never played Pokemon

well i never played pokemon and have always wanted to give it a try. RPG's were never really my favorite type of game but it seems like people have a blast playing Pokemon. If I were to buy a Pokemon game what would you recommend. I see two new ones will be out soon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Should I get one of those or go with an older version.

thanks guys. i know this is a rpg but i am still confused on the whole training and battling. do you know of a good site for me to read up on pokemon before i try out one of the new games. i really want a ds game that will keep me entertained for awhile and it looks like pokemon might work

well i never played pokemon and have always wanted to give it a try. RPG's were never really my favorite type of game but it seems like people have a blast playing Pokemon. If I were to buy a Pokemon game what would you recommend. I see two new ones will be out soon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Should I get one of those or go with an older version.

cttooch

Pokemon is entry level, so don't worry about being unfamiliar to RPGs. Blue was my first RPG.

thanks guys. i know this is a rpg but i am still confused on the whole training and battling. do you know of a good site for me to read up on pokemon before i try out one of the new games. i really want a ds game that will keep me entertained for awhile and it looks like pokemon might work

cttooch

well i never played pokemon and have always wanted to give it a try. RPG's were never really my favorite type of game but it seems like people have a blast playing Pokemon. If I were to buy a Pokemon game what would you recommend. I see two new ones will be out soon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Should I get one of those or go with an older version.

cttooch

[QUOTE="cttooch"]

well i never played pokemon and have always wanted to give it a try. RPG's were never really my favorite type of game but it seems like people have a blast playing Pokemon. If I were to buy a Pokemon game what would you recommend. I see two new ones will be out soon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Should I get one of those or go with an older version.

Rod90

This is true in so many ways..

NEVER, EVER start competitive battling. You will not want do do anything else. It'll ruin your social life. I still can't belive that i can identify more than 400 little monsters, and say what every one of them can do.

Someone failed as a child...

I say wait until the release of Heartgold/Soulsilver. You'll regret spending money on all of the other Pokemon games you've ever bought.

I would recommend at least waiting for HeartGold or SoulSilver, to get a taste of the more old-school pokemon, but if you don't want to wait, then Platinum would be a good way to go. You are missing out on so much awesomeness from the series, especially from the original Red/Blue/Yellow on Gameboy.

If you didn't get caught up in it when you were in school, you know, the whole trading cards, running home to watch the shows, telling all your friends you didn't cry when Ash turned to stone, then you've missed out on a lot of the pokemon craze. Single player is generally a cake walk and multi-player is quite deep. Since you said you generally don't like RPG's, I doubt you would love pokemon. Still, it's worth a shot. If you're unsure, you could try playing on of the older games and then seeing if you want to jump in on it.forgot_it

...You couldn't have been human.

I'd say wait until SoulSilver and HeartGold. If you bought Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, you'd play it for a month and then shell out another $40 when SS and HG comes out. This way, you'll be able to play it with friends, and the regular Silver and Gold destroy Diamond and Pearl, so the remakes should be that much better.

[QUOTE="forgot_it"]If you didn't get caught up in it when you were in school, you know, the whole trading cards, running home to watch the shows, telling all your friends you didn't cry when Ash turned to stone, then you've missed out on a lot of the pokemon craze. Single player is generally a cake walk and multi-player is quite deep. Since you said you generally don't like RPG's, I doubt you would love pokemon. Still, it's worth a shot. If you're unsure, you could try playing on of the older games and then seeing if you want to jump in on it.Yoweeh

...You couldn't have been human.

[QUOTE="Yoweeh"]

[QUOTE="forgot_it"]If you didn't get caught up in it when you were in school, you know, the whole trading cards, running home to watch the shows, telling all your friends you didn't cry when Ash turned to stone, then you've missed out on a lot of the pokemon craze. Single player is generally a cake walk and multi-player is quite deep. Since you said you generally don't like RPG's, I doubt you would love pokemon. Still, it's worth a shot. If you're unsure, you could try playing on of the older games and then seeing if you want to jump in on it.BrunoBRS

...You couldn't have been human.

Yeah, for me even as a 6-year-old child I was like "WTH why'd he do that" but it was Pikachu's "Pika-pi.. ;-;" that got me.

