Ahoy there, Rebels! Pokémon Pearl has once again crept into my life. This is not a good thing. After weeks of telling myself, “No, no, I have work to do. I won’t throw that ball–nooooooo!!” the addiction has returned. There’s a certain quality and charm to the game that keeps me coming back to it no matter how many times I try to stop. So! In showing my appreciation for the series, I’ve decided to spread the affliction to all of you.

Have you ever wanted to be a Master? A Pokémon Master? There’s a lot to know about game mechanics, especially if you’re competing in a tournament. Will you taste sweet, sweet victory or bitter, crushing defeat? We want you to represent the crew, so if you think you’re up to the challenge strap yourself in for 4cr’s guide to Pokémon team-building!

RAISING AN ARMY:

Before embarking on a quest for Poké-world domination, it’s important to have a plan. You can’t win a fighting game tournament without finding a character that suits your playing style, and similarly, you can’t compete in a Pokémon tournament without knowing the strengths of your team. Trainers, it’s time to hit the notebooks! In mastering the art Pokémonteering, there are certain key factors to consider: your Pokémons’ types, their stats and their move sets… and of course, there are many, many more! This introduction will gloss over just some of the more important decisions you’ll be faced with in starting a competitive team.

Element Types:
Many trainers will tell you that the most important part of choosing who to have on your team is how much you like that certain Pokémon. What they have told you are lies that will come back to haunt you when your team is crushed by the cold, iron fist of competition. We’re here to fight a battle, Soldier! Friendship and feelings ain’t got no place here! The most important part of team-building is simply balance, and in vein of that, you must pick the right elemental types of Pokémon that will complement each other.

There’s nothing wrong with filling your ranks with fire-type Pokémon if you want to show your fiery determination, but as any experienced trainer can tell you, that is a recipe for fail stewed in a rusty fail-pot. Sporting six Charizards might look “cool” in prospect, but it only takes one sturdy electric, rock or water-type Pokémon to knock out your entire team. The chance of your opponent having one or more of those move-types is usually strong in a tournament battle, and you’re not going to impress that girl beside you when one lone Pokémon takes out all of yours. The first step to successful Pokémon team-building is having a healthy mix of types to counter your opposition. One creature of a single type will do — or maybe even two if that’s how you roll, but remember: if your opponent is strong against that one type, you’re already at a 4-6 disadvantage. Depending on the rest of their team, you might be whittled down due to pure endurance.

Picking out a good variety of types is vital, so pay careful attention to the strengths (and weaknesses especially) of each type you choose. If you pick a fire-type, an electric-type, a poison-type, a rock-type and a steel-type Pokémon, even though you have a nice mix of types, all of them can be wiped out by a single hefty ground attack. Kapow! Earthquake! It’s super effective! — but not against you, you sly dog, since you were prepared for this! Weren’t you? It’s always handy to keep a reference of which Pokémon types are effective or pitiable against what. Here’s a link to Serebii’s Pokémon type chart for your browsing convenience.

Some Pokémon also sport dual-type attributes. Charizard, for example, is both fire and flying. What this means is that it has the strengths and weaknesses of both fire and flying types. Although fire-type Pokémon are weak to ground-type moves, flying-type Pokémon are not affected by ground moves, so using a ground attack on Charizard will miss. On the other hand, if a rock-type move (which both fire and flying-types are weak to) hits, the attack’s potency is doubled and will do 4 times as much damage! Ouch!! Ice-type moves (which fire is strong against and flying is weak to) will negate and do normal damage. Since some Pokémon types are weak to so many others, why choose them at all? A Pokémon using a move of its type will do 1.5 times more damage than any other type of Pokémon using that same move. Keep elemental types in mind when choosing the Pokémon you want on your team, and you’re well on your way to becoming a Pokémon Master trainer!

Base Stats:
Just like children, not all Pokémon are built the same. While playing through the games, it’s obvious that some Pokémon are tougher than others, some move faster, and some are more special. You know how Gym Leaders tend to save their best Pokémon for last, and how it’s usually an evolved version of the cutesy weak Pokémon they sent out before? As a general rule, Pokémon that evolve will have higher end-stats than non-evolving Pokémon (unless they are Legendaries, in which case their base stats tend to be HAX ungodly high). If you want a stronger team, you might find yourself choosing to evolve charming li’l Cubone to Marowak. “But I LOVE my Cubone! YOU CAN’T MAKE ME D: *cold dead hands*” — don’t evolve him, that’s alright! Keep Boney safe in your storage so he won’t become another Pokémon’s chew toy. When stats are concerned, some Pokémon will have an unfair advantage, it can’t be helped. This predetermined ratio of a Pokémon’s strength is known as its base stats.

