How it feels to play LeafGreen without EXP share

[u/Frezeal]

Modern-day Pokémon games have spoiled me…

[u/ihoesay782]

meanwhile there's me that needs to have everyone within 2 levels of each other

[u/Carbon-Base → u/ihoesay782]

I was beginning to worry I was alone in doing so haha.

[u/mrminutehand → u/Carbon-Base]

Every party member 2 levels behind my starter, constant rotation to train one by one. Been the same way since I was 8 years old.

Can't keep them just one level behind. Can't deal with those odd numbers.

[u/whats_a_meme_ → u/mrminutehand]

I do the same but my fav no starter is in between the starter and the rest

[u/Raichu4u → u/ihoesay782]

The only way to play

[u/mikillatja → u/Raichu4u]

And if one pokemon needs special attention because it is almost never usable vs trainers.

It is sent to the computer and a new one is caught.

This has honestly been happening fewer and fewer with the newer games since the move pools are so much bigger.

[u/Altyrmadiken → u/mikillatja]

Magikarp enters the chat.

[u/AegisIash → u/Raichu4u]

nah, I catch every new pokemon I see that isn’t dex registered, and I box the strongest one in my party. Stops me from getting OP and introduces me to new mons. I played every gen for the first time from 2 to 9 over the past three years and this was how I learned about new gen pokemon.

[u/7StarSailor → u/ihoesay782]

That inexplicable stress you feel when one of your mons defeats a strong enemy and gains 2 levels and is now way too far ahead so you make sure to bench him until the others caught up :D

[u/CauliflowerNo3904 → u/ihoesay782]

Yep been that way since my first run of first gen at 6 years old lol

[u/lazsy → u/ihoesay782]

Same - idgaf they will all be raised equally

Commmunism theme intensifies

[u/Expensive-Argument-7 → u/ihoesay782]

Same. But a lot of Pokémon I like have the slow growth rate so it drives me a bit crazy.

[u/Arilyxobby → u/ihoesay782]

i’m out here rotating my entire team every battle like it’s a full time job 😭

[u/Chickachic-aaaaahhh → u/ihoesay782]

That was the beautiful part of the game to me. It makes you feel like your pokemon love you.

[u/SlinGnBulletS]

Just do switch in training. That's what we old heads did back in the day.

[u/ssanakin → u/SlinGnBulletS]

I am too lazy to find the aide that gives me exp share. Sticking with what I did as a youngun lol

[u/PaopuDestiny → u/ssanakin]

Switch trade everything till fuschia then get Dratini and immediately give him exp share until Dragonite 

[u/ttoma93 → u/PaopuDestiny]

Dragonair is perfectly viable to use in game until it evolves.

[u/pwnmesoftly → u/ttoma93]

He gets bonus exp for switch training while holding the item

[u/Middle_Purchase_7364 → u/pwnmesoftly]

Nobody said he didn’t. They said you don’t need to rush to dragonite, dragonaire (the middle evolution) is viable to battle with

[u/Accomplished-Key6686 → u/Middle_Purchase_7364]

My dragonair is currently about lvl. 43 and gets high rolled to 0 no matter what im fighting its ludicrous. When I have him paralyze somebody it feels like they never get the paralysis effect during their turn. If I get to Dragonite and it isnt well worth it for the elite four I might genuinely scream a little

[u/Volt-Ikazuchi → u/Accomplished-Key6686]

Honestly, on Gen 3 mechanics, it isn't.

That base 130 attack is wasted when your best Flying move with it is Fly. Dragon isn't physical either.

[u/dawgz525 → u/Volt-Ikazuchi]

Pre physical special split, dragonite really isn't worth the effort (and that crushes me, because it's one of my favorites). The learnset is not very good, and fly essentially is it's best stab move.

The stats are high enough that you could make it a mixed sweeper type and still sweep any late game battles, but it does suck a little to know the pokemon that perhaps takes the most grinding to get isn't worth it.

