How Have You Grown Up As A Pokemon Trainer?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Pokemon has been around for almost 20 years and we all have followed the phenomenon more or less from the very beginning. So, I decided to ask you a question. How do you think you have matured as a trainer? How did you play the games when you were a small child and perhaps not understood the methods and mechanics well enough? What about your take on the anime? Or the trading card game?

I'll maybe post my own answers later.

[Drago]

Venusaur 1998
Solarbeam
Razor Leaf
Sleep Powder
Leech Seed

Venusaur 2014
Solarbeam
Earthquake
Growth
Sunny Day

Believe.

[Ayeun]

How have I grown as a trainer? An interesting question...

When I first started, I thought Cut and Vine Whip were the same attack, because they both had the same animations. I could never understand why my team would always lose to my friends Psychic team when we were both the same level (Gen 1 Psychics were overpowered). I would always cry when my Vileplume fainted, coz I was a sucker.

Generation 2 and I had an Umbreon on my team. I ripped my friend to pieces when I found out that Psychic was broken in Generation 1. Like, slapped him for being so smug. I remember legitimately making it to Red after weeks of training and actually having accomplished something.

Generation 3 and 4 were a lot of fun. By then, I knew about EV's and IV's and was able to train a decent teem so that even a 'weak' pokemon like Vileplume could make a HUGE difference for end game.

Then in Generation 5, I made a bank. I have over 600 unhatched eggs in the boxs of all my G5 games, no idea what's in what. One day, I will transfer 6 to a team somewhere, and play that.

And Generation 6... Now I just do whatever I want for fun. And its good.

[Blademaster]

I know how to play much better.

But sadly I also play much less.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

As for myself, I began playing Pokemon with emulators in 2000 or so. As soon as I learned that you can cancel the evolution by pressing B, I chose an opposite training method. Most noobs like me evolved their Pokemon as soon as possible, but after getting the real deal, in my playthrough of Pokemon Red, I tried to avoid evolving as much as possible. Partly for the challenge and partly because I wanted to be like Ash, you can choose yourself if that was a good reason.

Oh yes, the anime. I followed it seriously all the way to 2002. I wanted to tape all the eppies shown in Finland and was perplexed when they skipped Orange League. I somehow put Pokemon and TPM on a hiatus when Sailor Moon began, only to return in January 2003. I put a Pokemon episode list made with Windows Excel to my webpage. It had all the episodes shown in Japan, USA and/or UK (don't remember) and Finland, with the names translated to Finnish, English, Swedish and French. However, I had to begin moderating watching the anime when they started to show Hoenn because I got sick. Since then, I have made several attempts to follow the series again, but with poor success.

[Fett One]

When I played the first game (red) I wasn't very experienced at RPG's. As such I knew very little about strategy so my pokemon all had attacks based on their type. For example, my Charizard had ember, flamethrower, fire blast, and cut and my Raichu had thundershock, thunderbolt, thunder, and flash.

Now that I know more about RPG's, in Y, my Charizard knows flamethrower, solarbeam, dragon claw, and aerial ace.

[DarkestLight]

Smart question.

I appreciate the answers given. Movesets do shift, but I still use an ingame team that may have 4 fire moves at the same time. The AI is never beating me. I am smarter in my choices, as Gen one was the true learning experience. I never battled anyone but my friends back then, and we all had the same crappy movesets, but we liked fighting the good fight because it was with who we liked.

Gen 2 was where I excelled past my friends, and began noting different moves for type coverage. I still didn't get the whole system down yet, but Sunnydoom was my best friend. It was only a matter of time, as Gen 3 (Emerald speficially) solidified it all, and Gen 4 put me to the test. Making Pokmeon, conconting strategies, all the synergy stuff...

and then...I began to drop it all. Gen 5 came and it was a good resurgance, but it wasn't worth all my time anymore. I helped out my friends kids who played-it was a good -it still is a good way to relate-to bond with a newer generation.

