Is training only one Pokemon the wrong way to play?

[Kelphy]

I remember when I was younger I would train ONLY one Pokemon and focus on him, these days I train 4-6 Pokemon equally!
Would you consider training just ONE Pokemon the wrong way to play the game, or would you consider it a different way
to play the game?

 

[0_o o_0]

I think that if you just trained one pokemon, it would be more powerful because it would be the only one you used but then it could be hard to beat a gym with a type that the one pokemon is weak to. If you had more pokemon on your team, they'd be able to cover for each other's weaknesses.

 

[Enzap]

I think that if you just trained one pokemon, it would be more powerful because it would be the only one you used but then it could be hard to beat a gym with a type that the one pokemon is weak to. If you had more pokemon on your team, they'd be able to cover for each other's weaknesses.

This is pretty much my opinion on it.

I've seen a lot of younger players who train only their starter and maybe a legendary, insisting that they don't need any more Pokemon. I had kind of the opposite problem when I was younger, I would try to catch a lot of different Pokemon so none of them grew very strong. Both ways are very risky strategies. If you only have one Pokemon (for example, if you only train a Venusaur in FRLG) then you could encounter a gym leader or Elite Four (like Blaine or Agatha) who are almost impossible to beat. So to answer the original question, unless you're looking for a real challenge and don't want to level grind for hours or Rare Candy spam, it is not a very convenient way to play.

 

[Team Gaara]

It's certainly a much more challenging way to play. Some people do runs in which they only use one Pokemon, maybe even un-evolved throughout the game.

I personally could not do that for a main playthrough.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

Soloing the game with one Pokemon can be a challenging way to play, as some people do with things like that, Nuzlocke, monotype and other challenges to change the game experience. I don't think it's the wrong way to play, it's fine to do a challenge or things like that, everyone plays the game their own way and Pokemon is a good game to do this with cause it allows you to use what you want pretty much.

 

[Zeb]

I don't think it's a "wrong" way to play, since it's just someone's choice how they want to play. I certainly couldn't do it; there's too many Pokemon I want to use/like to use to restrict myself to just the one. But I personally don't see how going through the game and levelling just the one Pokemon, with it obviously becoming a much higher level than the NPCs, is any fun anyway, so to each their own.

 

[coolcatkim22]

The great thing about Pokemon is there is no right or wrong way to play. If you play with one Pokemon you can get through the game much quicker but if you start training more Pokemon you have to stop and level them up a bit and that allows you to take your time with the game. Both ways you get a different feel for the game and the experience you have with it.

 

[Iteru]

I remember my cousin doing this - she was on Diamond and she was up to about the 4th or 5th badge with a level 40 something Empoleon and no others trained. Not too sure if the concept of HM slaves hit her yet but if it hadn't than she was definitely playing the wrong way as I don't think she could have completed the game otherwise.

Generally, I do think it is a wrong way to play. The games encourage captures and loving all your Pokémon; the quickest method to build a bond is through battling and training.

 

[Sakuraa]

I wouldn't say it's the wrong way to play, but it certainly makes things more difficult. Especially if you go to a gym, elite 4, or even a random trainer with strong Pokémon who have a type advantage over your Pokémon.

 

[TheOwl]

It's not wrong. Outside of someone doing it for a challenge it is more of a beginners mistake.

 

[Jenneta]

I don't think so, but it makes things WAY harder if you have to go up against a trainer/gym leader/etc with Pokemon that had a disadvantage to yours, but hey, if you like a challenge then I ain't stopping you. Go ahead and use whatever one Pokemon you want. xDD.
I personally like to use more then one, since there's soooo many Pokemon I like.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I wouldn't say that it's a wrong way to play per say. It is a player's choice to do something like this. It does make it rather difficult though. It's pretty similar to what I did with my Silver. I only trained my Typhlosion and a few legendary Pokemon afterwards at lower levels. I even remember my older brother being stocked that I wouldn't train any other Pokemon. I became more interested with training other Pokemon with each new game, but I still wouldn't consider this method wrong. It makes it pretty difficult to go through Gyms where the Pokemon is at a disadvantage or when you battle through the Elite 4 with only one strong Pokemon to battle and nothing as backup.