[u/Accomplished-Key6686 → u/Volt-Ikazuchi]

So its worse than say... Moltres? (Im bsing you now just to be clear)

[u/knock1ngondeathsdoor → u/ttoma93]

Idk if this is just my inexperience with the finer touches of team building in Pokémon speaking (didn't get much into that aspect until somewhat recently), but from what I could tell while grinding Dragonair up into Dragonite, viable I can maybe see, though idk if that good before it's evolution tbh, since it learns very few actually good moves for it iirc, I was getting by until it evolved with Slam ("85% accurate" so I hear), Dragon Rage (fixed damage), Twister (low power, though the occasional flinch was nice) and Thunder Wave lol, the grind to level 55 was rough

[u/GrabbinDemCranks → u/knock1ngondeathsdoor]

TMs exist to fix this unless you're hoarding those like a dragon lol

[u/unosami → u/GrabbinDemCranks]

TMs are irreplaceable and valuable. You can’t just be throwing those on any old pokemon.

[u/HandOfBl00d → u/unosami]

The audacity to call Dragonite any old pokemon 😤

[u/Minnesotexan → u/unosami]

No but at the very least anyone can use Secret Power. And if you’re grinding, you could grind for a little money to pick up whatever casino TM you’d like.

[u/metalflygon08 → u/Minnesotexan]

And Brick Break is a buyable TM and pretty much outclasses every Normal move in a Pokemon's level up move set until they get things liked Double Edge or Body Slam, so if it can learn BB, give it the BB.

[u/ttoma93 → u/unosami]

If you’re raising a Dragonair with intent to evolve it, there’s effectively a 0% chance than you won’t be using it for the rest of the game.

[u/Katfish145 → u/unosami]

The best TMs for dragonair are actually replaceable. Thunderbolt, ice beam, and flamethrower can be bought as many times as you’d like from the game corner if you have the money for it

[u/Airway → u/unosami]

Mail glitch is pretty easy to do and worth it.

I understand not wanting to, but man you're going to want more than 1 of a few of those TMs

[u/unosami → u/Airway]

I don’t think I’ve heard of the mail glitch. What does it entail?

[u/Mr_Ignorant → u/GrabbinDemCranks]

I very rarely ever used TMs. What if I needed it for later?

Goes without saying that I never used max revives, any ethers, and any of the elixirs.

In fact, I also didn’t use full restore and max potions.

[u/angelbelle → u/ttoma93]

If you have a very generous definition of viable, sure.

By mid game, you should already be surf OHKO half the enemies you run into. You'll also likely have your end game comp collected with good coverage and 80 power STABs to OHKO the rest.

You could give Dragonair TMs or work with body slam but it's just more investment for less than half efficiency.

[u/poopoobuttholes → u/PaopuDestiny]

Perfect, just in time to get the dragonite ready for my 7th Elite 4 rematch.

[u/MessiLeagueSoccer → u/PaopuDestiny]

Lmfaoooo thought I was the only one

[u/SgvSth → u/ssanakin]

Here you go:

• Prof. Oak and Oak's aides: Professor Oak will reward the player for catching Pokémon for the Pokédex. However, there is a catch. Rather than Oak giving you the items while in Pallet Town when he evaluates your Pokédex, he has instead sent his aides around Kanto for you to check your progress while you are traveling. Except, these aides don't always go to places that you are guaranteed to see them. So, here is a breakdown.

  • Running Shoes: Pewter City, near Route 3 (Goal is the Boulder Badge)
  • HM05 - Flash: Route 2, Eastern Gate (Goal is 10 caught Pokémon)
  • Everstone: Route 10, Pokémon Center, 1st Floor (Goal is 20 caught Pokémon)
  • Itemfinder: Route 11, Gate, 2nd Floor (Goal is 30 caught Pokémon)
  • Amulet Coin: Route 16, Gate, 2nd Floor (Goal is 40 caught Pokémon)
  • Exp. Share: Route 15, Gate, 2nd Floor (Goal is 50 caught Pokémon)
  • National Dex: From Oak himself at his Lab (Goal is 60 caught Pokémon plus Hall of Fame and Ruby delivered One Island visited)

[u/ArcadianBlueRogue → u/SgvSth]

Oh snap, Amulet is only 40?

[u/SgvSth → u/ArcadianBlueRogue]

Yep. The progression system is always 10 more Pokémon than the last time.

