Pokemon X and Y Advanced Tips

If you wish to become a Pokemon X and Y master, need help getting past a certain gym leader or beating the Pokemon league, you’ve come to the right place.  This advanced tips guide provides hints to becoming a champion.  

Before you get started with the Advanced Tips, be sure to check out the Top Eight Mistakes New Players Make and read Prima’s Pokemon X and Y Beginner’s Tips.

Now you’re ready to jump in . . .

How to Create the best Pokemon Party

In the beginner’s guide, you’ll read about Pokemon types and how critical it is to learn strengths and weaknesses.  As you progress through Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, you will encounter every Pokemon type somewhere in the game.  You’re free to use whichever Pokemon looks appealing, but skilled trainers have many different kinds of Pokemon in their parties instead of limiting themselves to being Water trainers or Bug trainers.  

If you are strictly a Bug type trainer, you will have a tough time going up against a trainer who has even one strong Fire type. Diversifying your Pokemon portfolio will give you multiple options to tackle various situations.  

Several Pokemon are also dual type Pokemon, which means they have two different types.  Charizard is a dual type Flying and Fire Pokemon.  That means it can use both Fire and Flying attacks.  That gives it an advantage over other Fire types, but it’s also weak against types that dominate Fire and Flying.  

This gives trainers another element of strategy to consider while training certain kinds of Pokemon.  While super effective attacks give you double damage, a dual type Pokemon susceptible to other types results in quadruple damage.  This also applies to ineffective attacks against dual types, which will reduce the attack to a fourth of the damage.  

For example, if a Water type attacks a Ground and Rock type Onix, it will receive quadruple damage because both types are weak to Water.  Again, it is extremely important to have different types of Pokemon at your disposal.

In addition, it’s a great idea to diversify your Pokemon’s individual move sets.  A Pokemon is much more effective when it has many different kinds of attacks.   Blastoise is a Water type Pokemon. Giving Blastoise only Water type attacks is not the best idea.  Instead, teach it other move types.  Teaching it a Ground attack, like Earthquake, and an Ice attack, like Blizzard, along with Water type moves will help it defend against Electric or Grass types, respectively.  

Furthermore, you need to always think offensively and defensively when it comes to choosing your Pokemon’s move set, especially since you can only teach your Pokemon up to four moves at one time.  Try many different combinations of types and Pokemon to see which are the most effective.

How to Level Up Pokemon

Another important thing to remember is to equally train all the Pokemon in your party.  Having only one or two high level Pokemon in your party while the others are vastly lower is an ineffective way to train.  If your top Pokemon gets knocked out, you are left without another high-level Pokemon to carry the load and you are doomed to lose the battle.  By giving each of your Pokemon an equal opportunity to gain EXP and level up, you have a well-rounded party, and any of your Pokemon will be able to win a battle.  

There are many items that will increase your Pokemon’s base stats and level.  Throughout your journey, you may find rare candy.  By giving Pokemon rare candy, it will increase the creature’s level by one, but its stats will not increase as much as it would through training.  You can also give your Pokemon items like iron, protein, carbos, calcium and zinc to increase your Pokemon’s individual stats.  

Thankfully, leveling up your battle monsters in Pokemon X and Y is easier than ever.  In many Pokemon games, there’s an item called EXP share, which you can give to any of your Pokemon to hold and they would get EXP from the battle even if they didn’t join.  In Pokemon X and Y, EXP share gives each Pokemon in your party EXP points.  This helps individual Pokemon level up with less battling.  

How to Evolve Pokemon

Many Pokemon in the Pokemon universe either evolve or have evolved.  After a Pokemon evolves it’s usually stronger.  Some Pokemon even gain a type after evolving. For instance, when Dragonair evolves into Dragonite, it becomes a Flying type as well as a Dragon type.  

Some moves can only be learned when a Pokemon is in its basic form.  Pikachu learns moves like agility and quick attack, but cannot learn those if it evolves into Raichu too quickly.  

With this in mind, there are many different ways to evolve Pokemon. Some Pokemon require other methods, like using evolution stones, leveling up in certain areas, through trade and holding specific items. 

The most famous evolution Pokemon is Eevee.  Eevee has many different evolutions that can be obtained in different ways.  The newest “Eeveelution” is the fairy type Sylveion.  

New to the series are the Mega Evolutions.  Only certain Pokemon can Mega evolve, like Blastoise, Charizard, Venasaur, Mewtwo and more.  Mega Evolved Pokemon are some of the strongest in the game.  You can only Mega Evolve in battle, and your Pokemon reverts back after said battle concludes.  On top of that, you need certain stones to Mega Evolve your Pokemon, so be on the lookout.

There is no exact method to successful Pokemon training.  Everyone has his or her own favorite path and personal preferences.  Through trial and error, however, you’ll eventually dominate battles and become a Pokemon legend.

Pokemon X and Pokemon Y are currently available for Nintendo 3DS.