The Basics of Pokémon


Most of the games start you out by having to choose between three different Pokémon as your starter. It's a choice between a Grass type, a Fire type, and a Water type Pokemon. All three of these Pokemon have strengths and weaknesses to other types. For instance, Grass type Pokemon are weak against Fire type attacks and resistant to Water type attacks. Grass type moves are weak against Fire type Pokemon and strong against Water type Pokemon. The same applies for the other two types, just put the beginning type at the end and follow the same two sentences that are bolded.

Your first goal that the Professor assigns you is to meet and catch as many Pokemon as you can, usually to help with research. You receive a Pokedex for this; when you see a Pokemon, a vague amount of information is revealed about that Pokemon. When you catch it, all of the information is revealed. To catch Pokemon, you are usually given 5 Pokeballs. You have to weaken the opponent Pokemon with your Pokemon's attacks, then throw the ball at it, which will hopefully catch it.

Actually catching every Pokemon doesn't earn you that great of a reward. You usually only get some certificate from the creators of the game (who put themselves in the game). But in Emerald, if you catch every Pokemon in the Hoenn Pokedex, you get to choose between the Johto starter Pokemon.

Your second goal is to defeat the Elite 4, which actually consists of 5 people (the Elite 4 and the Champion). Their Pokémon are at very high levels (usually early 50s to early 60s). To get your Pokemon to be strong, you have to defeat wild Pokemon in tall grass, and trainers scattered throughout the many routes in the game (whose Pokemon are usually stronger than the wild Pokemon in that route). You also have to defeat eight Gym Leaders (their Pokemons' levels are high compared to the trainers leading up to them), in which you get a badge when you defeat them. You need those eight badges to be able to compete in the Pokemon League, where you fight the Elite 4. But beware; once you enter the Pokemon League, there is no turning back. You have to fight until you either win or lose.

This brings up two more topics; items and money. Your items are separated into different sections of your bag (except for the Red, Blue, and Yellow versions), depending on your use. Diamond and Pearl divide the bag into a whopping eight sections; Hold Item, Healing Item, Pokeball, TM/HM, Berry, Mail, Stat Boosters, and Key Items.

Hold Item: Contains items that can be held by a Pokemon that may increase a move's power, cause a certain effect, etc.

Healing Item: Contains items that heals HP, PP, or a status effect; vitamins.

Pokeball: Contains all of your Pokeballs.

TM/HM: Contains the TMs (Technical Machines) and HMs (Hidden Machines) that you find throughout the game.

Berry: Contains all of the berries that you find, grow, or receive throughout the game. Different berries have different effects. (Berries can either be used on or held by Pokemon.

Mail:: Contains the mail that you receive from other players through trade. You can write a letter and give it to a Pokemon to hold.

Stat Boosters: Contains items that you can use in battle to increase a Pokemon's stat.

Key Items: Contains items that are usually vital to beating the game.

You will find many items lying on the ground, some hidden in places you wouldn't think to check. You can also buy some items from shops located in the various towns. In every game up until Diamond and Pearl, the selection of items increased depending in which town you were in (better items were found in later towns). In Diamond and Pearl, however, the selection of items changes as you gain gym badges. The more gym badges you have, the greater the selection.

And about finding those hidden items located where you wouldn't think to check? There's the Itemfinder for that. It is given to you by someone usually during the first half of the game. In the games before Diamond and Pearl, it was a Key Item. You would have to select it from the Key Items menu, or you could register it to the select button so that you could press select to use it. (Registered items in Diamond and Pearl are set to the y button.)

In Diamond and Pearl, it is now a part of the Poketch, which I'll explain a bit later. You only have to touch the bottom screen to activate it. A small radar wave will try to locate a hidden item. If one is found, one of two things will happen. If the Itemfinder detects an item, but you're not in range to pinpoint its location, the radar waves will continue to expand. Depending on which side of the screen you pushed, you need to head in that direction. If a dot appears, you have to count how many marks up/down and left/right it is from the middle of the grid, then you have take those many steps.

Now on to money. There isn't much to say about it. Money is mainly just for buying items from shops in the towns. How do you get it? You have to battle trainers and win. If you lose, however, half of the current amount of money you have is taken. Depending on the trainer, more or less money may be won. For example, Youngsters don't give out that much, while Rich Boys give out a lot. You don't receive money from defeating wild Pokemon.

Lastly, there's the Poketch. If you played the Gold/Silver/Crystal versions, this is much like the Pokegear. To get it, you need to talk to three people who are dressed up in clown suits in Jubilife City. Once you receive it, it will be shown on the bottom screen of the DS.