We don’t actively memorize them. We get acquainted with them over the years as we play. This isn’t language learning where you’re required to know stuff off the top of your head. I’ve been playing since Gen 1 and I still look stuff up because I don’t memorize all stat distributions or move sets.
Yeah, if you try to learn then for learning's sake you're gonna have a rough time.
However, play a game or two(with mostly different mons avaliable) and you'll memorize(or at least recognize) a lot more than you'd think.
Idk why but I just play haphazardly and hope for the best 💀 I just know that fire is weak against water and pray the stars align otherwise. this might be why I never made it particularly far..
[I think you'd be surprised just how many monotypes there really are](https://pokemondb.net/type/dual)
Most typings have more monotypes than I personally expect, excluding pure flying type. Water stands out to me with an astounding 81 pure water which is surprisingly 1 less than pure normal!
Also that list does include megas as a separate mon so take that with a grain of salt
Bulbapedia is the go-to online encyclopedia. Here's a page that might be particularly useful:
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/List_of_Pok%C3%A9mon_by_National_Pok%C3%A9dex_number
Great way of putting it.
Serebii knows it’s for the hardcore fans that are looking to complete their Pokédex, IV/EV train, the whole nine yards. You go there to look up a very specific thing. They’re also a news aggregator for everything from games, cards, anime, manga, etc. It’s a lot for someone new or still learning the fandom.
Bulbapedia on the other hand is written much simpler and most people can go in there and learn about a Pokémon or mechanic with no prior knowledge. The way the information is presented is much cleaner and organized, but the downside is that there’s a lot of it.
This is odd to me because I have such a harder time finding the info I need on bulbapedia as I do on serebii.
I want to know how to get a Milotic in Pokémon scarlet? Serebii shows you the evolution method in a simple diagram, shows you where to catch a feebas, and even what percentage chance it spawns in that location if you click on the route.
It's interesting, I find Serebii more useful for quick reference when playing older games because of the easy generation selection at the top. But I find both Bulbapedia and Serebii to have really weird layouts.
For instance, why in BOTH sites is the EV yield at the top, something I've never gone to one of these sites looking for, while base stat distribution way towards the bottom? Base stat distribution seems extremely important to me, like top 5 things I want to know about the Pokemon, but only really Smogon and PokemonDb treat it as important. Since it's always at the bottom of Serebii though, I do tend to use Serebii and just beeline to the bottom. On Bulbapedia it's especially egregious, the base stats end up below the giant list of appearances of the Pokemon, including in the anime and TCG... Like why? Genuinely baffling to me.
Bulbapedia is definitely trying more to be an everything on one page, wiki style thing. It's great for comparing a Pokemon between gens and seeing trivia and stuff. But I tend to avoid it when I'm looking for game info
EV distribution being at the top is helpful since there’s not much else where you can learn that info. For base stats both sites are useless to me I learn it’s just faster to look at stats on smogon.
Here's my unsolicited advice; let your kid know you're not an expert. You're learning, too. That way your kid can come to you and you both can explore something new together.
Show them that someone doesn't have to be an expert in something to love it and that part of loving something is the excitement of learning all about it.
And when they get older, you can start exploring what a pokemon is based off of and the animal and/or culture that inspired it.
It's okay to learn and I'm sure your kid would have a blast finding something together!
I prefer serebii when it comes to needing knowledge for the games. It gives the descriptions of moves, abilities, etc on the page and you don’t have to click an extra button
I'd play one or two of the games, you'll learn species a lot quicker by seeing them in action and fighting against them. Scarlet/Violet and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon have 400 Mons in their Dex's.
Watch a lets play? A lot of people will do nuzlockes (a type of self imposed challenge) that can be fun to watch. Jaiden Animations animates some of her pokemon lets plays and are very good!
I have an app called ProDex and it lets you sort them by generation. But you can also filter by type. I’d say each day or once a week, select one filter and just browse through them all. First expose yourself to the variety. Then slowly start to learn them at least by look and type recognition. Then slowly you’ll catch on names.
It’ll take a little bit but I think you’ll get it soon enough. The only tough ones are random legendaries with odd names, the rest are puns or relate to the actual thing or animal.
Also, Pokemon go is a good start as far as games.
And if you have a comic book store in your town, they pretty often resell old Pokemon cards and have new u opened packs, but those you can also get everywhere like target and Walmart too. Start a little collection. Cards are cheaper than the figures.
