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A Pokemon Primer

Pokemon games

For anyone who has been out of contact with the world for the last decade, Pokemon games involve catching and training adorable little monsters. First you battle wild Pokemon, then you catch them in a pokeball. If the ball closes and they stay in, they are yours for the keeping.

On the off chance that some of you have spent the past 10 years trapped in an outer space vortex, allow me to take a moment to explain Pokemon and Pokemon games.

Pokemon, short for “pocket monsters,” are friendly creatures that you catch and train to enter in competitions. These sweet little creatures have elemental traits. There are water Pokemon, plant Pokemon, rock Pokemon, fire Pokemon, ghost Pokemon, psychic Pokemon and so on. There are also ridiculous Pokemon, but that is not an official classification.

Some Pokemon fit in two classifications. For example, Gyrados, a fire-breathing fish/dragon, is both water and fire. Water Pokemon are great at fighting rock Pokemon—water dissolves dirt, after all, but aren’t worth a bean against plant Pokemon. Since Gyrados has fire attacks, however, he’s great against rock and plant Pokemon.

The basic gameplay in Pokemon games has not changed much since the beginning. While there are always over 100 Pokemon for you to catch, train and evolve, you can carry only six with you at a time. You place the others in storage until you need them, then you walk around fighting other trainers and entering gyms where you can earn badges and new abilities.

More: Game review | Game tips | Games Guru Q&A

10 Comments on A Pokemon Primer

  1. pokemon rookie ,but good J.J // June 5, 2007 at 10:24 pm // Reply

    I been playing pokemon and I wiped out the Elite 4 with 2 pokemon (oh by the way

    it was my 3rd try)and the pokemon were Swampert,Rayquaza

    Tip,on the last guy DON’T use Swampert cuz it’s water attacs arn’t much good

    Tip2,after u go catch Rayquaza go to wether place if he says thares to much sun go

    2 the airea and look 4 a cave go inside

    if he says to much rain do the same thing

    o and by the way it’s Emrald

    J.J

  2. PKMN Ownage // June 5, 2007 at 8:18 pm // Reply

    Yeah, Gyarados is a Water-Flying Pokèmon, not a Fire-Water type. Even though it may be part Flying type, it learns no Flying moves leveling up. It can’t even learn a Flying move through a Technical Machine (TM).

    ———————————————————————————————————

    Hints for people who are looking for better moves for their Pokèmon to know:

    -Try to cover a Pokèmon’s weaknesses! For example: Gyarados. A good moveset would be:

    -Aqua Tail (Water) *Protects against Rock*

    -Flamethrower (Fire) *Gives diversity to its move pool*

    -Earthquake (Ground) *Protects against Electric and Rock*

    -Dragon Pulse (Dragon) or Ice Fang (Ice) *For diversity*

    (Diversity catches other Trainers off-guard!)

    -Try not to use two of a certain type! For example: Gastrodon (Water-Ground) and Onix (Rock-Ground)

    Hope this helped!

  3. dimand dude // June 5, 2007 at 6:48 pm // Reply

    if you are the type to wait to catch pokemon late than do the opposite on dialga and palkia use a quick ball like i did

  4. pokemon master // June 5, 2007 at 6:05 pm // Reply

    Pokemon Games are the best when u know how to play.like seriously i do!

  5. Poke profeser // June 4, 2007 at 3:47 pm // Reply

    Gyrados is a water/flying type.

  6. for Poke’noobs,

    The type advantages can be confusing (or so I thought when I was a Poke’noob), for example, Dragon is super effective on Dragon! Electric is super effective on Water, but it doesn’t effect Ground. So if an Electric move hits a Water/Ground Poke’mon like WOOPER, it won’t do a thing. Sometimes, it can be liike how Fighting’s super effective on Normal, but Normal’s normal on fighting. There’s a lot more confusion, but you’ll catch on, like I did.

    from,

    dinoah

  7. I have played Poke’mon for years but I think that Fire Red And Laf Green are the best.

  8. Psychicmaster // June 2, 2007 at 7:57 pm // Reply

    Actually, gyarados is not a water and fire type. It is a water and flying type, which is strange since it learns no flying type moves. Since it learns dragon type moves and is serpentine, some people think it should have been water/dragon, but it isn’t.

  9. Blah-Blah 95 // June 2, 2007 at 7:14 pm // Reply

    Hope that helps!

  10. Blah-Blah 95 // June 2, 2007 at 7:14 pm // Reply

    Sorry for being mean, but Gyrados is water and flying pokemon, not water and fire. It might of confused you because dragon moves that Gyrados can learn look like fire. I know this because my Infernape always dies to a Gyrados- Flyings good on Fighting, and Water is good on fire. Also, then rock would be good on the fire side, so that isn’t very good. Sorry for the trouble!

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