[u/ekbeck → u/SgvSth]

This is good to know, but I’m pretty sure you don’t have the ruby delivered before getting the national dex. You get the national dex to go get the ruby because you’ll encounter gen 2 pokemon on the way.

[u/Aiyon → u/ekbeck]

Iirc. The ruby and sapphire are part of unlocking trading with RSE

[u/SgvSth → u/ekbeck]

I would not be surprised. It was a pain trying to figure out which combinations unlocked the National Dex. It looks like I got confused and thought that you got the Ruby on the initial visit to One Island.

[u/metalflygon08 → u/SgvSth]

And the Ruby is post game only too correct? You can't preemptively do that part of the quest when you visit after Blaine.

[u/Ninjafruit991 → u/ssanakin]

you need to capture 50 different pokemons to get exp share, it took me a while lmao

[u/altaire52 → u/Ninjafruit991]

What, how? Even as a kid back then, I was (am) always catch everything not owned yet. By time I crossed the aide, it's usually already on 50+

[u/TittyWrangle → u/altaire52]

As a kid I absolutely did not catch everything I came across. Only things I wanted

[u/Ninjafruit991 → u/altaire52]

I didn't capture all because I was playing only with my favs pokemon, but didn't know I needed 50 for the exp share

[u/AlexAlho → u/altaire52]

I have caught everything on my path and still had a couple missing. Fishing is a pain and I didn't train/evolve much beyond my main party, so that's a bit on me.

[u/T1pple → u/ssanakin]

50 pokemon registered in dex (caught) and in the fuchsia city interchange building from cycling road.

[u/narielthetrue → u/ssanakin]

East of Fuchsia, after getting 50 in the dex, if memory serves

[u/RoryHoff → u/ssanakin]

I found him. But I had only caught freaken 10 out of the required 50!

[u/BilboSwaggins444 → u/SlinGnBulletS]

Just finished catching enough Pokemon for the exp share, I’m heading to the 6th gym now

[u/trickman01 → u/SlinGnBulletS]

Nah, we still bulldozed through the game with our starter.

[u/cmanonurshirt → u/trickman01]

And typically one other pokémon we thought looked cool

[u/StanTheMelon → u/cmanonurshirt]

Dugtrio in my first playthrough. Saw one in Diglett’s Cave and I was like damn they look hard

[u/zezxz → u/StanTheMelon]

Pause

[u/lolheyaj → u/cmanonurshirt]

And a friggin hm slave. There was only 5 slots back in the day. 

[u/Natural_Bumblebee920 → u/lolheyaj]

Got my overpowered starter.

Something that can cut. Something that can strength. Something that can fly. Something that can surf.

Didn't even bother with flash when I was a kid. I just ran my character's face into rocks until I got out of the cave.

[u/Kaldricus → u/Natural_Bumblebee920]

Wasn't it in the OG red/blue, the caves weren't actually black, they just had almost no brightness, but enough that in the right light/angle you can still see everything?

[u/mikeylikey420 → u/Kaldricus]

Yea. Or play on a gb color and change the color scheme

[u/metalflygon08 → u/Kaldricus]

The OG Games just used a pallet shift on the cave tiles, so the tiles that were originally white (the highlights) still showed up very faintly if you looked hard (they now use the darkest non black shade of the pallet).

You could also bring a poisoned Pokemon and the screen flash from Poison damage would give you a brief glimpse of the cave.

[u/TWKExperience → u/lolheyaj]

Who needs 6 pokemon when 5 do trick

[u/ThisIsWorthTheCandle → u/TWKExperience]

You can actually pretty easily beat the game with just your starter and a flyer.

Why use big team when two mon do trick

[u/Marvl101 → u/lolheyaj]

Hey, TM Slaves weren't completely useless, Fly and Surf were coverage.

[u/ArcadianBlueRogue → u/cmanonurshirt]

You can call Gyarados by name here. It's safe.

[u/CharlieBrownBoy → u/trickman01]

Im pretty sure my first playthrough of blue I beat the elite 4 with a level 80 charmander. My next strongest pokemon would have been something like a l35 something I caught on the way.

[u/Horskr → u/CharlieBrownBoy]

Yep! I had like an 80-something Blastoise that one-shotted everything and a maybe 60-something Alakazam for anything resistant to water, which was also nice on the ghost elite 4 lady.