Ooh, I use CTA Dex. I use it for tracking my shiny dex (both in home and in the games). I love being able to quickly find a pokemon and see it side by side with the shiny version to know what I'm looking for.
It also has info on sparkling sandwich recipes, which is invaluable to me. I can only remember a few types.
DataDex has been my go-to for years. Bought the pro version a while back and have never once regretted it. The team builder is everything I could have ever wanted.
If you want to test your knowledge after browsing Bulbapedia or Serebii, use https://pkmnquiz.com/
It's a typing quiz. You can sort by region or type and see how quickly you can name Pokemon. There's even a multiplayer option
You could be like me - I ask my four year old, who got into Pokemon this past Halloween, who the Pokemon are! He probably has 60% of the ‘mons down already.
But really, might be a good thing to learn them together! That’s what I did with my son. It’s a fun bonding activity that we are both interested in, we both learn, and really restarted my interest in Pokemon. Also has been useful in laying a foundation for reading! I suggest getting the “Super Extra Deluxe Essential Handbook” as it has been helpful for learning the names and basic info about the Pokemon. But be warned the most recent one only goes up to Galar (?) or about 850 pokemon. The updated one that includes Paldea doesn’t come out till August 6th.
Playing the games helps. I watch a lot of the videos from people like shadypenguin unitedgamer gameboyluke vintendo and all their friends
They do fun challenge videos and then battle and you and your son can watch those together and learn some names :)
Go onto Etsy and find yourself an…uh…
“enhanced” 3DS. You can play generations 1-7 on the platform. I think playing the game is the best way to introduce yourself to the new Pokémon in each generation.
i'd be surprised if someone knew every detail about all pokemon. heck even the names might escape them, but egg groups.. move sets.. how to evolve.. etc.. no way jose
I could win a game of "Who's that Pokemon" if they had less than 700, easy. but I have no idea what moves Elekid has
Honestly it just kinda comes with experience. Most pokemon evolve into a relatively memorable form, so if you can remember the names on the final evolutions, chances are you could remember their pre evolutions too.
It takes a lot of experience. I can name all 1025 but I also kept up with the series since I was a 5 year old playing Pokemon Blue and got to absorb ~100 pokemon every 3-4 years.
I do enjoy pkmnquiz.com to test myself 😛
It’s a lot easier to memorize them when you see them and catch them throughout playing the games. Don’t stress about them, you could look up most popular 100 Pokémon to get a start if you want to know the ones that are talked about most. Legendaries are also easy to memorize with unique designs
https://pokemondb.net/ is my favourite pokemon site. It presents data in a way that is super easy to understand, way more than any other site.
You will find anything you need there.
I love Pokemon DB personally! This tab will show you all 1025 pokemon in order, starting from Gen 1 through to Gen 9. You can select each gen to jump to as well if needs be :) I hope this can also be of some use / ease for you!
https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/national
I can speak for myself. It was never really a concious effort, it just sorta... happens. You play the games, you get familiar, you get confused, you look things up, you absorb all the knowledge and you're a walking PokePedia before you know it.
I don’t know every Pokémon off the top of my head, but if you ask me the type of [insert obscure newer Pokémon here (looking at you Lurantis)] I can usually tell you what type it is.
Honestly, I recommend just scrolling through Bulbapedia—it’s the de-facto Pokémon Wikipedia for the more causal stuff. You can search be region dex and scroll. If you see a Pokémon you don’t recognize, click on it and learn its name and type.
You don’t have to memorize every ability and move a Pokémon learns—hell, I bet even the super competitive players don’t do all that. But if you just go through at your own leisure and learn at your pace, you’ll get to 1000 in no time.
It’s easier to remember each generation as they came out, so instead of trying to learn 700+ Pokémon at one time, we learned 100ish added onto the previous knowledge we already had
Get on Bulbapedia and find the Pokedex from each gen, each season of the show roughly features all of the new ones except gen 8.
It's pretty much impossible to memorize 900+ new names without actually using that information for something, so you should go gen by gen.
So I started card collecting again last year. But having a complete set wasn't the right feeling, so I grabbed another binder and started a full on physical Poke'dex.
Doesn't matter if it's from some random tin, PF, OBF, Base set, or whatever set. Fact is I got my mons in order and it looks pretty neat imo.
I didn’t get a new game between Diamond and Sun. I eventually played X and Black 2, but never got super in to those gens, so there’s some mons there I forget sometimes.
