Game Basics
Pokémon Stadium's gameplay mechanics will be instantly familiar to anyone who has ever played a Pokémon game -- or fought a battle in a traditional RPG for that matter. Before I talk about some of the basic stuff you have to know to be a successful Pokémon Stadium player, a quick word of caution: If you're playing Stadium and you don't own Pokémon Blue, Red or Yellow for the Game Boy, you will miss out on a lot of cool features. This game was designed with connectivity in mind, and it's a lot less rewarding if you don't use the Transfer Pak and the Game Boy games.This section covers some of the basic stuff you should know about Pokémon types, gives type and Pokémon suggestions as well as some universal battle tips.
Getting Started
No matter which mode you play, you have to first put together a team of six Pokémon (or use your Game Boy game's current party) that you think can take on the competition, then select three of them each round. Although you can't see which three your opponent chooses for battle, his six-Pokémon party is open for everyone to see. When choosing your own three combatants, you should try to always select them as if you are going up against all six of the other trainer's Pokémon.The most important thing to know before you do this is the role type differences play in battle. All Pokémon can be categorized by one or two type specifications. Next to the individual Pokémon stats (such as HP, Strength, Defense, etc), these types determine what each creature's strengths, abilities and weaknesses are. When putting together a team, remember that creating a well-balanced team is the most important skill a Pokémon trainer can have.
The following chart tells you what attacks are effective against what opponent types.
- "+" (green) means the attack is effective and deals twice the damage (ie: a Fire attack causes double damage when used on a Grass type)
- "-" (orange) means it is not effective and will only deal half the damage (ie: a Bug attack is not effective against a Fire opponent)
- "X" (red) means this attack can't hit that particular opponent type (ie: Electric techniques can't harm Ground Pokémon).
Note that a Pokémon that uses an attack that is of its same type (ie: Mewtwo, a Psychic Pokémon, using the Psychic technique) deals 50% more damage than a Pokémon that uses a non-matching attack (ie: Mewtwo, a Psychic Pokémon, using the Thunder technique). If a Pokémon has two types (like Zapdos, for example), the damage is only 25% higher. This does not apply for Normal type techniques and Pokémon.
The damage any given attack causes is further determined by each individual Pokémon's Level as well as Attack and Special stats.
Basic Attack Strategies
Here are a few strategies that should help you win in Pokémon Stadium.
First of all, know your Pokémon types. If you know who you're going up against, it's really easy to put together your own team. Use the chart above to see what type is vulnerable to what opponent and browse our Pokédex for info on individual Pokémon.
Create a diverse team. Try not to use the same type in one team more than twice.
Use Thunder Wave or other Paralyze moves to slow down (and paralyze) your opponents. This is very important for the R-2 mode and is also a popular technique used by the CPU.
Use a Psychic Pokémon in almost every battle. If you don't have a good one yet, go back into the Game Boy games and train one now. (Victory Road and the Unknown Dungeon are great places to visit to level up).
Remember the Level restrictions in some of the cups. You can have two Level-30 Pokémon in your group of six in the Petit Cup -- but you can't enter them both into battle. Luckily, the same holds true for the CPU. Before each battle, look at the levels of your CPU's Pokémon. This can help you figure out which two can't be in battle at the same time.
Beat Pokémon Blue, Red or Yellow and get Mewtwo. It's worth it.
Use status changing effects like Sleep as a starting move against tough opponents.
Don't use Teleport, Whirlwind and Roar. They don't work in Stadium.
Use your own Pokémon whenever you can. Rentals are almost never as powerful as Pokémon caught and raised in the Game Boy games.
When capturing new Pokémon in the Game Boy game, capture multiple Pokémon of the same type at the lowest possible level. You will notice that the stats vary from creature to creature. Compare the stats using Pokémon Stadium's Lab mode, store the ones you're not interested in on the N64 cart -- and train only the one with the highest stats. Remember that your Pokémon don't gain experience in Pokémon Stadium. All the training has to be done in the Game Boy games.
Since you can't use items, the only way you can heal or cure yourself is with the help of moves like Recover, Rest, Softboiled and Haze.