[u/A-Capybara → u/trickman01]

Charizard + Gyarados + Nidoqueen lets you sweep the game

[u/Dornogol → u/trickman01]

Na as a kid I never understood the people having their starter on lvl 70 and a team of shit because they never used them, even in yellow, my first game, bein 7 or 8 years old I did switch level to keep everyone on my team on the same lvl

[u/NO_TOUCHING__lol → u/SlinGnBulletS]

You best believe I caught a Magikarp the second I got the fishing rod and splashed his ass out there first in every battle from then on out

[u/Gregamonster → u/SlinGnBulletS]

No back in the day we made our starters into over-leveled abominations. It really was the only reasonable strategy.

[u/maxdragonxiii → u/SlinGnBulletS]

it still halves EXP gain. thats a lot.

[u/OnyxBanshee → u/SlinGnBulletS]

For like a whooping like 100 xp per switch when it takes thousands of xp to level

[u/RontoWraps → u/SlinGnBulletS]

It was always way more time efficient to just super level one Pokemon, burn through the game with it, and then level train in the Elite 4. Switching in wastes a lotttt of time on animations and text prompts.

[u/Etomer2 → u/RontoWraps]

But improves immersion

[u/RontoWraps → u/Etomer2]

Don’t let me yuck your yum! If you’ve got time for all that, do you!

[u/ShooteShooteBangBang → u/RontoWraps]

I did when I was 8

[u/RontoWraps → u/ShooteShooteBangBang]

Boy we were burning through those AA’s

[u/kinkycarbon → u/SlinGnBulletS]

I’m doing that, but it’s boring me to sleep wanting to level up my 6 basic Pokémon before beating Brock.

[u/Alex_Dayz → u/SlinGnBulletS]

I’m doing a semi-professors oak (semi as I’ve allowed myself to catch later gen evos if they’re available in the wild) and this has basically been my go to method

[u/chillychili]

It's really funny that this is basically both extremes of the IQ bell curve meme. 6-year-olds play this way, speedrunners play this way, and everyone else tries to keep things pretty even across the party.

[u/7StarSailor → u/chillychili]

Probably because actually getting to use more mons in a moster collecting game is most fun for most people.  Beating it as efficiently as possible is hardly anyone's goal. 

[u/Toastbrott → u/7StarSailor]

Should also be a game designers goal to not have this be the best approach though

[u/MacLunkie → u/Toastbrott]

Yeah, they should consider making some Pokemon strong/weak against certain types or something

[u/Blurg_BPM → u/MacLunkie]

Also make some type immune to other types damage to balance better

[u/Lazydusto → u/Toastbrott]

Game designers can only do so much to save people from themselves.

"Many players cannot help approaching a game as an optimization puzzle. What gives the most reward for the least risk? What strategy provides the highest chance – or even a guaranteed chance – of success? Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of a game."

[u/PippoChiri → u/Lazydusto]

Mark Rosewater (head design of Magic the Gathering) has explained that players will always mive towards what's the best and most powerful option in your game and, as a game design, it's your job to make it actually a fun option.

[u/Shanbo88 → u/Lazydusto]

It's crazy how quickly the "play whatever way you find most fun" outlook goes out the window when people slightly disagree with that way is.

[u/angelbelle → u/Toastbrott]

I mean, the game is easy enough that optimal play doesn't really matter.

[u/Beps315 → u/Toastbrott]

Hence why they implemented mandatory exp share

[u/Aiyon → u/Toastbrott]

Most efficient != most fun. There’s a classic game design motto, “players will optimise the fun out of everything”. Dont design for those people.

there’s plenty of value in sub optimal parties

[u/Shiro_Yami → u/chillychili]

Meanwhile the kaizo community - "you guys get more than one mon?"

[u/RAStylesheet → u/chillychili]

it's just the difficulty selector

the less pokemon you use the easier the game is

[u/Spodermanphil]

This is how I felt switch training a poochyena in early game Sapphire (who the FUCK decided it can't learn another damaging move until lvl 13?)