When checking Pokémon base stats the site I use most often is Serebii.net. Take Torterra for example, with base stats of 95 HP, 109 Attack, 105 Defense, 75 Special Attack, 85 Special Defense and 56 Speed. Now take a look at the base stats of another grass-type Pokémon, Carnivine: 74 HP, 100 Attack, 72 Defense, 90 Special Attack, 72 Special Defense and 46 Speed. In terms of strength, Torterra tops Carnivine in every field but Special Attack. In a test of endurance, chances are Torterra will come up on top.

Of course, if it were really so easy to determine which Pokémon is the ‘best,’ then all Torterras are evenly matched, and any one of them will beat any Carnivine. Not so! On top of base stats are hidden stats known in the Pokémon community as Individual Values and Effort Values, or IVs and EVs for short. Individual Values measure how strong a Pokémon is compared to others of its kind, while Effort Values help with boosting specific stats of a Pokémon depending on how it’s trained. Pokémon Natures can also make individual Pokémon different. Since this is just a team-building guide, these topics will be covered later.

Here’s a quick run-through of stats and what they do:

HP: Your Pokémon’s hit points. When Burned or Poisoned, your Pokémon loses 1/8th of its HP at the end of every turn. When Badly Poisoned, your Pokémon loses 1/16th of its HP, but on every turn, 1/16th of damage is added to the bill — to 2/16ths, 3/16ths, 4/16ths and so on. Painful!
Attack: Physical attacks, represented by on the attacks list screen. Burning reduces a Pokémon’s attack power by 50%.
Defense: How well your Pokémon stands up to an Attack-based move.
Special Attack: Non-physical attacks, represented by on the attacks list screen.
Special Defense: How well your Pokémon stands up to a Special Attack-based move.
Speed: Determines which Pokémon attacks first. Paralysis reduces a Pokémon’s speed by 75%!

Speed might not be as obvious as the other stats, and as a result it is often overlooked. Back in high school, my toughest Poké-foe was a guy who trained a Gengar. With its high speed stat, Gengar usually attacked first, and if he was lucky enough to put most of your Pokémon to sleep with Hypnosis it was tears all around. To counter this I raised a Dugtrio, and its higher speed stat kept Gengar in line. So yes, attacking first can be very important in a competition!

Attack Move Sets:
Now that you have a general idea of stats, types and their importance, another thing to keep in mind are the various move sets of your Pokémon. One rule that most experienced trainers try to follow is this: cover your bases. If you send out a water-type Pokémon, chances are, your opponent will use a grass or electric-type attack on you. Some Pokémon, like water-type Blastoise for instance, have the ability to learn ground-type attacks like Earthquake through TMs, which would be especially useful if you’re being attacked by an electric Pokémon. Try to keep your disadvantages in mind and catch your opponent off-guard! Think of the ways your foe will try to counter your attack, and keep yourself giggling maniacally one step ahead.

So in choosing which Pokémon to have on your team, it is super-incredibly important to see which moves your fighters can learn. One tip is to choose moves that play on the strengths of your Pokémon. If you have Dragonite on your team, who clearly favors a higher Attack base stat (134 Attack, 100 Special Attack), choose an Attack-based move like Thunderpunch (75 power) instead of a Special Attack move like Thunderbolt (95 power), since Thunderpunch will do more damage overall. And ’sides, a Falcon PAUNCH! makes everything so much better.

On top of brute strength there are many other techniques you can use. Think like a ninja! For example, your team might have a defensive focus with recovery moves, whittling down your opponent’s crew with poisoning moves like Toxic. You might make an offensive Sweeper, a Pokémon with high speed and high-attack power moves, so as to make quick work of the enemy. You might want to use a Pokémon with the ability Super Luck, which increases its success at landing Critical Hits, have the Pokémon hold Scope Lens (further raising the chance of a Critical Hit), and follow up with high-Critical moves for a devastating effect.

You can only have four moves of course, and that’s where the going gets difficult. When building a team, I tend to ask myself these questions: does this Pokémon really need two moves of the same type? How can I use this Pokémon’s ability to my advantage? Am I trying to be offensive (with powerful, sweeping moves) or defensive (with status-altering and recovery moves)? There are so many different strategies used in battling, and figuring out a unique plan is part of the fun, so experiment and see which style suits you! Sometimes, the right move sets can topple type and stat advantages.

Now that you’ve chosen your team, you’re well on your way to securing those highly-coveted bragging rights. Good job! Strategizing is half the battle–there’s still plenty to know about Pokémon training. I hope this guide has been somewhat useful to those of you starting out. I know that many of you on the forums are already Pokémon Masters! Feel free to add your own suggestions, and stay in touch for the next installment of Pokémon trainer tips!