I need major help with Pokemon X please!

[MayorKelsey]

Okay, so, I know this is going to sound pathetic, but Pokemon X is really stressing me. Hahaha.
Why? Well, okay, the motto for Pokemon is "Gotta catch 'em all!", right? Well, do I really have to catch them all? I mean, I feel like I should, but it feels like it'll be such a pain catching every single new Pokemon I see. So, yeah.

And I am also worried because even though I have played Pokemon for a good 11 years, I still suck at it. Like, I don't feel the moves such as growl, tail whip, etc. that weaken the enemy's speed, attack, defense, etc. are necessary. I'd much rather have strong fighting moves to KO my opponent faster than using useless moves to lower my opponent's defense. Does this make sense? Should I have these special moves in my Pokemon's move list or not?

And my other question is, of the 6 Pokemon of my team, which 6 types should I have? And why?
I know fire, water, grass, and flying are all important, but what else?

Edit:
Oh yeah, one more.
What is the difference between a shiny and a normal Pokemon and how can I tell if I run into one if it's shiny?

Thanks sooo much for taking your time to read and answer my noob questions

 

[Trent the Paladin]

No you don't need to catch them all, it's just a goal you can set.

Only if you want one, Swords Dance is generally helpful.

It's generally a good idea to choose Pokemon that are dual typed to cover most of you bases.

Shiny Pokemon will sparkle when you encounter them and are different colored than the usual Pokemon.

 

[BellGreen]

You are DEFINITELY not alone with having actual battle fighting moves! I get rid of the stat moves as soon as I kind XD

For the last question, a shiny Pokemon is usually a different color pallet. Charizard, for example, turns grey-ish (like an indigo shade) if he is in the shiny form. A Ditto is blue-ish.

 

[LadyVivia]

I'm just curious, how did you play for 11 years and not know what shinies are? .-.

 

[MayorKelsey]

I'm just curious, how did you play for 11 years and not know what shinies are? .-.

That is an understandable question. I am actually kind of embarrassed. I mean, I am 17. I have been playing Pokemon starting on a Gameboy Color since I was about six but I obviously had no idea what I was doing. I also played when I was around 10-12 but I still had no idea. Have you ever played a game when you were younger and had no idea what you were doing, but a few years later you FINALLY understand what you're actually supposed to be doing? That's me right now. Haha.

 

[LadyVivia]

That is an understandable question. I am actually kind of embarrassed. I mean, I am 17. I have been playing Pokemon starting on a Gameboy Color since I was about six but I obviously had no idea what I was doing. I also played when I was around 10-12 but I still had no idea. Have you ever played a game when you were younger and had no idea what you were doing, but a few years later you FINALLY understand what you're actually supposed to be doing? That's me right now. Haha.

Ah, I see. That sounds pretty reasonable.

 

[Dr J]

You are DEFINITELY not alone with having actual battle fighting moves! I get rid of the stat moves as soon as I kind XD

For the last question, a shiny Pokemon is usually a different color pallet. Charizard, for example, turns grey-ish (like an indigo shade) if he is in the shiny form. A Ditto is blue-ish.

Erm.. shiny charizard is black, not grey-ish or indigo. (however shiny charizard X is indigo/greyish in color)

- - - Post Merge - - -

That is an understandable question. I am actually kind of embarrassed. I mean, I am 17. I have been playing Pokemon starting on a Gameboy Color since I was about six but I obviously had no idea what I was doing. I also played when I was around 10-12 but I still had no idea. Have you ever played a game when you were younger and had no idea what you were doing, but a few years later you FINALLY understand what you're actually supposed to be doing? That's me right now. Haha.

What's there to be embarrassed about? I'll be 26 in a month and I still play pokemon

 

[kittenrobotarmy]

The motto of the franchise is basically saying the goal you're supposed to achieve (Pokedex completion) but you don't have to do it. I never have and never will. xD

Only if you think you need them. As soon as I can, I get rid of Tail Whip, Growl, etc.

That depends. If you have a Fire type on your team, have a Water type to back them up. Try to cover your Pokemon's weaknesses with other Pokemon.

Shiny Pokemon will sparkle when in battle, and are a different color than normal Pokemon. For example, an Espurr would be pink instead of grey if shiny.

 

[Farobi]

Eww Tail whip, growl, SWAGGER; just no.

SWORDS DANCE NASTY PLOT AND DRAGON DANCE FTW THO.