Oh, and you know those cards that you got from seeing the movie? They go for hundreds of dollars now. Just saying.

get the platinum version cause if you want to know pokemon is cool or not.If you wait months just for heartgold or soulsilver and you hate it,you wasted your time...

[QUOTE="Rod90"][QUOTE="cttooch"]

well i never played pokemon and have always wanted to give it a try. RPG's were never really my favorite type of game but it seems like people have a blast playing Pokemon. If I were to buy a Pokemon game what would you recommend. I see two new ones will be out soon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Should I get one of those or go with an older version.

Icare0

This is true in so many ways..

NEVER, EVER start competitive battling. You will not want do do anything else. It'll ruin your social life. I still can't belive that i can identify more than 400 little monsters, and say what every one of them can do.

haha, yes. while i love competitive battling, it does consume ALOT of time. i wouldn't say i know what every pokemon can do, just all the good ones. wierdest of all is how many base speeds i know.

Haha, competitive pokemon's taken up so much of my time. :P So yes, ye be warned!

[QUOTE="Icare0"]

[QUOTE="Rod90"] Don't start playing Pokemon. If you start with it, you will never be able to leave the saga again, believe me. And Nintendo know this, so they release and re-release new versions of Pokemon every week.the_wet_mop

This is true in so many ways..

NEVER, EVER start competitive battling. You will not want do do anything else. It'll ruin your social life. I still can't belive that i can identify more than 400 little monsters, and say what every one of them can do.

haha, yes. while i love competitive battling, it does consume ALOT of time. i wouldn't say i know what every pokemon can do, just all the good ones. wierdest of all is how many base speeds i know.

Okay, maybe not all of them, but outside the most obscure pokes that neve came out of the NU, I can tell about most.

[QUOTE="Icare0"]

[QUOTE="Rod90"] Don't start playing Pokemon. If you start with it, you will never be able to leave the saga again, believe me. And Nintendo know this, so they release and re-release new versions of Pokemon every week.the_wet_mop

This is true in so many ways..

NEVER, EVER start competitive battling. You will not want do do anything else. It'll ruin your social life. I still can't belive that i can identify more than 400 little monsters, and say what every one of them can do.

haha, yes. while i love competitive battling, it does consume ALOT of time. i wouldn't say i know what every pokemon can do, just all the good ones. wierdest of all is how many base speeds i know.

Well if you use shoddybattle then you can customize teams without going through all that hassle of ev training, leveling up etc, and vs other people online. Great way to get into competitive play without taking up too much of your time.

[QUOTE="BrunoBRS"][QUOTE="Yoweeh"]

...You couldn't have been human.

Yoweeh

Yeah, for me even as a 6-year-old child I was like "WTH why'd he do that" but it was Pikachu's "Pika-pi.. ;-;" that got me.

Oh, and you know those cards that you got from seeing the movie? They go for hundreds of dollars now. Just saying.

[QUOTE="the_wet_mop"]

[QUOTE="Icare0"]

This is true in so many ways..

NEVER, EVER start competitive battling. You will not want do do anything else. It'll ruin your social life. I still can't belive that i can identify more than 400 little monsters, and say what every one of them can do.

oldmanriver1

haha, yes. while i love competitive battling, it does consume ALOT of time. i wouldn't say i know what every pokemon can do, just all the good ones. wierdest of all is how many base speeds i know.

Well if you use shoddybattle then you can customize teams without going through all that hassle of ev training, leveling up etc, and vs other people online. Great way to get into competitive play without taking up too much of your time.

True, but playing in the DS give another feel to the battles and to the game. The swampert on my team at Shoddy is only a sprite and a bunch of numbers, but the one that I wasted a week to breed with correct HPower and good IV is like a son to me. And i didn't even begin to talk about Vapper, the first poke that I breed-ed.

Weird, i know, but it's the truth.

Edit: Truth be said, i would NEVER do something like that again. Breeding for a 70 power HP +31 Speed IV is roughly as hard as breed to get a top.

[QUOTE="BrunoBRS"][QUOTE="Yoweeh"]

...You couldn't have been human.