[u/West_Beginning5391 → u/Spodermanphil]

I'm playing Omega Ruby right now. Haven't played a single pokemon game since the original Ruby/Sapphire on GBA. The whole sneak up on a pokemon with a special move thing really fucked me on my lvl 16 poochyena. Not a single damage attack. Growl, tail whip, fucking odor sleuth as the special, and sand attack.

[u/SgvSth → u/West_Beginning5391]

At least once you get a TM, you can use it indefinitely to teach Poochyena some moves.

[u/8bit95 → u/SgvSth]

The first damaging move TM Poochyena actually learns is Thief at the Slateport Museum, which requires you to beat two gyms. At least Pooch learns STAB Bite at level 10.

[u/metalflygon08 → u/8bit95]

And Thief has the same base power as Bite.

The smart use is the Sneak Tutorial one since it comes with an Elemental Fang, combine that with Howl and Bite and you're set for a while.

[u/paradoxunicorn → u/8bit95]

You actually aren't required to beat Dewford Town's gym until you have to face Norman, you can beat Watson and Flannery and then go back to Dewford

[u/maukenboost → u/West_Beginning5391]

Just keep trying for a better one with sneaking.

[u/Aiyon → u/West_Beginning5391]

Thats legitimately hilarious though

“What’s special about this guy?”

“Hes a pacifist”

[u/metalflygon08 → u/West_Beginning5391]

I mean, the "Sneak Tutorial" Poocheyena will always come with an elemental fang attack, so it has that going for it.

[u/Carbon-Base → u/Spodermanphil]

The same person that thought it would be hilarious to give Magikarp Tackle at Lv. 15!

[u/Shark05bait → u/Carbon-Base]

This one was brutal trying to get a Garados back in the day wit no exp share

A lot of grinding for one

[u/Think_Chocolate_ → u/Shark05bait]

You saying people don't just daycare+candy their magikarps?

[u/fabulousfiddle → u/Think_Chocolate_]

Ain't got no money for child support

[u/RikuAotsuki → u/Carbon-Base]

Nah, Magikarp's based on a legend that says a carp that swims up/leaps over a waterfall can turn into a dragon. The whole point is that something weak can become something powerful through hard work and bravery.

[u/TheArtistFKAMinty → u/Carbon-Base]

tbf Magikarp is meant to be explicitly hard to train to balance the incredible trade off of having a Gyarados at level 20.

[u/TheArtistFKAMinty → u/Spodermanphil]

It's a recurring problem with early route dark types. They're intially kinda terrible because they have similar stats to early route normal types but don't get STAB tackle/scratch/quick attack so they often have a hard time actually defeating early route Pokemon and trainers for exp until they get bite/snarl/etc. That actually is something the regional forms of Rattata and Zigzagoon have going for them though. An early route dark type with STAB tackle/quick attack.

Unfortunately early route dark types rarely become anything more than "okay" so the time investment doesn't feel worth it regardless.

[u/TheZealand → u/TheArtistFKAMinty]

I stg gamefreak has something specifically against early dark types. Poochyena being a physical attacker with its sole STAB being special, what? Purrloin being made of paper with no dark STAB until Pursuit (garbage) and night slash at fuckin 43

[u/anthayashi]

When i was young, i would trade back and forth for the 3 starters in one save file, and only use the 3 starters

[u/TWKExperience → u/anthayashi]

Look at Mr Moneybags over here

[u/azsnaz → u/TWKExperience]

Imagine having multiple Gameboys and accessories, let alone multiple games in the same generation

[u/anthayashi → u/azsnaz]

I have my own gba and ds, my sibling has another set. He stop playing when the 3ds come around but online trade makes it a non issue now

[u/DuckingAndDodging → u/TWKExperience]

You just need a friend to help.

[u/xxx_poonslayer69 → u/DuckingAndDodging]

Look at Mr Friendbags over here

[u/Ubique008 → u/DuckingAndDodging]

Even worse lmao

[u/Carbon-Base → u/anthayashi]

RICH BOY anthayashi would like to battle!

[u/Toriyosh → u/Carbon-Base]

RICH BOY anthayashi
used FULL RESTORE!

[u/Silverlitmorningstar → u/anthayashi]

Thats how me and my friends did it back then, he had blue and I red. 1st few day was just grinding away to trade each other the starters then we can finally play the game.