Don't only teach your Pokémon techniques that pertain to their own type. For example, unless you spend a lot of time on training a Bug Pokémon, Jolteon (Electric) with Pin Missile is the most effective opponent against Psychic types.
Poison your opponent with Toxic, then use disabling moves like Bind, Sleep or Confuse.
Wrap, Fire Spin, Clamp, Bind, etc don't cause much damage, but they're a great way to annoy your opponent into switching Pokémon.
Don't use two-part moves too often that freeze your Pokémon unless you're using it to finish off a Pokémon with low HP. Two notable exceptions are Dig and Fly.
Use Swift. It even hits opponents that are in the usually protected first part of the Fly or Dig moves.
Selfdestruct moves are excellent to take out high-level opponents. Both Explosion and Selfdestruct make for great opening moves against tough opponents.
If your Pokémon is low on HP and slower than your opponent, use Quick Attack to get one last hit in.
Seismic Toss (TM 19) is perhaps the most useful technique a high-level (Level 60-100) Pokémon could know. It causes HP damage equal to your Pokémon's level, no matter what your Pokémon's type is.
Switching Pokémon gives your opponent a free hit most of the time. If your Pokémon is slow and low on HP, there is really no use in switching it out (unless you're looking to get continues). Let it faint.
Before renting a Pokémon, look at its selection of moves. Don't select your rentals strictly by type and by Pokémon preference. Their techniques are crucial to your success.Against Human Players
Battling human players is a completely different story to playing against the computer. Here are a few quick tricks and tactics you can use to become the best trainer of them all:
Don't hold down the R-Button when selecting your attack. Memorize your configuration and just hit the corresponding C-Button.
Trick your opponent into believing that you will use a certain Pokémon type. For example, if half your Pokémon (out of six) are Water types, it's very likely that your opponent will use an Electric type as his starting Pokémon because he/she thinks you'll use at least one Water type. Instead, leave all the Water types out and start off with a Ground Pokémon that's immune to Electric attacks.
Train some of the less popular Pokémon, like Bug or Rock types. Chances are your opponent doesn't know what to use against them.
Mess with your opponent by misnaming your Pokémon. Name a Nidoking "Nidoran Female", an Onix "Dratini", Gyarados "Nidorina" and so on.
Predict your adversary's next move. If your Pokémon is using a Psychic and your Pokémon is a Poison type, you know he/she will use a Psychic attack. Switch to a Bug Pokémon to avoid getting knocked out.
Train two similar Pokémon with the same name, but teach them different attacks. This will make your game much less predictable.
Pokémon Types
Each Pokémon falls into either one or two of 15 different Pokémon types. Below, you will find a quick listing of the categories, as well as my personal favorite for each Pokémon type. With the exception of a few low-level misfits like Magikarp, Weedle, Caterpie and Kakuna, almost every Pokémon can be a worthwhile addition to your team. It's all about selecting the right moves and raising the Pokémon to a high level. Performance enhancers can also help turning an average Pokémon into a mean fighting machine, so be sure to look for them in the Game Boy games.
Normal
Normal types may have fewer weaknesses than the other types, but they also lack damage modifiers. The good thing about many of them is that they can learn diverse techniques like Toxic, Blizzard, Seismic Toss, and so on. This makes battling a Normal quite a bit less predictable than going up against a Pokémon of another type. You just never know what techniques its trainer has chosen to concentrate on... Use this fact to your advantage when training Normal types.
Best Pokémon: Tauros, Snorlax
Tauros has got to be the most underrated Pokémon in the game. This multi-tailed bull has very balanced stats, but it's got one major problem: it doesn't learn any decent attacks on its own. That's where your TMs come in. Bring it up to a high level and teach it powerful elemental Fire, Ice, Water, Ground and Electric attacks and it will be virtually unstoppable. Snorlax, on the other hand, is more of a tank. This slow creature can be very effective in tough, long battles. Use its high HP to your advantage. Plus, it learns Rest, which lets it recover all its HP and heal all status changes.
Fire
In general, Fire Pokémon are not quite as powerful as Water or Electric types, but they're an excellent choice against Grass, Ice and Bug types. Most players tend to train Charizard the most out of all their Fire Pokémon. Although the flying lizard has good stats, it's also very vulnerable to Electric and Ice attacks. It's better to stick with a single-type Fire Pokémon.