Yoweeh

Yeah, for me even as a 6-year-old child I was like "WTH why'd he do that" but it was Pikachu's "Pika-pi.. ;-;" that got me.

Oh, and you know those cards that you got from seeing the movie? They go for hundreds of dollars now. Just saying.

[QUOTE="the_wet_mop"]

[QUOTE="Icare0"]

This is true in so many ways..

NEVER, EVER start competitive battling. You will not want do do anything else. It'll ruin your social life. I still can't belive that i can identify more than 400 little monsters, and say what every one of them can do.

oldmanriver1

haha, yes. while i love competitive battling, it does consume ALOT of time. i wouldn't say i know what every pokemon can do, just all the good ones. wierdest of all is how many base speeds i know.

Well if you use shoddybattle then you can customize teams without going through all that hassle of ev training, leveling up etc, and vs other people online. Great way to get into competitive play without taking up too much of your time.

i've played shoddy in the past, but i perfer actually training the pokes, having spent the effort to get them, and seeing them succeed in battle. i liked shoddy because it was a good way for me to test team ideas that i had, but i don't really use it anymore.

[QUOTE="Yoweeh"]

[QUOTE="BrunoBRS"] to be honest, i had mixed reactions. i liked ash back then, but i couldn't help but think "wtf? why did he do that? did he think he could stop it?" :PBrunoBRS

Yeah, for me even as a 6-year-old child I was like "WTH why'd he do that" but it was Pikachu's "Pika-pi.. ;-;" that got me.

Oh, and you know those cards that you got from seeing the movie? They go for hundreds of dollars now. Just saying.

do you know of a good site for me to read up on pokemon before i try out one of the new games.cttooch

http://serebii.net/

This is probably the most used site on the internet for this sort of thing. It has EVERYTHING pokemon, so be expected to run into plenty of anime and TCG stuff along with game updates. If you want to learn about the games, they are on the left hand side of the main page.

I'd also like to give my two cents about competetive battling. I got into it, but gave it up once I realized that most of my opponents were either:

1: Kids who didn't know how to play competetively.

2: 20something year olds who don't work, live with their parents and spend the majority of their time playing Pokemon.

^Now this does not apply to everyone, obviously, but I really don't feel comfortable playing with people who treat a kids game like it's a religion. I don't care how much depth the battle system has or how much customization the game has to offer: the game is still directed at the 7-13 year old demographic and they are the primary customers. That doesn't mean that only kids can enjoy the game. Lots of people of all ages enjoy pokemon. It just means that it's made primarily for kids, and I couldn't feel comfortable being around a bunch of people who take it waaaaay too seriously.

[QUOTE="cttooch"]

do you know of a good site for me to read up on pokemon before i try out one of the new games.stEElyDaN909

http://serebii.net/

This is probably the most used site on the internet for this sort of thing. It has EVERYTHING pokemon, so be expected to run into plenty of anime and TCG stuff along with game updates. If you want to learn about the games, they are on the left hand side of the main page.

I'd also like to give my two cents about competetive battling. I got into it, but gave it up once I realized that most of my opponents were either:

1: Kids who didn't know how to play competetively.

2: 20something year olds who don't work, live with their parents and spend the majority of their time playing Pokemon.

^Now this does not apply to everyone, obviously, but I really don't feel comfortable playing with people who treat a kids game like it's a religion. I don't care how much depth the battle system has or how much customization the game has to offer: the game is still directed at the 7-13 year old demographic and they are the primary customers. That doesn't mean that only kids can enjoy the game. Lots of people of all ages enjoy pokemon. It just means that it's made primarily for kids, and I couldn't feel comfortable being around a bunch of people who take it waaaaay too seriously.

yeah, the fact that i'm almost 20 must mean i live with my parents /sarcasm

i take it seriously because i love the game, and i don't care what age group it's targeted at. If you're battleing on the battle boards here, you won't be finding kids who don't know how to play competitively, as i've found almost all my opponents there to competent players. its fine if you think you're too cool to take pokemon seriously, but inventing these demographics to belittle those who do is insulting.