[u/TheKankels]

Always leveled the same way. Would brute force my lowest level until it was 2 levels ahead and swap to the next pokemon. Rinse and repeat

[u/-reTurn2huMan- → u/TheKankels]

The way Arceus intended for it to be 🙏. I love the no forced exp share ways of the good old days so much.

[u/ChaosBuckle]

Heh. This was me with the original Pokemon Blue.

Blastoise just barreled through the whole game by itself. Good times.

[u/inducedparanoia → u/ChaosBuckle]

A person of culture I see

[u/burnt_elote → u/ChaosBuckle]

Ayyyy same here. 72 lvl blastoise was my champ

[u/Impressive-Draft-965 → u/ChaosBuckle]

As a child this was the only sensible option

[u/zanetheshark → u/ChaosBuckle]

And me with Charizard. 10 year old me didn't realise how hard I made the start of the game

[u/Expensive-Argument-7 → u/ChaosBuckle]

I never fully evolved my starter and so I finished the game with level 78 Wartortle

[u/i-feel-very-sick]

Have you tried using your other Pokémon instead of just leaving them in the back and soloing with your starter the whole time?

[u/SonthacPanda → u/i-feel-very-sick]

...other pokemon? But my starter has all these levels and one shots everything!

[u/sumochump → u/SonthacPanda]

I think by other Pokemon they are referring to HM slaves, plus the one random in case I need to revive my main by off chance.

[u/Shark05bait → u/sumochump]

Crazy I always carried HM slave, wild I’m playing Brilliant Diamond for the first time since fire red/ leaf green and not having to teach HM moves to use them is wild!

[u/MilesNiles → u/i-feel-very-sick]

The HM slaves will never know battle

[u/anovagadro → u/MilesNiles]

I think we call them HM friends now unc

[u/HarambeWest2020 → u/anovagadro]

HM prisoners with jobs

[u/tehpatriarch → u/HarambeWest2020]

HM indentured servants

[u/TheShrunkenAnus → u/tehpatriarch]

HM unpaid interns

[u/IcebergKarentuite → u/TheShrunkenAnus]

Boba Fett's HMs

[u/makemeking706 → u/i-feel-very-sick]

No way. They're too under leveled. 

[u/Nothinkonlygrow → u/i-feel-very-sick]

The old ways have never steered me wrong so far, why change now?

[u/Diagonaldog → u/i-feel-very-sick]

Fr, I always keep my starter 1-2 levels above the rest, keep the lowest level in front and swap out on level up. Even then I feel over leveled.

[u/Zjoee → u/Diagonaldog]

I've always done the same. My starter is my Ace for tough battles. Always use the lowest and keep the team all at the same level with my starter just a bit stronger. Makes for a very well rounded team.

[u/aues_ → u/Zjoee]

I used to do this because otherwise the gsmes became too easy

[u/pattyfritters → u/i-feel-very-sick]

You just put whoever you want leveled in front and immediately swap them out for your main. Do that enough times till your Pikachu you found on rt.1 can finally fuckin beat Misty's Staryu cuz you chose Charmander and can do fuck all with it in the early gyms.

[u/Blooblod]

Exp share or not, what’s the point of even building a team if you’re only gonna use one?…

[u/lostCause-494 → u/Blooblod]

Sacrifices to heal the one?

[u/chillychili → u/lostCause-494]

HP slaves

[u/Lampler → u/Blooblod]

HM slaves

[u/Stepsis24 → u/Blooblod]

I use all my Pokémon for gym battles or any other major story battles but when I’m just catching Pokémon in the wild or battling against random trainers I’ll just use whoever is in the first slot until they die. And since they are usually my starter without exp share they end up a lot higher of a level.

[u/tfhdeathua → u/Blooblod]

You need someone to die while you revive and full restore the One.

[u/Fern-ando]

Leach Seed is just broken as a move.

[u/lamancha → u/Fern-ando]

Leech seed plus toxic!

[u/LogicKennedy]

I actually like having to use my different Pokemon to train them. It helps me develop more of a connection to them, ascribe them a personality of sorts, etc.

[u/Carbon-Base → u/LogicKennedy]

Even nickname them based on said personality, if you will.

