North American Pokémon champion Bennett Piercy shares his tips and tricks

With the massive hype behind Pokémon GO slowly dying off and the new release of role-playing games Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, North American Pokémon champion and Calgary native Bennett Piercy recently shared some tips with the Canadian Press that should help the average Pokémon amateur become one of the best trainers around.

Piercy’s first tip is to know what you’re up against. Your Brionne might make quick work of most your opposition but throw it up against any grass/electric type and you’re not going to have a good time. You should always try and have a diverse party because you never know what you might encounter and don’t forget to do your research.

Another good tip is that your Pokémon’s stats matter, and so do the stats of the Pokémon you’re fighting. As you defeat certain Pokémon in battle your Pokémon’s stats increase slightly based upon your opponents, so it’s a good idea to take note of what Pokémon increase what stats so you can train accordingly and become the best there ever was.

Networking is important. Sure having friends to talk about the game with is cool and all but you will also want to have people to test your different Pokémon teams against. Every team has its strengths and weaknesses, so if you don’t test it you’re probably not going to know what to do when the time comes.

If you’re interested in competitively playing Pokémon there is also a thing called “Pokémon Trainer Club” that has an event locator so you can see if there are any tournaments being held nearby to truly put your party to the test.

Another tip from Piercy is to know your moves well. Every Pokémon comes with certain abilities and gains more as you advance. Its up to you to pick the abilities that you think will compliment your play style best. There are also certain moves that you can pickup when you’re exploring off the main paths, in caves, and in those dark alleys.

There are now somewhere around 800 different pokemon which makes picking your ultimate championship worthy team that much more difficult, but also fun. With so many different Pokémon to pick from you’re going to spend a lot of time trying out different combos, but hey being the best doesn’t come easy.

“Catch a whole bunch of Pokemon, see which ones are interesting and which ones have different types so you have a lot of variety,” Piercy says. “That will help you beat a lot of Pokemon.”

I’m not a champion of the game, but there are a few things that I learned growing up playing Pokemon that Piercy didn’t really touch on. For instance, you want to try and punish your opponent for switching out their Pokémon to counter you. There are multiple ways to do it but one of my favourite was to use a “entry hazard” move called stealth rock which damages your opponents Pokémon whenever it enters the playing field. But it can also be countered so you must be careful about who you use it against.

Where will all these tips lead? Perhaps a job as Pokémon Go Master, the world’s newest career opportunity.

About The Author / Dylan Waddell

Comment

One thought on “North American Pokémon champion Bennett Piercy shares his tips and tricks”

Mojig Brown says:

November 27, 2016 at 6:42 am

Wow he said nothing about smogon? Go to Smogon.com to test teams and try a variety of tiers. This guy probably didnt say nothing cause it’s a rough community. Not for the faint or emotionally weak. And sweet. New job op. Thanks cante.