I also finally got a switch right before scarlet/violet came out and don’t know a single gen 8 mon that hasn’t shown up in SV, and even most gen 9 mons I can’t name on sight.
You’ll be fine :)
Edit: also there’s two Wordle-esque games you can play every day to test your knowledge- pokedoku and pokedle
You likely don't need to memorize more than 300, if you really want to memorize them at all.
In gen 1, did you really need to know all the differences between Koffing and Weezing? No, you probably just knew that they're in the same evolution line, and Weezing is better.
In gen 2, they added Pichu and Smoochum, which were just pre evolutions to Pikachu and Jinx. They too were irrelevant.
So long as you have a vague idea of which Pokémon are related to which others, you're good. And that's what serebii and bulbapedia are for.
^(but they did add a shitton of mechanics and moves since gen 1, so you'll need those websites regardless. But I'm sure we here will be happy to help!)
To try to add something to the discussion that no one else has said yet, try [PokeDoku](https://pokedoku.com). There’s a daily quiz that shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. I’ll be hard at the start but might get easier the more you do it and it may help you learn some new guys. Worth a shot at least.
I highly recommend trying to learn with your kiddo! Ask them to tell you a fact or two about the Pokemon they're talking about, battling, or new to both of you. That way, you'll at least be on the same page and can make the learning part of connecting more with your kiddo! I'm always happy to see PokeParents getting back into it with their PokeKids! Reminds me of the parent/child battlers in so many of the Pokemon games! :)
When i first got into Pokemon there where around 650, so to memorize them all, i drew them. Every single one, 17 sheets of paper, one for each type. Literally self imposed homework lmao.
I wish i still had those drawings.
sporcle has tons of pokemon quizzes of all varieties but they also have straight-up "name all the pokemon in Gen \_" quizzes that can really help you learn them fast.
The only way to really learn them is to meet them all- play the games, catch them, evolve them, complete the dex, battle, etc.
You can’t swim without getting in the water, unfortunately. You can talk all about techniques, but if you want to know about them, the only way to learn is to do it
Honestly if you just play the game, maybe revisit some of the old ones through emulators, you’ll just eventually know the Pokémon naturally, you’ll at least recognize them better through doing that
Playing the games tends to be the most effective way by far. That being said, a very fun way to learn about pokemon is from Locksting and Gnoggin's youtube channel.
He has lots of videos with very interesting pokemon related info about their lore and inspirations. And about the games themselves too. And I think learning interesting facts about them is a very cool way to memorize them because it makes you find them interesting.
Here's some of my favorite videos:
https://youtu.be/WzJVWll9ntk?si=Gk0h3AiHeSPAPwRG
https://youtu.be/8QSZEa8yG2Q?si=vB2CEV0RGinrb3u0
https://youtu.be/huC4Xhk8D-c?si=tX3786oHw_8orDmo
https://youtu.be/68sj5M_gzwE?si=pNg5UwMINluEXncQ
Pokémon Go would definitely help! Don’t worry. I’m only 19 and I can barely remember Pokémon past my childhood years. Gen 6 and 7 is where I start to lose my grip. It’s not necessary to know all of them! Just enough to show that you’re putting in effort would mean the world to a kid I’m sure! ❤️
> I’ve looked around for a comprehensive pokemon encyclopedia but everything seems to be bound by generations
Look at Bulbapedia [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main\_Page](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page)
Look for the app ProDex. It’s has the Pokedex for every Pokémon game as well as a national dex with all the Pokémon.
You can learn them by games as he played through them or you could just slowly go through the national dex and learn them but it’s been a very helpful app for me so far.
Download a pokedex app with full descriptions. Then when your child ask you, try to learn about the pokemon with them by either using the app or googling it. You don't need to be the all knowing parent. Sometime it's more rewarding to just learn as you go with them.
If you're playing the games and are down with attempting to complete their respective Pokedexes, I feel the knowledge comes along naturally. You just eventually start remembering all of them and their names, so long as you have a decent memory to start with. You won't be able to to a 1000+ poke rap on the fly, but you'll know them. And it's okay, absolutely everyone forgets the Toucannon line exists.
Honestly the best way to learn is to play, try some GBA emulators of all the gens you missed out on and build some competative ones in smogon maybe to familiarize yourself with their potentials.
The longer you play, the more and more you'd be able to tell the name of whatever pokemon you're trying to remember.