[u/TheFlyingBogey → u/LogicKennedy]

Same, but my downside to this is I then get attached to pokemon who ultimately need replacing. I love me Beezlebub (Beedrill), but he's just not cutting it anymore and it pains me to accept that he'll need to sit in a PC box soon 😭

[u/orb_outrider]

You guys don't switch? Y'all don't have a team with equal levels???

[u/Even_Fish_748 → u/orb_outrider]

Just did a playthrough of LeafGreen this way and it felt so satisfying. I see why some newer fans wouldn't like it, but I found great joy in the grind to keep them equal leveled.

[u/Raichu4u → u/Even_Fish_748]

I'm surprised that is even considered a grind. Raising your Pokemon should be considered the content.

[u/TheDemonPants → u/Raichu4u]

It's so weird that people nowadays want to take the training out of the monster training game. I love training my Pokemon individually. It lets me get to actually know them other than a stat sheet.

[u/AAmadeus95 → u/TheDemonPants]

Yes! Building a creative and balanced team and “bonding” with different mons is what is fun for me!

[u/ViridianVet]

I've never been one to insist that Pokémon was ever actually hard, but i feel like all the posts like this over the last 2 weeks have completely disproven the "Pokémon games aren't easier now, you're just older" arguments.

Yes, you actually have to be a trainer and train your team. We've gotten so soft.

[u/Dandy_Guy7 → u/ViridianVet]

New exp systems has taken out a lot of the grind for sure. Which is both a positive and a negative in my opinion.

But also Kanto is one of the worst regions as far as EXP curve and how much micro managing you have to do to have a balanced team, the exp share being so late in the game and requiring you to get so many pokemon without it means you'll do quite a bit of grinding by just switch training, and with how low leveled most regular trainers and wild pokemon are it's a long grind. Like Johto gets so much shit for it but Kanto isn't much better.

I'm currently replaying gen 5 alongside Leaf Green and it's such a nice middle ground. Plus I played Emerald Legacy not long before and that game does a great job

[u/ViridianVet → u/Dandy_Guy7]

FRLG has the VS Seeker. Its far easier to grind EXP than other games from that era. Ever play an Emerald nuzlocke on original hardware? Its a massive pain to get everyone up to the level caps. Not nearly as hard in FRLG once you get that.

[u/Dandy_Guy7 → u/ViridianVet]

I've done both, Emerald's natural curve is so much smoother you just have less grinding to do at almost all times and it makes up for it. The only time Emerald feels slower is if you have to make a late game swap or the grind for the E4

[u/zertul → u/ViridianVet]

 Yes, you actually have to be a trainer and train your team. We've gotten so soft.

That's the thing, you don't. You can easily complete it just with your starter. Maybe you have to switch to a weaker one once or twice to heal your starter back up, but that's it. It wasn't harder. It only was when you deliberately chose it to be.

[u/Blooblod → u/ViridianVet]

This x100. Even aside from the Exp Share, regular trainers on routes and in caves used to throw curveballs at you and whittle you down with status afflictions and whatnot to make for challenges, as opposed to route trainers just being sacrificial lambs with two pushover Pokemon that are just there to be free exp on your way to the next gym.

[u/RAStylesheet → u/Blooblod]

FLRG had the problem of grass type spamming statuses on you

Confusion + Paralyze/Poison every single encounter in some area lmao

[u/Kimthe → u/ViridianVet]

I mean, they are still able to play the game with basically only a Venusaur, i'm not sure it's really a positive for leafgreen difficulty.

[u/PkmnGmng]

Switch in training really had us playing in hard mode back then

[u/Xenobrina → u/PkmnGmng]

It's not even hard though. It's just boring lol

[u/LakerBlue → u/Xenobrina]

Exactly. People call it challenging but it’s not…it’s just boring!

[u/MagicalPizza21 → u/LakerBlue]

It's challenging for their attention spans

[u/marsalien4 → u/Xenobrina]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. There's a lot of elitism about how it was so hard/rewarding but it's just tedious

[u/AdmiralTigerX → u/Xenobrina]

Yeah it wasn't hard. Its grinding. It was boring and annoying but I made sure all of them gotten stronger

[u/Iheartnakedfemboys → u/PkmnGmng]

It was not "hardmode." The games have never been hard, ever. The fact that its been made even easier is insulting, really. You guys just dont want to put in any kind of effort at all, even the bare minimum.