Best Pokémon: Arcanine, Moltres, Flareon
Arcanine rocks. Although Flareon and Moltres are excellent Fire types, this Fire Lion has got the Speed and HP to make a difference in any battle. If you're looking for something with a bit more Special power, try Moltres. The only problem is that it doesn't learn any decent techniques by itself (use TMs) and the fact that it's a dual type, but its stats are awesome. Finally, add Flareon to your team if you want pure Attack power.
Water
Water types are abundant in all the Pokémon games -- which is a good thing if you've got a lot of Electric and Grass Pokémon. But there is simply no better choice against Ground, Rock and Fire types than a powerful Water Pokémon.
Best Pokémon: Blastoise, Gyarados, Cloyster, Starmie
Blastoise remains the most balanced Water Pokémon in the game. With the exception of Speed, it's got all the right stats to knock out those nasty Ground, Rock and Fire opponents. Another favorite is Gyarados. Sure, it's a dual Flying type -- but you wouldn't use a Water Pokémon against an Electric type anyway, right? Gyarados just looks cool and has wonderful Special, Attack and HP stats to boot. Another worthwhile dual Water type is the Ice Pokémon Cloyster. Only the most powerful attacks can get through this floating bad boy's insanely high Defense. Teach it moves like Blizzard and Surf and check out what it can do. You may also want to check out the dual Psychic-type Starmie.
Electric
One look at our Stadium section should tell you that Flying and Water Pokémon are everywhere. Both are vulnerable to Electric attacks, making Electric Pokémon the single most important addition to any team.
Best Pokémon: Jolteon, Zapdos
I suggest you train both a Jolteon and a Zapdos. Jolteon, which is hands-down Eevee's best evolution, is one of the fastest Pokémon in the game and dishes out powerful special attacks. To make things even better, it learns Thunder Wave and Thunder on its own (two very important moves) as well as the Bug technique Pin Missile. This makes it a strong contender against Psychic types as well. The legendary Zapdos, on the other hand combines Flying and Electric attacks. You should teach it Thunderbolt or Thunder as well, as Fly. Two essential choices.
Grass
Tangela is the only true Grass type Pokémon. All others are dual types, which makes them vulnerable to a lot of attacks. It doesn't help that Grass types are already vulnerable to four types on their own... Still, a good Grass type can save the day when going up against Electric, Rock, Ground or Water types.
Best Pokémon: Tangela, Exeggutor, Venusaur
Tangela has the advantage that its Grass attacks cause a lot more damage than its fellow dual types' attacks -- even though other Grass Pokémon may have higher stats. Mega Drain and Bind are two of the most useful Grass attacks. Bind can drive your opponent nuts because he/she can't get a hit in -- and Mega Drain can be very powerful against Electric, Rock, Ground and Water opponents. All the alternative choices are dual types. The wacky Exeggutor has a ton of HP and can learn both Sleep Powder and Solar Beam. Venusaur has amazing stats, so it's definitely worth your while as well. Just keep it away from Psychics.
Ice
Ice Pokémon are rare - and there is no "single Ice type" in the game, only dual types. While that leaves them open to many attacks, these Pokémon often have some of the best attacks. They are also the premier choice against Dragon Pokémon.
Best Pokémon: Articuno, Cloyster
Articuno is an underappreciated powerhouse. Bring it up to level 60 (so it learns Mist) and teach it Blizzard and Fly and you will have the most powerful Dragon slayer in the game. Plus, Ground attacks can't hit it. If you're looking for a Pokémon with higher Defense stats, Cloyster is again a great choice.
Fighting
I almost never use Fighting Pokémon. Sure, they're fast and take out Normal types better than any other Pokémon, but one Psychic or Flying attack and they're history. The other problem is that there aren't all that many great Fighting techniques. The best, Seismic Toss, can be learned by a lot of non-Fighting Pokémon and causes damage regardless of type anyway.