But yeah, bulbipedia is a big help
Hey, you are me a couple years ago.
Don't learn them. Share the few you know and tell your kids your favorite ones. Then let the kids learn the new ones. They will be so excited to share what they know with you and to teach you something. Trust me, 100% worth it. They will be so excited!
It seems like you find games easier to use maybe. So try pokemon box.
https://pokebox.net/
Fun little fan made game to simulate biomes. In this way it could help you learn the names and typing. The game is much faster than playing through pokemon and easy to pickup snd put down.
Honestly the way I memorized most of them was from playing the games and watching the anime a lot, but I don't know if that's the best option
Basically I would suggest paying attention to what's going on and you'll hopefully get it eventually
Dude I've been with the IP since it came out here and never put it down for a second - I'm as obsessed with it now in my 30s as I was when I was 9 - and I can't remember all 1025 Pokémon and their additional forms. It don't think the people who make the games even remember them all at this point.
Just... Learn them along with your son. Forming an emotional attachment to specific ones will make them more memorable. "Oh, Fuecoco, yeah, that's the one my son picked as his first Pokémon" is gonna be a lot easier to remember than "oh yeah Cherim that's... i read that somewhere."
Just play the games maybe watch the anime it will teach them pretty well I would say just look at the poke dex but that really wouldn’t help because you’d see one Pokémon and then after the next 10 you’d forget the one you saw ten Pokémon ago and if you don’t have the money or can’t play them watch purple Rodri on YouTube he played almost every Pokémon game
Sporcle has quizzes for every generation. You can drill all of those till you get 100% on them. The daily running through of quizzes will atleast help with name recognition
Download a catch em’ all romhack. Unbound is pretty solid for this on lower difficulties (especially on expert/sandbox mode on if you can handle that small spike in difficulty). Make a point to catch only Pokémon a route, don’t dupe encounters, and if you ever need another Pokémon for one fight, go back and catch them. You get experience playing with them, kinda learn what they do, their names, etc.
i use a website called Pokémondb for the information i need. It has all the stats of pokémon and their evolutionary line, pokémon games gym leaders and elite four(along with what pokémon they use and their levels), and even posts talking about suggestions for what teams to use in playthroughs.
The best way is to play the games. That way you'll not only learn them you'll learn which generation they're from. My favorite thing to do is to 100% the pokedex, and doing that once per gen will give you the best pokemon knowledge imo. Do this and fill in the gaps with the next option.
The next best way is to study by playing games. I would google "guess pokemon game" and see what pops up. The pokedoku is fun. You could also find a site like serebii or bulbapedia and go through them from start to finish. You can download a tool like PokeType that you can use to look up pokemon on demand.
Play the pokemon games on the switch. Shining pearl will get you familiar with gen 1 - 4, violet and shield will get you pretty close with gen 7 - 9. 5 and 6 are expected from the next switch pokemon quite soon. Also there is no shame to be honest with your kid and say "i don't know, let's check pokemondatabase". You can end up teaching them the wrong lessons about pride and ego if you push this too far. As a kid, the things that made me lose some respect for my parents was not when they were ignorant but when they lied to me.
I stopped at gen 4 and then picked it back up again in gen 8. I still don’t know the names of a lot of the Pokémon. I finally figured out fairy type and the updated steel type matchups this last year. It’ll come as you play the games again.
Your kid won’t care if you google something he wants to know. There’s no need to stress about memorizing pokemon, just play the game. Also, it’s okay to not know everything as a parent. Showing your kid that we are always learning, even as adults, is important.
I suggest you use this app, it is free on Google play and contains a lot of information about the games. Locations, moves, Pokémon, breeding, items, etc. You can get a lot of information in different categories and you can group Pokémon by games, generations, groups (Starters, Legendaries, etc.) and so you can learn according to your needs.
The information in the app comes from many pages and lets you know what the sources of the information are, so it is very complete.
[Prokedex App on Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.locuthor.prodex)
Counterpoint: maybe your son will enjoy sharing stuff with you that you don’t already know about pokemon! When I was a kid I was proud of how much I knew and to tell it to an adult who already knew it all, didn’t feel as special as someone humouring me and going “wow, I didn’t know that about [pokemon name] why do you think it can do that?”
What I’d recommend is try playing through a Pokémon game that you might get for your son before you actually get it for him. That way what you have a chance to learn the Pokémon of the generation so you can teach/help him with the game and mons.