People only insult competitive players because they have either never tried or tried, got crushed, and just don't want themselves to look bad. I tend to find that people who say we take the game too seriously are people who tried playing, but ended up getting beat by someone who they then wanted to deem a no-life. This is basically standard scrub mentality, saying that everyone who loses to you is a noob (and even some people who win), and everyone who wins is a no-life who takes the game too seriously or that uses ridiculously cheap tactics that they'd never use. Granted there are kids who think they know what they're doing *coughmostYoutubebattlerscough*, but there's definitely kids who know what they're doing, and there easily can be successful adults who play the game. I'm actually in my teens here, have an over 90 average, and am a decent battler, though I'm definitely not the best. I find the game fun, not extremely time consuming, though there definitely are people who have clocked in enough time to lock the game in at 999:99, and some of those people aren't even competitive players. The game was originally targeted for Teens IIRC, but it obviously ended up spreading to other demographics as well. Don't pretend you're too cool for the game and that it's meant for people younger than you just because you can't fit in with the competitive community.

[QUOTE="cttooch"]

do you know of a good site for me to read up on pokemon before i try out one of the new games.stEElyDaN909

http://serebii.net/

This is probably the most used site on the internet for this sort of thing. It has EVERYTHING pokemon, so be expected to run into plenty of anime and TCG stuff along with game updates. If you want to learn about the games, they are on the left hand side of the main page.

I'd also like to give my two cents about competetive battling. I got into it, but gave it up once I realized that most of my opponents were either:

1: Kids who didn't know how to play competetively.

2: 20something year olds who don't work, live with their parents and spend the majority of their time playing Pokemon.

^Now this does not apply to everyone, obviously, but I really don't feel comfortable playing with people who treat a kids game like it's a religion. I don't care how much depth the battle system has or how much customization the game has to offer: the game is still directed at the 7-13 year old demographic and they are the primary customers. That doesn't mean that only kids can enjoy the game. Lots of people of all ages enjoy pokemon. It just means that it's made primarily for kids, and I couldn't feel comfortable being around a bunch of people who take it waaaaay too seriously.

I think that introducing he to competitive battling movesets even before he plays any game can ruin his gameplay experience. The use of most of the movesets used there has full gamebreaking potential. Let's get real, what, in DPPt, can stop ,say, a standard Nasty Plot Infernape, a Mixmence, a SD scizor, or something like that? Maybe ONE trainer can take down ONE of these threats. I've plown through the entire game using a Mixape and a Staraptor, both not properly EVed.

Edit: About yours two cents, the Politetrafluoretileno (I don't know how it's named in english), also called Teflon, was made to be used only in astronaut equipment, but I bet that you have in your house a frying pan in which it was used.

@cttooch

I say that you should play without reading anything about it, and only when you feel that you want something more and start battling other people, you read about strategies. There has no need, really.

[QUOTE="stEElyDaN909"]

[QUOTE="cttooch"]

do you know of a good site for me to read up on pokemon before i try out one of the new games.the_wet_mop

http://serebii.net/

This is probably the most used site on the internet for this sort of thing. It has EVERYTHING pokemon, so be expected to run into plenty of anime and TCG stuff along with game updates. If you want to learn about the games, they are on the left hand side of the main page.

I'd also like to give my two cents about competetive battling. I got into it, but gave it up once I realized that most of my opponents were either:

1: Kids who didn't know how to play competetively.

2: 20something year olds who don't work, live with their parents and spend the majority of their time playing Pokemon.

^Now this does not apply to everyone, obviously, but I really don't feel comfortable playing with people who treat a kids game like it's a religion. I don't care how much depth the battle system has or how much customization the game has to offer: the game is still directed at the 7-13 year old demographic and they are the primary customers. That doesn't mean that only kids can enjoy the game. Lots of people of all ages enjoy pokemon. It just means that it's made primarily for kids, and I couldn't feel comfortable being around a bunch of people who take it waaaaay too seriously.

yeah, the fact that i'm almost 20 must mean i live with my parents /sarcasm

i take it seriously because i love the game, and i don't care what age group it's targeted at. If you're battleing on the battle boards here, you won't be finding kids who don't know how to play competitively, as i've found almost all my opponents there to competent players. its fine if you think you're too cool to take pokemon seriously, but inventing these demographics to belittle those who do is insulting.

