestly relate. ;_; I had an amazing sticker album with a ton of sorted Pokemon stickers but my mom must have tossed that out ages ago as it's been years since I last saw it. Kind of sad to think about; was just reminded of it after reading your post. Gosh, all those memories!

Welcome to the forum, by the way. Hooray for more awesome newbies!

Most of our members adore the games so you're going to have a lot to converse with people about. I personally think HeartGold or SoulSilver would be great starting games, especially if you've played the original Gold and Silver. HG/SS were praised as being very good remakes so you don't have to worry about them taking away what you really loved about the second generation. I'm currently hooked on HeartGold and can really vouch for its amazingness. :) While you're at it, you can also explore the Fourth Generation board to discuss anything related to these two games as well as Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. There are great guides for EV training out there on Google, especially if you peek around Marriland. That was where I learned a lot of my current EV knowledge, though I'm actually quite bad at them myself and usually need to look up locations and reminders. Depending on what generation's EV training you're looking to know about (as EVing changes a bit every new gen due to new mechanics and Pokemon), you can ask in the appropriate generation board! So if you're looking to know about EV training in Black & White or Black 2 & White 2, you'd check out the Fifth Generation board, for example. They have quick questions threads at the top of the board where you can ask questions regarding the games.

I personally use veekun as my online Pokedex and it works very well. It's sleek, simple, and provides you with all the necessary information, including a stats breakdown. Take a look around there!

Not quite sure what you mean by R/B staples, but if it's about Red and Blue, you can probably ask over in the Metal/Color Gaming board. That's where all discussions on Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal goes. :D Good luck!

If you ever need anything else, just message me and I'll do my best to help out! Have fun here.

 

[Melua]

First of all, thank you so much for answering my thread so quickly!

We've both been Pokemon fans for about the same time. But... it's upsetting to hear that your old merch was tossed, I can honestly relate. ;_; I had an amazing sticker album with a ton of sorted Pokemon stickers but my mom must have tossed that out ages ago as it's been years since I last saw it. Kind of sad to think about; was just reminded of it after reading your post. Gosh, all those memories!

Same here. I'm sorry to hear that. :( It makes me feel a bit better to talk about it though!

I also wanted to thank you for all the great resources you suggested.
It confirmed my suspicions--I'm great at picking Pokémon that are at the bottom of the stat-chain. :p
I once had a team composed of Windgull, Gardevoir, Hariyama, Shroomish, Mudkip, Zigzagoon and Mightyena (urgh). No wonder I had trouble defeating trainers... Gardevoir and Hariyama are decent but coupled with such weak Pokémon (and with a bad moveset) they couldn't do much. I also kept using Pikachu which is a really bad idea. IMO Pikachu shouldn't be used to fight.

Are there old Pokémon in the newer-generation games or only new ones?

I don't recall playing Diamond or any B/W. It's been roughly 8 years since I last played.
I originally wanted to start with R/B/Y because I know it's less complicated strategy-wise. Pokémon don't have a character (such as kind, shy...) and the stats are somewhat simplified.

I'll probably play with Charizard if I do restart Blue/Red (blue seems better).

 

[Hikamaru]

Hello Melua, and welcome!

I have to say, long intros catch my attention a lot so I thought I'd welcome you as well. I once had a Pokemon sticker album like you, back in the days of the Original 151 Pokemon. While I don't have any Pokemon merchandise aside from the games these days, I still remain dedicated to the franchise as ever. Cirno has probably shown you some of the Pokemon gaming sections, we have one for every game covered.

Have you heard about the recent Pokemon X & Y reveals? The new Pokemon all look really cool, and some very adorable too! Maybe you should come to the Pokemon X & Y board, located just under this section where you can keep updated on the latest news and discussions about the 6th Generation. Oh god October can't come soon enough, but sadly won't be released in time for my birthday. That's the problem when your birthday is on the very beginning of a month like in my case. I'll probably have to settle for Christmas again to get them like I did last time with Black 2 and White 2.

I do hope you have fun here, and remember to ask any moderators if you need help. I will be seeing you around the forums, Melua!

- [supporter]Hikari10[/supporter]

 

[Melua]

Thank you very much for the warm welcome for inviting me to the X&Y forums!

I just spent 30 minutes browsing it, and some of the Pokémon really caught my eye.
I can't get over the cuteness of the Grass starter. I've always been a sucker for Grass Pokémon so that's probably why. :)
My birthday is also after the release, and I'll probably be too busy to play the game when it's released but I swore I'd play a bit of each gen game this summer if I find the time.

I hope you get to play the new game really fast, it can be hard to wait for months!

 

[TheShinHado]

Welcome to the Forums, Melua. Make yourself at home! I hope that we become good friends and that your stay here is a great one!