Your strategy while playing Pokémon

[Eifie]

What's your strategy? Are you more offensive or defensive? Do you use substitute, baton pass or other clever moves?

As a young Pokémon trainer, my strategy was basically "KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!" (My favorite Pokémon was my Charizard, and its moves were Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Fire Spin and Fly. Don't judge me, I told you I was young.)

I still love that strategy.
I tried it on Pokémon Showdown once.
I was crushed.

[Richard and Blaziken]

In-game and competitive are completely different. In-game, a completely offensive approach is best, but in competitive, your entire team needs to be thought out, each with specific roles, synergy and a strategy in mind that has room for flexibility in case things don't go your way.

[Turner]

^ Honestly I've been trying the opposite approach. I've been trying to play much more defensively in-game. I got pretty bored of the whole Identify weakness -> Switch out -> Select Pokemon with supereffective move -> attack -> win

I'm always trying to make the game more interesting for myself in that respect. I'll try all kinds of tactics in-game.

[Richard and Blaziken]

It can be done, for sure, but for plowing through the main game, a more offensive approach usually works best, since it makes the hundreds of battles take a lot less time. A defensive approach isn't bad, it's just impractical with all the battles you have to do in the game, from my point of view.

[quack98]

My strategy is just to use Pokémon I can think of a nickname for, and then teach them my favourite moves (in game that is) hehehehe... Grayson the Porygon-Z

Edit: I forgot my main strategy: 2 porygon-z with hyper beam, switch out when you kill one, and then hyper beam again. Use dark pulse on ghost types.

[lugia95]

Catch only Pokemon that I want to train up, and only really give them damaging moves. Only after I've completed the game do I start to catch more Pokemon, although I've never really gotten into competitive battling.

[Silverwing Bloodsplash]

My strategy was to only train my starter to a very high level, teach it only offensive moves with high power and STAB, and just go for it.