What is your approach to the game?

[Dooonerz]

It depends if I have played the game before or not. For example, in Platinum I'm on my first playthrough. I have been rushing through it eventually to get a swing of the game. Then I play through again, but this time taking it really slowly, grinding like hell. Because hey, no one likes to lose. I'll probably use this method when Black & White comes out. <3

 

[123wert50]

I agree, if you have played before it is way more fun.

 

[superanthony182]

just play them for fun i dont really have a strategy when i approach a new game

 

[Legobricks]

I was one of those with one level 100 monster and the rest 50–70. I never did rush through the games, but I don't grind. Any game that necessitates grinding can throw itself down a well.
If I played again nowadays, I'd have an even team of four, none of them legendary. Pace myself, fight off everything that comes my way as I progress; I always used to run away from wild monsters but lately came to think there must be a lot of EXP I was not getting and not much time I was saving... speaking of which, if I played again nowadays I'd play Red, first of all for the exp. all item...

 

[Mortalis]

How I look at it, I always have to be at the same level or better than the Gym Leader coming up.

In RBY I always made my Pokemon all level 14 to match Brock's Onix and so on. Also, if their evolution was in range, I grinded very, very hard before I faced the next gym.

 

[Kitrigar]

I believe I did have more patience in the R/B/Y days.
I remember grinding for so many hours just to be about 10+ levels away from the Gym Leader's Pokemon.

Now, I really don't care. I just go on and continue the game even if my Pokemon are extremely underleveled.

 

[Dubstep]

I pick out some relatively strong (stats) and relatively cool (looks) Pokemon that appear fairly early on and pick them up as I go, grinding as necessary. I don't collect at all, though, or level anything extra when I'm finished. After ten years of Pokemon, it's long since lost the glory.

 

[SquirtleGirl]

I've got something to add to my last post: Grin, grind and grind some more.
I have the pateince... I usually watch TV when I'm grinding so I don't get bored as quickly ^^'

 

[GlitchCity]

I grind extremely hard. By the first gym I usually have my 2 pokemon (starter, something else) on level 20. My way is to always be at least 10 levels apart from the bosses. And thats putting it roughly. And usually on my first playthrough ever on a game, I tend to catch every pokemon at the time possible so that way I wont be going back and forth later on in the game.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

My first goal is to get pokemon at least 2 levels higher the the gyms. I also try to keep all my pokemon at the same level. Back when I had Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and older I only trained my starter. Now I learned it is a lot easyer to keep all pokemon at the same level. I just learned this first few days I had Diamond. Lol and I got Diamond on realse day right when my Gamestop oppened.

After I finish the main line I start collecting pokemon for dex.

 

[Ofruck]

When I was 10 years old, I didn't understand strategies so much, so I used my Blaziken for everything. In the end, I beat the elite four hands down with only one overpowered Blaziken. Can't say I had much fun.

My current, newer tatic is to have pokemon of every type, switching pokemons for type-effective damage. It's more fun and I get to use more pokemon.

 

[Chamomile13]

When I was ten, my party typically consisted of my starter and the first five Pokemon I happened to run into (occasionally switching one out when I needed an HM user in the party), so I always had a bunch of near-useless Pokemon sitting behind my overwhelmingly powerful starter, who was typically 5+ levels ahead of all enemy Pokemon. When fighting bosses, my strategy was to soften them up with my five cannon fodder Pokemon, particularly if there happened to be a type weakness I could exploit, and then lay into them with my uber-starter. I understood the concept of exploiting a type advantage, but was simply too lazy to catch and train the Pokemon I'd need to use it. I lost interest in searching for specific wild Pokemon by the time I hit Mt. Moon, usually, and instead would just catch new Pokemon I happened to run into and ignore the massive gaps in my Pokedex. I remember one time I decided I was going to try for a more balanced party, so I started leveling up my Rattata instead of my Charmander early on in the game, but instead I ended up with a really powerful Raticate and everything else neglected.

These days, I tend to run a more balanced party and make sure to catch every single Pokemon that I can on my way through the game. The only time I leave an area without having caught all its wild Pokemon is when that Pokemon shows up more often in another part of the game.

 

[Manaphy.10]

I usually catch a few Pokemon, and play up until I beat all the gym leaders. Then I trash all of them (including my starter, if it is in Johto), and breed new ones. I make sure that they have good natures, then I EV train them. It takes a long time, but when I have a party of 6 kickass Pokemon, I just breeze through all of the E4 and post-game activities.

 

[Meganium]

My Pokemon has to be between "one level under or one level over" in order to beat the gym leaders, or I'm gonna have a hard time beating the game. I have to sacrifice my precious play time by battling any trainer that I can find in the game, just so I can level-up my Pokemon.

But overall, I'd rather just play for fun. It's not like I'm going to a huge gaming competition or anything.

 

[NamelessGuy]

On my very first Pokémon game (I was 9, I believe), I caught only three Pokémon, and I only trained my starter for the most part. The result after beating the Elite Four was a level 87 Blaziken, a level 19 Taillow, a level 4 Ralts, and a level 20 Trapinch. Bogus, basically. Oh, and I caught a Numel with the Master Ball, completely oblivious to what it could do.

Since then, I've played Pokémon games more strategically, often building type-balanced teams that suit my expectations. I generally look for decent speed and movesets within each Pokémon. I try to build my team early on in the game, so I can access more of their moves without having to go to the Move Tutor or use TMs. I usually assemble a team of six by the time I reach the fifth gym or so. I generally put off filling my Pokédex until after I beat the Elite Four.

I play for fun, mostly. I used to battle over Wi-Fi quite a bit, but I've since stopped.