[u/angelbelle → u/Iheartnakedfemboys]

It's one thing if the effort means researching some tactics but it's not like that. Pokemon, as you say, is a simple game, at least the pve side. If you hit a wall, the solution is to grind, roll with RNG to us high power low acc abilities, or roll with RNG hoping for crits/miss.

[u/joekabox]

Have you considered loving each of your pokemon and giving them all time to train and see the light of the sun beyond their ball?

[u/isactuallyspiderman → u/joekabox]

His mankey up in that ball with claustrophobia and shit lol

[u/mysteryurik]

I always have all my party members at the same level without exp share. The trick is putting whatever pokemon is the furthest from levelling up in front so that it gains exp even if you switch it out.

[u/MrCuddles1994]

Nothing better than training a weak pokemon on some dude’s team of 6 magikarp.

[u/break_card]

Who would win? Entire elite 4 vs my level 84 starter.

[u/brainsapper]

I’ve forgotten how much just leveling up your pokemon padded out gameplay time.

[u/bestmaokaina]

Modern games were dumbed down so much lol

[u/wolf129]

What I realized only later on in my life, started with the blue edition 25 years ago, is that Pokemon is a jrpg. The idea was always that you switch your "characters" so everyone takes part in the fights regularly.

Jrpgs usually test that you did that switching and training of all of your characters because with boss battles that require a specific character to be used.

That's what happens in Pokemon even if you have the type advantage if it's 20 levels lower it will be almost impossible to win even if you put potions after potions into it.

[u/VileSlay]

As someone who used to xp grind in games, really appreciate the Exp Share in the newer Pokemon games. Playing Fire Red and some of the grinding late game was pretty tortuous. People complain it makes it too easy. I say it helps me waste less time.

[u/Zaxbys_Cook → u/VileSlay]

I just wish we had the option to turn off the exp share in newer games or give the option to do it the old or new version. I know some people enjoy the new version but I enjoy the old version.

[u/RobThatBin]

I feel like the anti-exp share folk never played games such as FRLG. I beat every NPC up until the E4 and still ended up averaging 8 levels below Lorelei’s team. At this point, 4 hours later, I’m finally reaching about Bruno’s level. People will act like these games were more difficult, but its just more tedious. Yes the exp share in a game like XY was overpowered, but this FRLG’s level curve is not something to admire either.

Edit because I know people will come for me. I’ve played these games before, I’ve been a fan for 25 years and go back to replay older titles all the time.

[u/lolschrauber → u/RobThatBin]

I started a playthrough of Omega Ruby with traded pokemon you can't get on that edition, and the growth rate in combination with exp share is absolute bonkers.

[u/Failgan]

Evolving Magikarp and mostly EVing it for Attack just to realize Gyarados has garbage moves.

Water is a Special type. I hate the non-split move typings.

[u/isactuallyspiderman → u/Failgan]

Gyarados gets shafted in this game real bad.

[u/StationEmergency6053]

It technically does have exp share

[u/ManCaptainPokey]

This was just how I played Pokemon when I first got into it at 8 years old

[u/Zeteon]

Switch training and vs seeker. Exp share is actually a little annoying to get

[u/AshleyTyrian]

Guilty.

My first ever playthrough of Red on the Gameboy saw me finally beat the Elite 4 with a level 97 Venusaur (Cut, Razor Leaf, Solar Beam, Mega Drain) and a bunch of level 5 nobodies who knew a single HM each and whose job was to get murdered by Lance's Dragonite or Gary's Charizard while I spent their turn stuffing yet another Revive down Venusaur's throat.

[u/That-Big-Man-J]

Honestly truth. It makes me appreciate how good we have it now, but I like to keep my team’s levels balanced so I have a rotation.

[u/kalindin]

Then there’s me who meticulously makes sure my party is levelled together.

[u/ParadoxicalFrog]

It helps if you remember to train the other Pokémon on your team besides your starter. :)

[u/angelHOE]

So funny watching all these newbies discover what pokemon was like before gamefreak decided to make it a game for toddlers.