To be honest from reading the post, it sounded more like he had issues with people who had no life and were taking the game way to seriously than adults who played the game. I agree in that I would find it disturbing if I met a person in their late thirties who played pokemon and took it way too seriously. I mean at the end of the day it is only a game, and you would of thought people who are in their late thirties would have better things to do than EV train pokemon. I don't see an issue with playing it casually at that age, but there is a point where it becomes a bit much.

[QUOTE="the_wet_mop"]

[QUOTE="stEElyDaN909"]

http://serebii.net/

This is probably the most used site on the internet for this sort of thing. It has EVERYTHING pokemon, so be expected to run into plenty of anime and TCG stuff along with game updates. If you want to learn about the games, they are on the left hand side of the main page.

I'd also like to give my two cents about competetive battling. I got into it, but gave it up once I realized that most of my opponents were either:

1: Kids who didn't know how to play competetively.

2: 20something year olds who don't work, live with their parents and spend the majority of their time playing Pokemon.

^Now this does not apply to everyone, obviously, but I really don't feel comfortable playing with people who treat a kids game like it's a religion. I don't care how much depth the battle system has or how much customization the game has to offer: the game is still directed at the 7-13 year old demographic and they are the primary customers. That doesn't mean that only kids can enjoy the game. Lots of people of all ages enjoy pokemon. It just means that it's made primarily for kids, and I couldn't feel comfortable being around a bunch of people who take it waaaaay too seriously.

oldmanriver1

yeah, the fact that i'm almost 20 must mean i live with my parents /sarcasm

i take it seriously because i love the game, and i don't care what age group it's targeted at. If you're battleing on the battle boards here, you won't be finding kids who don't know how to play competitively, as i've found almost all my opponents there to competent players. its fine if you think you're too cool to take pokemon seriously, but inventing these demographics to belittle those who do is insulting.

To be honest from reading the post, it sounded more like he had issues with people who had no life and were taking the game way to seriously than adults who played the game. I agree in that I would find it disturbing if I met a person in their late thirties who played pokemon and took it way too seriously. I mean at the end of the day it is only a game, and you would of thought people who are in their late thirties would have better things to do than EV train pokemon. I don't see an issue with playing it casually at that age, but there is a point where it becomes a bit much.

Whip out ur GBA go to a swapmeat and buy either Red or Blue.Or go uber and order pokemonsters green for *** BG.GO OG GAME!!

That is exactly what I'm trying to say. I have met a few adults, mostly on smogon I might add, that play pokemon and do nothing else. They spend all their time playing pokemon, or drawing pokemon, or talking about pokemon, and their social life consists of the people they know on shoddy battle. I'm not trying to insult anyone who has fun playing it competitively. I have fun making competitive teams, and I fit in perfectly fine with the community. I'm just saying I don't think it's healthy to spend all your time playing a game, especially one that is targeted at children. It's just a game :D If you feel threatened by me making that statement, maybe is it because you have a hard time justifying yourself? I know I don't :PstEElyDaN909

Flamers aren't threatening, they're just annoying, and I have found people who seem to attack me on a lot of ideas, just because I reference the metagame or a common set.

EDIT: and as I said before the game was originally meant for teenagers (13+), so I honestly think I fit right into the group that was intended when they made the original Red and Green.

thanks for all the info guys. so if i where to buy one what one should i get. what is the different from heart gold or silver?

Go to serebii.net fot the differences.

For shortness, different wild Pokes, lugia = ss, ho-oh = hg, gourdon & latios (i think) or however you spell it = ss, kyogre & latias = hg.

There's always some pokemon game being released every year. If you're interested in getting the "newest" version and don't mind waiting, then give Heartgold/SoulSilver a try. Otherwise, I highly recommend Platinum(came out last year for DS) or Emerald(I logged in more hours on this game than all of the other Pokemon ones, but it's for the GBA). If you're more interested in "old school" then you can always get Red, Blue, or Yellow (or Fireread or Leafgreen, which are "remakes" of the original R/B, but much better). There's too many pokemon games...just pick the one you're most interested in. Since you're new to pokemon, don't worry about not knowing anything(not knowing how to battle, etc) because it's incredibly easy to learn. For me, when you start getting interested in competitive play and delve into the game's deeper mechanics, that's when it gets complicated.

