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.

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.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.

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 cartidge -- 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. Know when to switch! 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. On the other hand, don't hesitate to switch if you've got a fresh Pokémon with no chance of succeeding because it's weak against your opponent's type. 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 opponent is using a Psychic and your Pokémon is a Poison type, you know he/she will use a Psychic attack next. 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.

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