I really don't have much time to play games, but I've found that I do enjoy Pokemon games despite their linearity and predictability.  However, I'm a pretty straightforward gamer when it comes to the franchise.  That is... I battle, capture pokemon, and progress through the story.  I also know that there is sooooooo much more to Pokemon.  I can't even think of all the things I've seen hinted at and mentioned here on vizzed or other places. Things like personalities, breeding strategies and mechanics, etc etc.  It all seems a little overwhelming.

What do you suggest to enrich the Pokemon gaming experience?  Can you explain it to me as though I'm a complete idiot and know nothing about the game?  I'm asking about the deeper-than-surface level stuff, but I'm not sure how to explain what I'm talking about.  Sorry.    Hopefully someone knows what I mean...

Singelli : depends, which game are you gonna play?

Mecha Leo :  Oh, I guess that would be helpful to know. XD

I have Pokemon X, Pokemon White 2, and Pokemon Diamond.  I play all on my 3DS.

Of course, I can play any pokemon game here on vizzed as well.

So are you basically asking for a crash course on pokemon? Considering it has changed quite a bit over time, and has become a lot more advanced, it will be hard to condense it all, but I will give it my best: 

You mentioned natures having a beneficial effect on a pokemon, you are right, and these natures effect something called EVs, (effort values) A pokemon with a beneficial nature receives a stat boost of 10% depending on the nature. For example, Garchomp is a pokemon with both high attack and high speed, which are some of its best stats. In order to receive a stat boost, you should try to catch a pokemon with that nature, so in this case, an adamant nature (which increases attack, and decreases special attack) or a jolly nature which increases speed. Now there isn't one set nature you HAVE to have for a pokemon, but it is best that you try to get a nature that plays to their better stats, in this case, speed in strength. On the flip side, just about every nature gives a stat boost by 10%, and then it decreases another stat by 10%, these are important factors you should look at when deciding a good nature for your pokemon. You can learn more about the type of natures here


In order to get pokemon with the right nature, you can either just go out into the wild and look for that pokemon, or you can just breed pokemon of the same type to keep reproducing the pokemon you want, and you can keep breeding those pokemon until they give you the pokemon you want. In order to breed the pokemon you want, you have to look at eh specific egg groups that pokemon have, they must be the same I order to get the pokemon you so desire. There is a lot more to breeding pokemon and the specifics, but I think this can explain it better than I can: here


Consider this as part one of getting caught up with pokemon, I will continue to give you more valuable information, like all of the methods you can use to get shiny pokemon, even including the newer ones, until next time! I hope this makes sense XD

Like Razor beautifully stated, there's a lot more to pokemon them self. I'll leave that to him. 
The one thing I always had a problem with is that I get bored of the story when I play a game again/ have seen a walkthrough of it before.
I would like to draw some of your attention to other ways to beat the game. Not just catching some pokemon you like and beat the game.
Here's some things you could consider in the future:

1) Try a monotype run! Why not limit yourself to just one type and be a travelling gym leader? Find all the electric types, for example, and use them on a team. This can give you troubles with gym leaders you'd normally dominate with 1 pokemon. A great way to learn about type coverage, something you have to find useful, especially if you're looking to going a little deeper in the game.

2) Try a solo run! Have you ever had this one pokemon you always wanted to use, but never got the chance to use? This is the solution. Limit yourself to just one pokemon, all the way through. Gain new found respect for certain pokemon, and proof that you are a worthy trainer by challenging the elite four with just one pokemon.

3) Try a nuzlocke! (or its variants) Never have I gotten so deep in a regular pokemon game then in a nuzlocke. You're limited to a hand full of pokemon, some you might have thought of never using. Create close bonds with them, finally have emotions in the games. And a good way to prove that anything is possible. 

4) Anything you'd like to add to the games to make it more interesting! If you want to try something unique, go right ahead!

That's around it for story. Hope it helped ^^ 

If you just want a "Richer" gaming experience, then you might want to try a Nuzlock challenge. It's much more challenging than just playing the game, but it makes you focus more on each pokemon and causes you to go through every little detail of the game. Perfect if you dont want to miss anything and get  a little more out of the game.

Singelli : Okay heres my ways of making the game more fun... Don't judge me for this.

Think about the team you want visually...Like how does your team look..
Some people only use one type for the entire game like gm leaders...
Personally I make the game more fun by re drawing the gym leaders... I make them look how I want them to look.
I even go as far as to act out the Pokémon battle I'm having....(Yes I know how weird that sounds coming from an 17 almost 18 year old teenage girl...) 
Another thing ive done is as I go threw the story I make up my own story and goals..
Also...Ditching your starter... Sometimes starters are just over rated so you can trade or capture another Pokémon to be your first Pokémon which makes the game more interesting and challenging in several different ways..SO you are not in the water fire grass circle you have room to grow and experience new types. 
These are some things I do to make the games more fun! Pm me if you have any further questions! 
-Luv ya GlaceonWhisper Xoxoxoxo

While I appreciate many of the responses, Razor's was the closest to what I was looking for.  ^.^  I've never understood natures and didn't know what they did for the game.  I also didn't know what an EV was or how it works.

