So i've played Pokemon since gen 1 minus gen 4 and 5 but

>>29790402
Start with X or Y. It'll be a good re-entry with familiar species and more clearly explained mechanics (the kind of shit that you needed to troll the Internet to find out in gen iii).

Maybe read Smogon's articles on getting starting with competitive battling. Bear in mind it's targeted specifically to their own singles format.

Which brings us to another point. So you want to play competitive? Well do you want the Smogon singles format? Nintendo doubles format ? There are others, but these are by far the two most popular. Learn about both for now, then go for the one that interests you more.

Lastly, you can find competitions for any format on different platforms. There are the Nintendo console games (the official platforms) and there are battle simulators like Pokémon Showdown (the community platforms). Even if you prefer to play on console, using battle simulators is a great way to play with different team combinations of pokes, items, moves and stats.

Good luck Anon. Your courage will pull you through.

play vgc it's much more fun

>>29790402
don't do it. It will ruin the whole experience for you forever.

competitive was a mistake

I guess the next step after learning about the formats is learning how Pokemon stats work. Read up on IVs, EVs natures and base stats. You don't need to be a human calculator, you just need to have an idea of the basics. Also, get familiar with as many moves as you can and their effects. Best way to do this is just to play, I suppose.

>>29790744
I've already played x/y and leave ORAS at the middle. The only pokemon games i haven't played are the ones from gen 4 and 5, like i said.
I sucked at online battles in X/Y and have a record of around 5/20, didn't play that much online because of that.
I preffer 6vs6 matches but i think the singles format is just 3v3 right?

>>29790868
If you go into battle spot without well-bred (or injected) pokes you're at a huge disadvantage right from the start.

Battle spot singles is 3v3 (bring 6, pick 3) but Smogon singles is 6v6, and there are a few other rule differences that distinguish it from Nintendo or VGC rules.

Seriously though, for a mon to be truly competitive it will basically need to have high or perfect IVs in relevant stats, a decent EV spread (easy to see in gen VI) and a moveset that complements its stats and works well with the team.

Basically IVs are equivalent to an individual Pokemon's genes. They are randomly generated when a wild Pokemon appears, when an opponent's Pokemon first appears or when you hatch or receive a Pokemon as a gift.

Every poke has six IVs (one for each stat), each of which is a value ranging from 0-31. Most random wilds you find will have shit IVs, which can be overcome in the story mode but won't fight well online. IVs can be bred down however. If you're not interested in spending time breeding pokes, then either injecting or battle sims may be for you. I always got a kick out of breeding, though.

>>29791117
So Smogon will be my page for all the info. Thanks for the tips!
>>29791197
Is breeding the only way to change pokemon IVs ingame?

>>29791546
From gen I to VI, yes. Once a Pokemon exists, its IVs can't be changed. When a Pokemon is bred, it gets one random IV from one parent and two other random IVs from the other, and the rest are randomized. A destiny knot ups the number of inherited IVs to five.

I think in gen vii, there is a way in the post-game to give a Pokemon perfect IVs, but I haven't played it yet.

>>29790402
pokemon showdown is your free battle simulator for 6 vs 6

Also play gen 4&5

>>29791636
Damn, i can inject but wanted to obtain my pokes legally. I don't have time to breed so i'll have to inject at least for IVs
>>29791668
I want to play en 4/5, but with S/M release they'll have to wait some more
>>29791707
Nice summary!