Best Pokémon: Hitmonlee
No other Fighting Pokémon beats Hitmonlee. Hitmonchan may have slightly higher Special and Defense ratings, but Hitmonlee has got the Speed, HP and Attack stats to punch all other Fighting Pokémon out of the ring. Teach him Hi-Jump Kick.
Poison
There aren't many good Poison techniques, which is why many gamers will stay away from this type altogether. To make things worse, they're really, really weak against Psychic and Ground attacks. While I tend to not use Poison types too often, I'm actually a big fan of using Poison techniques to bring down powerful, hard-to-hit foes. The trick is to poison an opponent early on with Toxic, then follow up with Sleep, Bind , Stun or Accuracy-lowering techniques that don't cause any damage but prevent your opponent from hitting you. Toxic works over time and eventually takes off more and more HP. This can be very effective.
Best Pokémon: Weezing
There are a bunch of good dual types like Venusaur, Vileplume and Gengar, but Weezing is definitely the most powerful "true" Poison Pokémon. Sadly, Weezing doesn't learn Toxic on its own (you need to teach it from a TM) -- which means you might as well teach Toxic to a faster, non-Poison Pokémon and skip this type altogether. However, Weezing's Explosion move can be a really nasty trick to take down someone's star Pokémon.
Ground
The best thing about Ground Pokémon is that they can learn Dig. While it's a two-part move, it's a great defensive move to evade your opponent's attacks as well as a very powerful Ground attack. You will definitely need a Ground type at some point, so don't forget to train one -- even if it's slow and weak in the beginning.
Best Pokémon: Golem, Dugtrio
Dugtrio is a true Ground type, whereas Golem is a dual Ground/Rock type -- both can learn the powerful Dig and Earthquake Ground techniques that will instantly knock out Fire, Electric and Poison Pokémon. It's actually a good idea to train both Golem and Dugtrio. Golem is slow, but very powerful (and can use Explosion at level 43) and Dugtrio is a little weaker but very fast. Either one can be the Pokémon of choice against Electric opponents.
Flying
Flying Pokémon are cool, but they have one fatal flaw: they are ultra-weak against Electric attacks. There is just no way around it. If you face an Electric opponent, call back your Flying Pokémon. If that's not a choice, then use the evasive Fly move to get out of the way. But use a Flying type against Grass, Fighting and Bug and you can only win. If you ever face an opponent who uses Dig -- switch to a Flying type. Ground attacks can't harm Flying Pokémon.
Best Pokémon: Zapdos, Articuno, Gyarados
Zapdos is amazing. This dual Flying/Electric type is the only Flying Pokémon that has good resistance to Electric attacks (although even it won't last through a Thunder hit dealt by a strong Electric type). Keep it away from Ice and Rock Pokémon and you will find it to be one of the top Pokémon in the game. Articuno is another powerful bird type, just as the flying sea snake Gyarados, but Zapdos is definitely the superstar among all Flying types.
Psychic
This is perhaps the most important Pokémon type in the whole game. Psychics have very few weaknesses and are absolutely devastating against Poison and Fighting Pokémon. They also dish out some of the best status-altering techniques and are versatile when it comes to learning non-Psychic techniques. A powered-up Psychic with the technique Psychic, Recover, Thunder Wave and a fourth non-Psychic maneuver like Seismic Toss, Dig or Blizzard is almost unstoppable.
Best Pokémon: Mewtwo, Mew, Alakazam, Starmie
No question about it, Mewtwo is not only the best Psychic type, it's the best Pokémon in the game. With the exception of Defense, Mewtwo's stats are simply out of this world. It's also able to learn a lot of great non-Psychic techniques. A powerful Mew -- if you're lucky enough to own one -- is a good contender to a Mewtwo, even though it's not quite as powerful. But Mew can learn EVERY TM and HM in the game, which makes battling a Mew an unpredictable endeavor. Finally, Alakazam is a good choice for players who like to be a little more down-to-earth with their Psychic Pokémon. A Kadabra is also not bad (especially when it comes to speed), but you may want to use a Hypno instead because of its superior Defense stats.
Bug
If you want to train a Bug Pokémon, train it for one reason only: to take out Psychic Pokémon. The problem with Bugs is that they have mediocre stats and don't learn many worthwhile Bug techniques. I actually prefer to use a Jolteon equipped with the only decent Bug attack (Pin Missile) instead.
