Top 10 Tips for Beginners in Pokemon

Getting into Pokémon for the first time can be a lot of fun, but it can also be overwhelming. With so many different Pokémon to catch, moves to learn, and battles to win, it's easy to make mistakes that could slow you down or make things harder than they need to be. Luckily, experienced players have already been through it all and have shared plenty of useful advice to help beginners get started on the right foot.

This list is packed with tips that can make your journey smoother, help you avoid common pitfalls, and teach you things that aren't always obvious at first. Some tips focus on battle strategy, while others cover catching Pokémon, managing your team, or making the most of in-game items.
The Top Ten
Don't use your Master Ball unless you're battling a Legendary or a Shiny The Master Ball has a 100% catch rate and is best saved for rare encounters like Legendary or Shiny Pokémon. It is a unique item that can usually only be obtained once in a game. Using it on common Pokémon may prevent you from catching more difficult ones later.

You should also prioritize your Master Ball for legendaries with factors that make them harder to capture. For example, keeping your Master Ball for an Electric type might not be a bad idea since Electric types are immune to the paralysis status, which is a useful status for capture.

Know that if a Pokémon has a different color than it usually does, it's a Shiny Shiny Pokémon have a different coloration than normal and are extremely rare to encounter. They have the same stats as their non-Shiny counterparts. Shiny status is indicated by sparkles when the Pokémon enters battle.

Seriously! Don't miss out on shinies. I have only caught six shinies in my life, and two of them are the red Gyarados and the shiny Metagross of ORAS.

Avoid teaching your Pokémon only moves of the same type Using only one type of move can make your Pokémon less effective in battle. It limits their ability to deal with a variety of opponents. Including moves of different types increases your strategic options.

To show you the usefulness of moves of different types, let's take Conkeldurr as an example. It is a Fighting type, so you might want to only give it Fighting-type moves for STAB. However, that leaves you vulnerable to Psychic, Ghost, Flying, and Fairy types.

That's why instead of four Fighting-type moves, it is better to have only one Fighting-type move and have Knock Off to deal super effective damage against Ghost and Psychic types, Ice Punch for Flying types, and Poison Jab for Fairy types.

There are some cases, however, where you might want to use two moves of the same type, but that serves a different purpose. To go back to Conkeldurr, I can have Drain Punch as my main way to deal damage, as well as recover, and Mach Punch in case the opponent is at low HP and I need to go first on the next turn.

Avoid teaching your Pokémon only HM moves HM moves cannot be easily forgotten without the help of a Move Deleter. Filling your moveset with only HMs can reduce a Pokémon's combat effectiveness. Most HM moves are utility-based and not ideal for battle.

Of course, if you are playing any games from Sun and Moon onwards (until they may or may not bring them back in the Sinnoh remakes, because who knows?), HMs are not a thing anymore, so you don't have to worry about that. However, in the games where HMs are a thing, I recommend using an HM slave, which is basically a Pokémon that exists in your party only to use HMs.

For example, in ORAS, I used a Slaking who learned Strength, Cut, Nature Power, and Rock Smash. It was surprisingly useful in moments where I had to use it in battle, but its main purpose was to use those HMs to help me progress through the game. The reason why I recommend doing this is because HMs are often not very good to use in battles, even in a playthrough (Surf and Fly being exceptions). You can't make your Pokémon forget about those moves until you find an NPC who can make your Pokémon forget those moves, or in the case of older games, you are stuck with those moves forever.

Avoid underleveling your Pokémon Pokémon that are significantly lower in level than opponents may faint quickly in battle. Underleveling can lead to frequent losses and experience gain inefficiency. Keeping Pokémon at competitive levels improves your chances in fights.

You should train your Pokémon equally to have your stats well spread. It not only makes the game easier since you are not reliant on only one Pokémon, but also, it is just more fun if you ask me.

Having a full team of six and learning how to use each of them in the situations they are strong in is way more fun than just playing with one Pokémon through the whole game, at least in my opinion.