Gen 6 came, and I got it and whipped it in a few days. Got my bank (I need to pay for that...) got my transfers over, and I know I can finish up and get my guys leveled fast and get the EV trained stuff and what not....but why? Shiny Haxorus? Shiny charm? No thanks, I'm glad to have my T tars from Gen 3 and the option for Mega Sceptile, thanks.

So, what I'm saying is...the growth of the game mirrors the growth of us as people. We know what's possible. New things come and we'll incorporate it, but we have the skill. We can get better, but now we know what it is we want. We don't follow the "catch em all " rule-cause we already did it. Now its just "keep them all." Keep on top of it without having to do much. We put in the work. We could retire if we wanted.

But we won't. I won't. 'Cause I know this game in and out. I know how to battle and I love it. And I guess that's where I am as a Trainer. Ever growing. There's no need to stop, but I know that I can if I want, and I can look back and go

"Yeah. That was a good journey. Let's take another."

[CaptainJigglypuff]

I first saw some kids playing the game and due to the GB's poor graphics on the original games (you know, all blocky and the Pokemon looking weird like the upside down Koffing or Growlithe) I thought Red when you started a Trainer Battle was a strange looking duck and I kept thinking "Why is there a duck?" From a distance the back of Red DID look like a duck and I thought his hat was the bill. Anyway I played it and instantly got hooked. I remember I was so close to defeating the Gym Leaders and was literally steps away from Giovanni and I brought my GB to school. A girl in my class grabbed my GB because she saw I had Pokemon in it and when I went to get it back from her, she accidentally erased my entire game and I was so upset. I had what I felt was a perfect team which included a Blastoise with Surf and an Articuno. I think I even had a Chansey on my team and it was all gone.

Now I keep getting all the games preferably new when they are released and since Gen IV, I HAVE to have a Ditto named Xerox in my game and I also always need a Jigglypuff since it is my FAVORITE Pokemon. Also I always have a copy of each opposite game and play one as a boy and one as a girl.

[Magmar]

Considering my earliest TPM memories involve submitting a team for rating that included a Nidoqueen with Poison Sting... over fifteen years ago

I think I've come a long way!

[Little_Pikachu]

Back in the day, in the late 90's, before everyone had the Internet, I would spend my breaks at college playing Pokemon with my friends as we desperately worked together to complete the RBY Pokedex and were hugely disappointed in the outcome. Back then you played with Pokemon you liked, there were no natures, no breeding, "EV training" was deciding if you wanted a Flareon, Vaporeon or Jolteon, it was a simpler time!

I've played every generation since then and it has become both more complicated and easier. More complicated as now you have all these extras to consider when you pick your perfect team, you will dump one of your favourite species like trash because their only crime was to have the wrong nature and that's ok, back in the day you couldn't look at his sweet face and let him go, but now you don't care! People will spend DAYS trying to get the perfect IV egg instead of being thrilled that they didn't have to restart the game one more time because they accidentally killed Articuno. For me, the logistics of it have become too complicated, I can't compete with my friends who simply have more spare time than me. But now, hacked pokemon are so easy to get, you don't even need to work for that perfect team if you don't want to, and also the Internet will tell you what moves you should have for the most effective team and where to get them. Both more complicated and more easy! Makes no sense.

I still live in the olden days where I just pick my favourites so I haven't really changed, if they aren't perfect it doesn't matter, because no one is.

[Dark-San]

This is officially an interesting question. How have I evolved as a trainer? Now this is a tough question. Personally I am not one of those gung ho trainers. I do not train for EVs or IVs back in the early days. I don't even try to complete the Pokedex. Unlike the newer generations when they actually made EV/ IV trainings easier and more fun that I decide to be more committed.

However being involved in Pokemon does open its doors for me. Without its anime, I wouldn't be really much into animes and mangas. Without its TCG, I wouldn't have gone over and become champion in another TCG. Basically it just that without Pokemon, I wouldn't have become me.