2nd Gen Story or Collect?

[bbwlover]

I'm new to this forum and I'm really excited because I recently got addicted to Pokemon, but I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing.

One thing I want to get peoples thought on is whether or not catching Pokemon should be the focus. I ask because it's my understanding that you can't win the game unless you "catch em all". But I've watched a number of walkthroughs on Youtube and very few of them actually bother to do so. They get maybe 4 or 5 and play through the game with only those. Am I missing something?

 

[RyanPelley]

I always try to start out collecting as many as I can. And honestly, I'll end up releasing a lot of those that I don't have any interest in training, just to save the clutter of the PC box. But I usually end up getting side tracked on the collecting and focusing solely on the story.

Might end up with 100-150 or so Pokemon when I finish the game.

 

[Braxien]

I think most youTubers don't want to have several episodes where they are simply just running around in the wild grass. It would become tediously boring, in my opinion. I usually complete the storyline and then attempt to 'Catch 'em all!' when I've defeated the Champion/post-game.

 

[LusoTrainer]

I ask because it's my understanding that you can't win the game unless you "catch em all".

What does "win the game" mean? Defeating the Elite 4 and become the champion? Because for "catching them all", trading with other players is required.

 

[Braxien]

What does "win the game" mean? Defeating the Elite 4 and become the champion? Because for "catching them all", trading with other players is required.

I think he might mean the Pokédex for the certain region, not the National Pokédex. There isn't really any 'winning' involved in trading Pokémon, unless you pull off some sort of crazy deal.

 

[Juno]

I think most youTubers don't want to have several episodes where they are simply just running around in the wild grass. It would become tediously boring, in my opinion.

This - it's not just for Pokemon games, LPers in general tend to focus more on completing the story rather than looking for collectibles, or in this case, catching all the Pokemon. It just makes for better, more eventful videos, 'cause Pokemon-hunting can get repetitive to watch.

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IMO there's no "right" way to play Pokemon - some people lean towards the completionist side and enjoy catching all the Pokemon first, and others are very content in just playing through the main story. And after that, they may go back to fill up their Pokedex after the main quest is done.

I've personally done both. I used to not really care about completing the Pokedex, as in I won't go out of my way to find every single Pokemon, at least not until I finish the main story. After I beat the Elite Four and have nothing else to do, but still want to play the game, I'll go back to certain areas to look for the rarer Pokemon I missed the first time around.

In XY, I focused more on completing the Pokedex and every new route I reached, I did not leave until I caught all the Pokemon in the area. That, in my opinion, was actually less enjoyable than the way I usually played.

Oh, and welcome to the forums btw!

 

[Captain Gizmo]

Capturing all the Pokemon is just a sidequest for yourself you can do. Although, in later games, catching all the Pokemon gives you a reward while in earlier games you just get a congratulation xD

 

[Megan]

Basically Pokemon is a sandbox game which emphasises a lot on interaction between multiple players.You have many choices on how you play the games: for the story, for completion, for the competitive experience or many other things. It's kinda like Minecraft, if you switch out building stuff with capturing Pokemon.

 

[LusoTrainer]

I think he might mean the Pokédex for the certain region, not the National Pokédex.

That still requires trading.

There isn't really any 'winning' involved in trading Pokémon, unless you pull off some sort of crazy deal.

If you complete the Pokédex, you win the diploma. To complete the Pokédex, you need to trade.

 

[VGOldSchool]

I think you can play it either or. It depends on your style. You can easily pick a handful of Pokémon and blaze through the game with those. But there's also the thrill of the hunt and gather by filling out the Pokédex. It was an achievement before there ever was an achievement system for any of the consoles.

Also as Braxien pointed out, it's why I cut down my collection let's plays a lot where I only put in the more important parts and cut out a lot of grind and/or tedious battles that aren't a part of the story.

It really depends on how you want to play and how much time investment you want to invest. Also if you have a friend or a way to trade.