And yes, I would LOVE tips for capturing shinies. I've never even come across one, but I've always wanted them.  

Some other things to learn might also be (as a small example)... what's the point of AMI in Pokemon X?  Does it really affect anything or improve Pokemon's abilities?  Or is it simply a waste of time?

I also appreciated your post, FunnyFurret.  Although I do enjoy the Pokemon games, they seem waaaay too easy. It's so easy to power your way through the game, and money is NEVER scarce....

Bumping this in the hope for answers to the questions posted above.

Also, since it's summer, I'd love to try one of these challenges. I might try the monotype challenge first.  What's probably the hardest to work with? Grass?  I've always found the game overwhelmingly easy with the fire starter.

Singelli : Oooh let me answer those questions! :3

Pokemon Amie is not exactly a waste of time. While it's not necessary, they can trigger some effects on your pokes. For example, a pokemon that likes you a lot on Pokemon Amie (Like 4 Hearts on Pokemon Amie), is more likely to land a critical hit on a enemy. There's also other stuff they can do when they like you. I'll list some stuff:

- They can get past status (Burn, Sleep, Poison) at random, to prove that they like you.
- Sometimes, the pokemon is going to live with 1HP an attack that was supposed to make the poke faint
- They evade attacks more easily and tend to miss less.?

The thing is: This stuff happens at random. It can happen when you need it, or it might not happen. It's random.
Contrary to popular belief, the pokemon Amie doesn't help to evolve pokemons that evolve from happiness (A Riolu with 5 hearts on Amie is not going to evolve into a Lucario as soon as you level up).

One important thing to note about Pokemon Amie: The pokemon Amie is how you get Sylveon (The fairy evolution of Eevee). I can explain that if you ever want a Sylveon.

As for the monotype, well: I'd suggest Grass since Grass has a lot of weakness. But they tend to have a lot of tricks too, so it's a double edge sword.
You could also select a different type (Like Ghost) and release your starter as soon as you get a Ghost type.

IMO, the best way to find shiny Pokémon is to breed them yourself using the Masuda Method. Obtain a foreign Ditto and put it in the daycare with one of your Pokémon and there is a much higher chance of hatching a shiny Pokémon. I managed to hatch two shiny Pokémon doing this, a Mudkip on the 498th egg and a Deino on the 210th egg. Ironically, I also found a shiny Grimer while training the Mudkip.


As for catching shiny Pokémon, I would recommend saving your master ball in case you find a shiny that can flee using a move like teleport or roar.

Singelli : A side note effort values, individual values, natures and such are more for if you enjoy playing pokemon competitvely if you're looking for something to do while playing a single player game a nuzlocke challenge might be something you will enjoy like zanderlex mentioned. If you still wish to battle with pokemon competetively you should check out Smogon.com as it is usually the go to site for information on playing pokemon competetively. And this might be obvious but if you do decide to play competetively you should definietly take advantage of super training it will speed up getting the right effort values alot (and don't forget to use reset bags if you're using a pokemon you already trained up before). While on the subject there's something called pokerus (a type of pokemon virus) which is extremely rare if one of your pokemon gets it consider yourself lucky as it will double the effort values earned from battles however after a while it will disappear so abuse it while you can.

Basically how a nuzlocke works is you can only catch the first pokemon you find on each route and you usually also have to nickname every pokemon you catch. If a pokemon faints in a battle it is gone forever and you have to release that is the basic gist of it. This is done to give a much more hardcore experience, make you use pokemon you would never think of using and also for some makes you get more attached to your pokemon because of the risk factor (this would also mean turning of the exp share in X and Y). After that you may add whatever aditional rules that you want like the dupe clause which makes it so you get another chance if you encounter a pokemon you already have. There's also different variations like a wedlocke for example but I figure it's probably better just to start with a regular nuzlocke.

A tip on getting shiny pokemon more easily is using the mesuda method which basically means breeding 2 pokemon from different countries by trading with somebody for one. This makes it 8 times more likely (about a 1/1024 chance) to get a shiny pokemon which is still pretty small but will still make a noticable difference.

I would like to add if you have any questions feel free to ask me as I always enjoy seeing other people get more into the more deeper parts pokemon and I will try to help any way I can.

It's great that you're interested. Pokemon X simplified and made much of the advanced mechanics and techniques significantly more user-friendly. I suggest you start there. You can chain for Pokemon to get shinies easier, breed for Max IV's, EV's, and abilities and natures, equip optimal items for competitive battling, and so much more. Honestly. the most fun part for me is still completing the PokeDex.