 

[Almonds]

I enjoy doing Solo-runs if I can. It adds more challenge to the game, and I get really attached to my starter XDD. I always made Johto my Solo-challenge region where I went on with Typhlosion and a few HM slaves.

 

[Miar]

It's doable, but I don't think it's fun at all, being so limited. (Besides, you need HM slaves too)

That said, grinding only one Pokémon like that requires an awful lot of time, especially with BW's revamped EXP system.

 

[Tyrfing]

I can only excuse people that use only one Pokemon if they are 8 years old or younger, because the point of Pokemon is to raise several and defeat the Elite Four as a team, not a duo of your starter, and it also contradicts another main point of the game: to complete the Pokedex.

 

[Dr. Buni]

it also contradicts another main point of the game: to complete the Pokedex.

That is far from being a main point of the series. Completing the Pokédex is nothing but an optional (and pointless, should I say) objective.

 

[Lelis]

it also contradicts another main point of the game: to complete the Pokedex.

That is far from being a main point of the series. Completing the Pokédex is nothing but an optional (and pointless, should I say) objective.

Well, Gotta Catch 'Em All was a major selling point and a slogan for much of the beginning; I can't see that being ignored. While I certainly don't think that at this point of the Pokémon history completing the dex is a major goal for the majority of the players, this is mostly related to the fact that you can't get all the monsters in a single game. In order to complete you need to trade, and by doing so communication between different players is stimulated. So yeah, I'd say completing the dex is still core in the Pokémon universe because it involves other core mechanics.

I understand that when you say pointless you are addressing this in terms of rewards the game gives you, but completing the daunting task that catching the huge number of monsters there are is fulfilling by itself for the players that do so.

 

[Dr. Buni]

Well, Gotta Catch 'Em All was a major selling point and a slogan for much of the beginning; I can't see that being ignored. While I certainly don't think that at this point of the Pokémon history completing the dex is a major goal for the majority of the players, this is mostly related to the fact that you can't get all the monsters in a single game. In order to complete you need to trade, and by doing so communication between different players is stimulated. So yeah, I'd say completing the dex is still core in the Pokémon universe because it involves other core mechanics.

I understand that when you say pointless you are addressing this in terms of rewards the game gives you, but completing the daunting task that catching the huge number of monsters there are is fulfilling by itself for the players that do so.

It may be a major goal for the some players, but that doesn't make it one of the main objectives of the series. The slogan "Gotta Catch 'Em All" was dropped after Generation 1 for a reason. Also, I am not saying that wanting and trying to catch all Pokémon available is wrong, there is no such thing as "wrong way" to play (I do think, though, that it isn't the ideal way to play the games). In short, I don't think completing the dex is a major aspect of the games, it is just a completely optional side goal, unlike say, leveling up your team, beating the Gym Leaders, E4, rivals, random trainers and the champion. If anything, the various competitive aspects of the series is what I would call its "core aspect".

That being said, I should have added that filling the dex is pointless to me. First of all, it isn't worth the effort, since there are no decent rewards for completing the dex and in second place, catching all Pokémon contradicts the basic idea I always have when I am playing a Pokémon game, which is the idea of me going through a journey with my Pokémon "friends". So, I only catch the ones I like or feel like using, the others, are just the others. If the world of Pokémon was real, catching every single species of Pokémon would be a really stupid idea, don't you think?

 

[Winterdaze]

I'm not sure where the idea that soloing is a more challenging method comes from. Because of the difference in power caused by the level difference between two Pokemon is non linear, over-levelling a single Pokemon is often the easiest and quickest way to win the game, which is why many children and novice players do it. Once you're many levels above the competition type matchups become pretty moot, especially if you have access to coverage moves. Though the new exp formula makes relying on a single Pokemon a little more difficult.

It is a legitimate method of playing, though not one I particularly enjoy. Building a team filled with variety is half the fun for me, so over-levelling one Pokemon is pretty boring in comparison.

 

[Life]

Is there even a wrong way to play these games? I would consider hacking/cheating the only way to play wrongly. Anyways, I used to only raise my starter as a kid. It can be a bitch though, if you're not prepared for a certain gym. HM Slaves aren't a problem though, especially if you have the water starter. All you really need to do is catch certain Pokemon.