 

[XTheLancerX]

I have never caught them all and I would never like to bother to do so. MAYBE in pokemon red blue and yellow, but anything later than that, there are just too many xD I mean, 718 pokemon now I think? I'm sorry, but nobody got time fo' dat.

And with special moves, they can be really useful if you know how to use them. Like early on in the game, sand attack on a fast pokemon is op. Pretty much, in a difficult gym battle, if you have a fast pokemon that can use sand attack or double team, you make it so they can't hit you at all, and then you proceed to sweep while they miss every attack. You can do this sort of thing like by lowering their stats or increasing yours so they have no chance. But really, it all comes down to your particular play style and preference, if you like to just smash the heck out of their pokemon with super effective moves, by all means, go for it. You may have a problem with that strategy in competitive battling if your pokemon aren't quite up to par with the perfectly EV trained pokemon online though.

For your team, you usually want to have a water, grass, fire, electric, flying, ground/poison/fighting/normal/psychic/miscellaneous pokemon. Make sure they have high stats, and try to get as many type combos as possible, but be careful with it. Like, if you had a Chesnaught (Grass and fighting) a Toxicroak, (Water and Poison) an Infernape, (Fire and Fighting), a Hawlucha (Flying and fighting), an Electross (Electric), and a Dragonite (Dragon and Flying) you would have major problems with psychic because it would be super effective to chesnaught, toxicroak, Infernape, and hawlucha. So right there, you are setting yourself up with a gardevoir to use psychic and sweep 4 of your 6 pokemon. This doesn't even include ice type moves which would be super effective to hawlucha, chesnaugt, and quadruple effective to dragonite. Use team building tools like the one on pokemon marriland to help you from a team with a low amount of weaknesses.

A shiny pokemon is an extremely rare pokemon with a color pallet pretty much. It's like a 1/8192 chance to find one for every wild encounter you have. If you find one, you will know. When it appears in battle, sparkles go everywhere and it makes a "shining noise". CATCH ONE AT ALL COSTS ID YOU SEE ONE, THEY ARE EXTREMELY RARE AND COOL TO HAVE (Even though they don't really even have any advantage in battle, they just look different and are incredibly rare/cool.)

 

[Dr J]

I have never caught them all and I would never like to bother to do so. MAYBE in pokemon red blue and yellow, but anything later than that, there are just too many xD I mean, 718 pokemon now I think? I'm sorry, but nobody got time fo' dat.

And with special moves, they can be really useful if you know how to use them. Like early on in the game, sand attack on a fast pokemon is op. Pretty much, in a difficult gym battle, if you have a fast pokemon that can use sand attack or double team, you make it so they can't hit you at all, and then you proceed to sweep while they miss every attack. You can do this sort of thing like by lowering their stats or increasing yours so they have no chance. But really, it all comes down to your particular play style and preference, if you like to just smash the heck out of their pokemon with super effective moves, by all means, go for it. You may have a problem with that strategy in competitive battling if your pokemon aren't quite up to par with the perfectly EV trained pokemon online though.

For your team, you usually want to have a water, grass, fire, electric, flying, ground/poison/fighting/normal/psychic/miscellaneous pokemon. Make sure they have high stats, and try to get as many type combos as possible, but be careful with it. Like, if you had a Chesnaught (Grass and fighting) a Toxicroak, (Water and Poison) an Infernape, (Fire and Fighting), a Hawlucha (Flying and fighting), an Electross (Electric), and a Dragonite (Dragon and Flying) you would have major problems with psychic because it would be super effective to chesnaught, toxicroak, Infernape, and hawlucha. So right there, you are setting yourself up with a gardevoir to use psychic and sweep 4 of your 6 pokemon. This doesn't even include ice type moves which would be super effective to hawlucha, chesnaugt, and quadruple effective to dragonite. Use team building tools like the one on pokemon marriland to help you from a team with a low amount of weaknesses.

A shiny pokemon is an extremely rare pokemon with a color pallet pretty much. It's like a 1/8192 chance to find one for every wild encounter you have. If you find one, you will know. When it appears in battle, sparkles go everywhere and it makes a "shining noise". CATCH ONE AT ALL COSTS ID YOU SEE ONE, THEY ARE EXTREMELY RARE AND COOL TO HAVE (Even though they don't really even have any advantage in battle, they just look different and are incredibly rare/cool.)

Some shinies I'd never capture just because of how ugly they are.