Go to serebii.net fot the differences.

For shortness, different wild Pokes, lugia = ss, ho-oh = hg, gourdon & latios (i think) or however you spell it = ss, kyogre & latias = hg.

Yoweeh

Wrong, you can get Lugia and Ho-oh on both games.

You can see the exclusive pokes in each game in THIS thread

well i never played pokemon and have always wanted to give it a try. RPG's were never really my favorite type of game but it seems like people have a blast playing Pokemon. If I were to buy a Pokemon game what would you recommend. I see two new ones will be out soon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Should I get one of those or go with an older version.

cttooch

[QUOTE="stEElyDaN909"] That is exactly what I'm trying to say. I have met a few adults, mostly on smogon I might add, that play pokemon and do nothing else. They spend all their time playing pokemon, or drawing pokemon, or talking about pokemon, and their social life consists of the people they know on shoddy battle. I'm not trying to insult anyone who has fun playing it competitively. I have fun making competitive teams, and I fit in perfectly fine with the community. I'm just saying I don't think it's healthy to spend all your time playing a game, especially one that is targeted at children. It's just a game :D If you feel threatened by me making that statement, maybe is it because you have a hard time justifying yourself? I know I don't :PHegna1

Flamers aren't threatening, they're just annoying, and I have found people who seem to attack me on a lot of ideas, just because I reference the metagame or a common set.

EDIT: and as I said before the game was originally meant for teenagers (13+), so I honestly think I fit right into the group that was intended when they made the original Red and Green.

Lol I'm not flaming or even specifically addressing you. I said "some people" instead of "you people" for a reason :D I can have my own opinion. RESPECT! Even if Red and Green were originally addressed to the 13+ demographic, Pokemon has clearly become a kids entertainment franchise. The lack of maturity in the story, the anime, the multiple coloring books and sticker books and easy reader books and everything else in that category, and the fact you play as an actual prepubescent child all hint toward the franchise being directed at kids. You don't see any coloring books with Starcraft or COD themes. Remember, it was our parents who bought us the cards and the games and our favorite episodes on VHS back in the 90s. The only change is that many of us 90s kids grew up, and they're just isn't enough of us still interested in pokemon to change the franchise back from what it was in the 90s. For this reason, many people can't take pokemon seriously. At all. As fun as competitive battling is, many people will only see it as grown adults playing a kids game. They could compare it to a group of people LARPing in power rangers costumes and calling it serious business.stEElyDaN909

EDIT: Plus I find competitive battlers take the game less seriously than other players at times, as in general they feel less attached to the individual characters, and more just to the style of play. I've seen Casuals who obsess about their own pokemon like it's their little brother. I know it's not common, but I find that really awkward.

[QUOTE="stEElyDaN909"] Lol I'm not flaming or even specifically addressing you. I said "some people" instead of "you people" for a reason :D I can have my own opinion. RESPECT! Even if Red and Green were originally addressed to the 13+ demographic, Pokemon has clearly become a kids entertainment franchise. The lack of maturity in the story, the anime, the multiple coloring books and sticker books and easy reader books and everything else in that category, and the fact you play as an actual prepubescent child all hint toward the franchise being directed at kids. You don't see any coloring books with Starcraft or COD themes. Remember, it was our parents who bought us the cards and the games and our favorite episodes on VHS back in the 90s. The only change is that many of us 90s kids grew up, and they're just isn't enough of us still interested in pokemon to change the franchise back from what it was in the 90s. For this reason, many people can't take pokemon seriously. At all. As fun as competitive battling is, many people will only see it as grown adults playing a kids game. They could compare it to a group of people LARPing in power rangers costumes and calling it serious business.Hegna1

EDIT: Plus I find competitive battlers take the game less seriously than other players at times, as in general they feel less attached to the individual characters, and more just to the style of play. I've seen Casuals who obsess about their own pokemon like it's their little brother. I know it's not common, but I find that really awkward.