Avoid overleveling your Pokémon Overleveling can make battles too easy and reduce the challenge of the game. It may also cause obedience issues if you lack the proper Gym Badges. Balanced training provides a more consistent gameplay experience.
Avoid having your team consist of only one type Teams consisting of a single type are more vulnerable to specific weaknesses. Opponents with moves strong against that type can defeat your whole team. A diverse team helps cover multiple weaknesses and threats.

You can do that if you want a challenge or just want to have fun. In fact, with double types, you might do something cool with your team.

However, if you want to be as strong as possible in your playthrough, this is not optimal. You are better off not having more than two or three Pokémon of the same type to cover the whole type chart.

Try to hit your opponents with super-effective moves Super-effective moves deal increased damage based on type matchups. Using them can end battles more quickly and efficiently. Learning type advantages is essential for strategic battling.

In other words, learn your type chart. Don't use a Ground-type attack on a Flying type. It's a bad idea.

This is useful for both playthroughs and especially competitive play.

Visit the Pokémon Center regularly The Pokémon Center fully heals your team for free. Regular visits ensure your Pokémon are ready for upcoming battles. It also restores PP for all moves.
Train some more if you fail Losing a battle may indicate your team is underprepared. Gaining more experience through training can improve performance. Stronger Pokémon have a better chance in future encounters.

The Newcomers

? Never leave home without Poké Balls Poké Balls are required to catch wild Pokémon. Not carrying them can result in missed capture opportunities. Keeping them in your bag ensures you're always ready to expand your team.
? Remember to save your game Saving your game protects your progress from being lost. It allows you to reload if you make a mistake or miss a rare event. Frequent saving is a common precaution in gameplay.

It is utterly miserable when you work super hard, such as gaining badges and evolving your Pokémon, and then you forget to save. The fact that you have to redo everything alone is a pain, and even more so if you caught a legendary, beat the champion, or found a shiny Pokémon. It just makes it more frustrating.

The Contenders
Buy as many battle items as you can Battle items like Potions and Antidotes can be used during fights to support your team. They help heal status conditions or restore health mid-battle. Having a supply of them can increase your chances of winning tough battles.
Learn about status moves Status moves affect conditions like sleep, paralysis, and stat changes. These moves don't deal direct damage but can give you an advantage in battle. Learning how each status effect works can help in planning strategy.

When I was younger, I thought status moves, which are the moves that make no direct damage, were bad because I didn't see the point of not directly attacking. However, I now know, and want to let you know, that those moves can be some of the most useful moves ever.

Poisoning the opponent is super useful in the long term. Burning your opponent with Will-O-Wisp makes physical attackers hit much less hard than usual. Paralyzing an opponent makes them much slower, and it can also prevent them from attacking. Boosting moves like Swords Dance or Dragon Dance raise your stats, allowing you to sweep your opponent.

Status moves can be very useful in playthroughs. They actually make the infamous Whitney and her Miltank much easier to beat. They are even more useful in competitive play, where they are so common that Taunt, a move that prevents the opponent from using status moves, is considered very good.

So yeah, don't underestimate those moves.

Check a Pokémon's stats when choosing the moves it learns A Pokémon's stats determine which moves are most effective for it. High Attack or Special Attack stats influence the type of offensive moves you should choose. Checking stats helps maximize battle performance.

You should always consider the stats of the Pokémon you use to choose the moves it learns. The most obvious thing to look at is the offensive stats. Let's take Salazzle for example. This is a Pokémon with a much higher Special Attack than Physical Attack. Therefore, Sludge Bomb, a special move, is a way better move for it than Poison Jab, a physical move.

However, you might want to look at the defensive stats and Speed stats as well. For example, Close Combat is a Fighting-type move with very high power but lowers the user's defenses. Therefore, a Pokémon like Infernape, who is really fast but has low defenses, relies on outspeeding its opponent and killing them in one hit to prevent them from killing it. However, a more defensive Fighting-type like Conkeldurr, who is slow but can tank a lot of hits, might prefer Drain Punch, which has lower power but has no drawback and even gives you more HP back.

Use moves that match the Pokémon's type for increased damage Moves that match the user's type receive a Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB). This bonus increases the power of the move. Using STAB moves can lead to more damage during battle.
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