Best Pokémon: Scyther, Parasect
Both are dual types, but there really isn't a decent single type Bug in the game. Scyther is definitely one of the coolest looking Bug types in the game, and it's fast as well. I like using it just because it looks great. Sadly, it learns NO Bug technique at all. Parasect only learns Leech Life (a rather weak Bug attack), but it can use some good status-altering techniques that may help you get the upper hand in a duel with a Psychic.
Rock
Talk about a niche Pokémon type. All Rock Pokémon are dual types and there are only two Rock techniques in Blue, Red or Yellow -- Rock Throw (decent) and Rock Slide (good). Rock is great against Fire, Ice, Flying and Bug Pokémon, but it also add plenty of weaknesses to whatever type it's paired up with.
Best Pokémon: Aerodactyl, Golem, Rhydon
Golem is a no-brainer, but you may also want to look into the flying dinosaur Aerodactyl. It's weak against Electric attacks, just like other Flying types, but it's got amazing HP, Attack and Speed stats. On the downside, it doesn't learn any Rock techniques... Doh! Rhydon, on the other hand, can learn Rock Slide. This rather strong Ground/Rock type has high Defense and Attack stats, but because of its low Speed rating it's recommended only for trainers who have a lot of time to level-up almost all their Pokémon.
Ghost
Another rare type, Ghost Pokémon also only exist in dual form. All three Ghosts in the game are dual Ghost/Poison types. On the upside, the dual Ghost nature doesn't really add any new weaknesses. It actually makes the Pokémon immune against Normal and Fighting attacks. Not bad at all. Sadly, there are also only three Ghost techniques, two of which are decent (Confuse Ray and Nightshade). But Ghost techniques are only strong against other Ghost Pokémon, so you should probably just teach your Ghost Poison and Psychic techniques instead. Standard Poison technique: use Toxic together with Confuse Ray or a Sleep move.
Best Pokémon: Gengar
Gengar all the way. This Ghost not only looks awesome (anyone else think he looks like the Nekobus from My Neighbor Totoro?) but also has great stats. Use the Hypnosis/Dream Eater combo to drive your opponent mad.
Dragon
This rare Pokémon type can be a powerful foe -- but one Blizzard hit usually spells doom for even the most powerful Dragon. The only problem with Dragon types is that there is only one single Dragon technique in the game, Dragon Rage (deals 40 damage). I personally don't like using Dragons, but they can be a pain if your opponent has one and you don't have an Ice type.
Best Pokémon: Dragonite
It's a toss-up. Do you want a really powerful Flying Dragon who is susceptible to Electric, Rock and Ice attacks or a less amazing fighter who is susceptible to Ice only? In the end, Dragonite's stats are just too good to ignore, making its pre-evolution Dragonair a less popular choice.
Rental Pokémon
A quick word of warning about Rental Pokémon. A Level 50 Rental Pokémon will never be as good as a Level 50 Pokémon trained by yourself. Take for example a Level 50 Zapdos you can rent in the Poké Cup. It knows Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Flash and Sky Attack. Thunder Wave and Thunderbolt are good moves, but imagine the moves selection you could put together... Apart from the fact that you could enter a Level 55 Zapdos had you trained it yourself, you should also know that Zapdos learns its strongest Electric attack (Thunder) at Level 51. Sky Attack is a powerful move, but it takes a round of preparation, which allows your opponent to switch Pokémon or attack you. Fly would be a much better two-part attack. The same holds true with almost every Rental Pokémon in the game.While the selection of moves is one thing, it's really the stats that differ the most. You can still get through most of the game by using Rental Pokémon only, but that means you will also miss out on many of the exciting features that Pokémon Stadium has to offer. And once you unlock the R-2 Mode, you will also quickly notice how limited the Rental Pokémon are in comparison to the CPU's. Your best bet is to only use Rentals if you don't have a Pokémon of a particular type (or level).
So how should you pick your Rental Pokémon? Try our recommended Pokémon (above) first -- but always check their moves to see whether they know any decent ones. For help determining what techniques are worth using, check our complete Techniques Listing.
