Recent Comments

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

50 Comments on A Pokemon Primer

  1. Icauhghtem'all // June 30, 2007 at 1:27 pm // Reply

    pikachu..

    i giv ur team a………..6

    I would train them a little more

    look at my team plz

  2. Icauhghtem'all // June 30, 2007 at 1:21 pm // Reply

    If any one needs ANY sort of help i already beat it this is my team:

    Giratina97

    Heatran-95

    mewto-100

    crisselia-86

    rypheior-98

    Garidos-95

  3. POKEMON MASTER // June 29, 2007 at 2:13 pm // Reply

    this is to pikachu….

    your new tean is much better, but can still improve a lot, i’d give it a 6 maybe 7

    the trash cans are in buildings

  4. But pokemon master were are trash cans?????

  5. please rate my new team

    Raich100

    Heatrean70

    ICELV88

    IceLV69

    CharzardLV66

    GiratinaLV79

    PLEASE RATE IT=**=

  6. THANK YOU POKEMON MASTER your good

  7. POKEMON MASTER // June 27, 2007 at 6:54 pm // Reply

    this is to pikachu….

    you go to canalave and go into the house by the sailor and boats(the house will have a kid in the bed and his mom by him)talk to the kid then the mom then go talk to the sailor, he will take you to fullmoon island and you will see cressillia, when you talk to her she will run(like mesprit) and then you take the item she left and take it back to the little kid

    this is to j….

    you catch a boy burmy(in trees, or you can find the trash coated one in trash cans) and evolve at level 20

  8. ok pokemon master thank you but how do you get the lengendarey pokemon at fullmoon

    island? I show my friend it on my pokedex.

  9. how do you get mothim

  10. POKEMON MASTER // June 25, 2007 at 4:05 pm // Reply

    this is to pikachu….

    get rid of ethier both charizard or heatran(if you decide to keep charizard keep only one)

    get rid of one of the ice pokemon

    get a ground/rock like golem or rhyperior(slow but extremely strong)

    get a fighting pokemon, lucario or hitmonchan would be good

    and an extremely strong dragon

    thats a pretty good team and you can branch from there

    them team that you have now a give a 4 only because they are so strong, it has to many of the same weaknesses i could wipe it out with a strong water and strong fire pokemon

  11. thank you X

  12. some dude in austria // June 24, 2007 at 7:35 pm // Reply

    I know nada about pokemon

  13. your team i give it a 7 out of 10

  14. Rate my team

    RaichLV1OO

    HeatranLV70

    CharzardLV66

    CarzardLV66

    ICELV88

    Icelv69

    PPPPPPPPPPLLLLLLLLLEEEEEESSSSSSSEEEEE RATE IT

  15. The Sam Man // June 23, 2007 at 8:28 pm // Reply

    Bla bla bla I know that Gyrados is water @ flying type @ Diamond has better pokemon.

  16. CCCCCCOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! A Garados that is DRAGON/FLYING. It`s supposed ta be WATER/FLYING!

  17. I have a gyrados! it is Dragon/Flying

  18. can i play pokemon red

  19. i agree, garodos is water flying but it can learn dragon attacks (and fire attacks like flamethrower from a TM)

  20. POkeMOn lOVer999 // June 15, 2007 at 8:07 am // Reply

    On pokemon pearl i ve beaten the elite 4 + champion its alsome when you get to migrate and catch level 56 pokemon like rhydon and camerupt and wailord and roselia.

  21. Pokemon expert // June 14, 2007 at 6:21 pm // Reply

    hmm Legendary hunter nice pokemon u have, u got to train some though the more u train them the stronger they get but ur almost there. I give ur pokemon a 4 out of 5.

  22. pokemaster // June 13, 2007 at 6:55 pm // Reply

    i agree with everyone else who said this, Gyarados IS water/flying

  23. lucario master2000 // June 12, 2007 at 1:32 pm // Reply

    i got a ifnerape that knows thunder punch

  24. oh, Legendary Hunter guy: Good, but a ton of your Pokemon are the same level as you catch them at. That is not a good thing.

  25. Yah, everyone that said that Gyrados is Water/Flying is right, even though it is a sea serpent. Also, the one guy who talked about Rayquaza and Swampert: get with the times! This is Diamond and Pearl, not Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

  26. gyrados fan // June 10, 2007 at 9:16 pm // Reply

    Gyrados is a Water/Dragon . P.S. check the pokedex if you have a Gyrados.

  27. Beat the Game // June 10, 2007 at 12:45 pm // Reply

    D/P pwnz!But for better

    (and easier) gameplay, get an AR!!!

  28. cat lover dood // June 9, 2007 at 11:20 pm // Reply

    I think it is the best pokemon game yet

  29. Legendary Hunter // June 9, 2007 at 12:27 pm // Reply

    Rate my team

    Heatran lv. 70

    Garatina lv. 70

    Mewtwo lv. 71

    Regigigigas lv. 70

    Azelf lv. 56

    Suecune lv. 50

  30. pokemon is cool for kids

  31. dialga an palkia rule

  32. pokemon is coool // June 8, 2007 at 12:24 pm // Reply

    i played every pokemon game so i know that gyrados is a water/flying!

  33. it is awesome

  34. it sounds exciting

  35. its cool

  36. wewewewewewewewewewewew // June 7, 2007 at 8:04 pm // Reply

    😉

  37. 🙁 🙁 🙁 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GYARADOS IS NOT WATER FLYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙁 🙁 🙁

    🙂 its really water droagon 🙂

  38. I agree with Blah-Blah 95.

  39. fire ball // June 6, 2007 at 1:42 pm // Reply

    pokemon is awesome

  40. Has this guy actually played these games. If he has, he should know that Gyarados is a water and flying type, not a water and fire type.

  41. 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

  42. 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!

  43. 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

  44. 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!

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

    Gyrados is a water/flying type.

  46. 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

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

  48. 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.

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

    Hope that helps!

  50. 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!

Leave a Comment

Please don't use your real name.