When did you have your Pokepiphany?

[KaitxKidnap]

I really only used my starter until recently. Last year I went to a HGSS competition and right before it started I realized I had only trained my starter and my legendaries (which were banned), so I was kinda screwed. I came in last place and then I realized that my life would be so much easier if I had a balanced team.

^-^ True story.

 

[PrismaticPrincessAnna]

Haha, all the time...my Pokemon are always over their level from the Gyms xD
So I win even though my Pokee are weak from their Pokemon, haha XD nya~

 

[Autis-misc]

Ive had it back in crystal when i just cloned severalt typlosion and killed the pokemon league with 4 typlosion and 2 red gyarados.... im glad they got rid of that glitch in gen 3

 

[climbinggecko]

Even though my team always sucked back in the day, the games back then felt much more rewarding then they do now because it wasn't about reaching the end of the game and having the perfect pokemon; it was about adventuring and just having fun. The bliss of childhood innocence is far more rewarding than any "balanced team."

I feel the same way, that's how it was for me in Black & White, mainly because I came in spoiler-free and didn't know any of the pokemon outside of the starters, so I was free to experiment with everything I caught. That's how Galvantula became one of my new favorites, and I usually never use Bug-types at all, but the little guy just worked so hard, and even though he had a "negative" nature, he still kicked butt at the Elite Four, with N and even at the Seattle tournament (was the last one in my party to get taken out) -- pretty good for a non-uber.

 

[SnugNBouncy]

What is a Pokepiphany?

When you realized that going through the game with an over leveled starter, weak hm slaves, and a legendary just wasn't fun or rewarding any longer. You suddenly have the urge to start a new adventure with a balanced team of six or so without using legendaries.

I had mine soon after I finished my playthorough of Leafgreen. Blasting through the game with my Blastoise, the Legendary birds, and a couple HM slaves just wasn't rewarding in any way. So I transferred anything that was worth something to Emerald and resarted my Leafgreen version. My new team was...
-Cloyster
-Arcanine
-Exeggutor
-Raichu
-Alakazam
-Dragonite

And it was much more fun and rewarding.

I've played balanced ever since.

same time as mine! i had just finished leaf green and i was like woaaahh im so bored with this save file! so i made a new one first time ever with an omastar on my team. such a good choice!!

 

[DrasticPhase]

MInes started in heartgold.
I kept on using hacked pokemon through my 1st game so i got really bored so i restarted it recently.
My team at the moment is
Feraligator
Togetic
Growlithe(just caught it)
Weepinbell

 

[Pokenoob3.14]

I actually used only my level ~60 Swampert for the elite four in emerald. I had a total of two pokemon. That, and Swellow. And they knew all 8 hm moves between them. Epic fail on my part. Then i got a more balanced 6 pokemon team.

 

[Arlo]

This is a place where I probably have an advantage over most players, because I started playing as an adult (I'm not even going to say how old I am, other than that I'm probably older than many of your parents). So I didn't ever rush through the games - I thought about it and figured out how it worked, and figured out early on that part of the secret is to have a balanced team.

In my first game (Leaf Green), I caught and raised and trained EVERYTHING. I used all of them at least long enough to get to their final evolutions, so I knew what each one was capable of. Doing it that way, I just figured out which ones were the best and which ones worked well with others and that sort of thing, so it was easy to put together a balanced team. Took me about 200 hours to get to the E4, but I stomped them on the first try when I did.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Hm, tough call. My Red version "team" (Charizard, Zapdos, and Moltres) was horrible and made me die to the E4 a lot. I'd say my Blue version team was a lot more balanced (Blastoise, Zapdos, Aerodactyl, Gyarados, Dragonite, and a sixth I can't remember). Granted, it had a Legendary and is still a pretty bad team in general. But at least it's a team. =P

~Chibi~;249;;448;

 

[hawkeye721]

when i found out that useing a balenced team : good ubers: bad

 

[darthscyther123]

Since my 2nd run thru Blue I've kept a balanced, evenly leveled team. My first E4 team was lv75 Blastoise, lv45ish Raichu, Lv40 Pidgeot, lv25-30 Onix, Hitmonlee, and Ninetales. I actually won despite burning all 5 of Blastoise's Fissures on Dragonite lol.

After that, I learned to just suck it up and actually equally level up, and enjoyed the game more.

In retrospect, I do think that 1st Blue run was the most fun of anything else, with Black a close second.

 

[Nyter]

I realized playing with Uberz and strong pokemon wasn't fun. It was cheap. I felt cheap.. So then I played with my favorites and realized I don't have to evolve Pokemon to win. I can makes strategies that made the little BANG BIG!

 

[Axel]

I never really over-leveled my starter, to be honest. Even in Red and Blue, I've always had a variety of Pokemon and a variety of moves on my team. Granted, I'd usually favor one Pokemon over the others, but not to an extreme.

After sweeping Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald with a single Blaziken, I made it a goal for myself in FireRed and LeafGreen to pick Pokemon I've never used before and find the perfect moveset for them.

I'm starting to think I love planning teams more than I do using them.

 

[moonlightning]

Much too late. Only by 4th gen did I realise that the game isn't fun unless you use a team of Pokemon. *Glares at level 100 Charizard, Meganium and Blaziken*

 

[dracoburn]

Well, I stopped using "just my starter and legends" after my first playthrough of my first game; Yellow. But I didn't put together balanced teams with absolutely no legends until after my playthrough of Diamond. Still, about five years...

 

[Suffice]

I used to use legendaries and a over leveled starter. But in Diamond/Pearl, I realized "This isn't fun, what am I doing?!" So I restarted, got a balanced team togeather I liked. Since then its been a blast playing pokemon! I get better all the time, best part, ubers stay where they belong- in the box! XD

 

[Kiruria]

Well, my first Pokemon game was Yellow, which is nigh impossible to make it through with just a starter. (Especially with Pikachu being at such a disadvantage against Brock.) But I never wanted to use only Pikachu anyway. First, probably because I had watched the anime, I knew the importance of having a good team already. And I had grown attached to many of my other Pokemon, namely my Butterfree, who even helped me defeat the Elite Four! I raised my team to pretty much equal levels, just because I already had the mindset of treating everyone equally.

In my first game (Leaf Green), I caught and raised and trained EVERYTHING. I used all of them at least long enough to get to their final evolutions, so I knew what each one was capable of. Doing it that way, I just figured out which ones were the best and which ones worked well with others and that sort of thing, so it was easy to put together a balanced team. Took me about 200 hours to get to the E4, but I stomped them on the first try when I did.

I did the exact same thing in my Leaf Green, except it wasn't my first game. There I ended up putting together different teams for the gym leaders and such. Deciding on a team for exploring and battling the Elite Four was the hardest part...

 

[Pokemon Trainer Blue]

I actually used only my level ~60 Swampert for the elite four in emerald. I had a total of two pokemon. That, and Swellow. And they knew all 8 hm moves between them. Epic fail on my part. Then i got a more balanced 6 pokemon team.

I had a freaking level 100 Swampert in Sapphire before the E4...

 

[GrassTypes.]

When I Battled Candice in Pearl . Torterra wasnt the best choice . :/ Torterra had an EPIC Design , Besides Gallade .

 

[ninetails012]

i used to use legendaries in my teams but since things wherent "challenging" enough so i stoped doing it by the time i got daimond.