I always like having goals going through stories of games I know that I’ll grind the hell out of. I made one of those goals for my copy of Pokemon Sword. My goal?
Do not have my entire team faint, even once.
Now, this goal is both easier and harder than you’d expect, but I’m 6 badges in and holding strong. It requires a lot of thought beforehand and even more patience going forward. Here’s what I can share for anyone who would like to join this challenge too!
1. Level your Pokemon 5 levels above what you’re able to catch
One huge tip I got once I was wandering the Wild Lands in the beginning is Gym Badges do not control the level Pokemon will stop listening to your commands, it’s the level you can catch Pokémon. Before I even got to the the first city, my main team was level 25. Now this does take patience and a will to grind, but it makes all the gym battles a breeze. Suddenly everything was super easy and almost laughable at times.
2. Do not favor one type, have a wide variety of types you can pull at any given time.
This one is from a bad experience. I had gone through the first couple of gyms and breezed by it. Next you know I’m getting ready to head into a new area and all my main people are super weak to everything in the new catching ground! It took back tracking through other areas and a ton of fishing to catch my mons up to where they needed to be. I’d recommend having at least one of each type strong and ready to go.
3. Keep an eye on the weather.
This seems strange, but you can find some pretty rare Pokémon during severe weather. Typically, lower spawning Pokémon are stronger. There’s a reason that Feebas is a 1% chance once your bike can go on water.
4. Random battles are everywhere, be wary, move slow through new areas.
If you’re careful, you can plan for every random battle so you’re not caught with your Pokémon being too low by someone being right behind a blind spot.
5. Items in battle can be a life saver!
Got into a battle with a trainer who is a whole lot stronger than you anticipated? Don’t forget you have your potions and revives. In absolute worst case scenarios when you cannot run away, this can save your streak. In those battles that you can run away but the odds are not in your favor, don’t forget about your Poké Dolls. An instant run away move is super helpful, especially if you accidentally walk into a creature much higher than you.
6. Poké Centers are your absolute best friend.
Have a mon you’re trying to level? Battling not going as well as you thought? Level it close to a healer or a Center. It may take a while go to more than a couple of battles without a stop, but once you can you’ll be glad you did.
7. Keep a close eye on your PokéDex
Often your Dex change giving you absolutely no notice that it had. If the weather changes or you saw a mon that it now can locate, it will change from whatever ‘quest’ you were on before to a new Pokémon that may be on the other side of your map. While it seems strange, listen to it. Sometimes this can give you the advantage in a battle that you have coming up.
8. All forms of currency are important! Both Watts and money!
There are two major forms of currency in this game in comparison to the normal one. Money is as straight forward as it sounds. It’s money, used for the purchase of goods at shops. Watts is a form of currency that is a little different. It’s an energy type of currency you can use around the Wild Lands for anything from powering up your bike to going digging for fossils. Making sure you’re keeping both forms well up will keep you ahead and ready to take down any competitor who comes your way.
9. Get your Dex up, but don’t expect everything to be at a great level
There will come a time when you have to choose your strongest party to keep leveling and which pokemon will sit nearby and watch. This isn’t a bad thing. Expecting everything to be all at the same level will not only be a whole ton of grinding, but it will make it so you will almost never actually go through the story because you’ll be so over concerned about getting up all 60 plus Alcremies 10 more levels. Trust me, it isn’t worth it. At least not through the storyline. After that? Grind to your hearts content.