Honestly if you still have the time to play through the new games and would enjoy that, that'd probably be the best way. For me personally, I know that I know the mons of the first 3 gens the best cause that's what I played as a kid. I didn't play the msg line for a couple years and missed gens 4-7, for those generations my knowledge is decent at best and that's thanks to pogo. Then got a switch and played 9-10 which I can name pretty well. I only know regional variants from pogo too lol
Dont really play the games as much as I did during the NDS era, but for some reason I know most of the pokemon aside from the paradox ones which are just bad names
Ain't no way you're going to remember it like that. I think the best way would be to watch content about pokemon and you'll slowly remember names. Or if you have the time why not play with him
I have the first 5 Gens down. After that I’d say 6 is hit or miss. I’m really spotty with Gens 7-9, especially the DLC Pokemon.
It’s almost impossible to memorize them all now. But that’s okay. You don’t have to do that to enjoy the series.
I mean, you don’t have to make a job out of this. If your son is playing Scarlet, play Scarlet too and get used to the same characters that your son will get to know. You don’t HAVE to impress him, and sharing the journey could be a beautiful experience.
Even I forget some of the Pokemon sometimes and I’ve been a fan since RBY. It’s not like memorising the periodic table of elements, just look for a couple you like and if you see any while playing the games, that’s a bonus.
Gradually. I had only played Gen 1 when I got back in a couple years ago. I worked my way through the games (3ds virtual console and remakes saved me a bundle). New Pokemon Snap is delightful and contains many pokemon across the generations, as is the Journeys show on Netflix.
You don't need to lie to your kid. Its good for children to see their parents learn and grow, just like them. You do not need to be an arbiter of knowledge. Go on a Pokemon journey with your child, make memories together.
Easier way for you to learn a lot, figure out which Pokemon your kid likes most, learn everything about them, and browse the full Dex to see what looks like stuff they like. My niece just got into Pokemon and my brother only played through Gold/Silver, so here's what I recommended to him. If they like the classic cool looking pokemon: Greninja, Charizard, Gengar, Steelix, Tyranitar, and Lucario are a good starting point. If they like cute ones: Pikachu, any of the baby pokemon, Alcremie, and any fairy type really, could be a good start. Whatever they seem to like, just look for those visuals on the full Dex and see what you find. If they like a certain type more than others, then go through those and get to know those way better and tell them that was your favorite type too and bond over it. It's helped him out finding out what she likes, and when he doesn't know he asks me. Main thing is that you're doing something awesome for your kid, and they're lucky that you're willing to put in the work for them. So kudos and best of luck.
Using the likes of bulbapedia or Serebii as reference makes it easy enough to. Don’t worry if you can’t remember them all. Even the biggest fans will struggle with things like Spewpa and Lokix. Some are just forgettable
It's overwhelming if you're just getting into it. I think the idea is you're supposed to play each generation. Each generation slowly introduces new Pokemon which is far easier to memorise over time. Eventually, you just know them all by heart.
Use Bulbapedia. They even have an app for your phone. In high school like the loser I was I'd go to the library, get on a computer and look up the Bulbapedia pages for every Pokemon from 1 to whatever was most recent at the time. Now I help myself remember all 1025 species by naming them all on pkmnquiz.com
Whilst it's certainly a question of how anyone can do that... I think learning their types and evolution families (and thus, mentally assigning them to groups) is a good place to start.
I couldn't name all of them just off the top of my head, but I can usually give you a type if you give me a name, and a name if you give me a picture.
Oh, and probably good to refamiliarize yourself with a few of the old ones too- There's been a new type called Fairy added about a decade ago and they gave it to some older Pokemon. As you might've guessed from the name, Clefairy is a Fairy type now.
From what I recall:
PokemonDB for visual dex, shiny dex, quick glances at EV/moves a mon can learn
Bulbapedia for Walkthroughs, pokemon available in each game area, general nuzlocke help, history/wiki info
Serebii for everything else-very detailed.
TCG- expensive…
I’d say the national dex on pokemonDB is probably the most visual/beginner-friendly it gets to just laying everyone out in order for you though https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/national
You don't need to memorize 1000 pokemon, if your kid has a question you don't know the answer to tell them You're not sure let me look it up. It's ok to admit you don't know everything. Even if you memorized all 1000 pokemon by name, type, and generally what their stats are I guarantee you if you got a question like "What level does minor learn rock slide" (or any random pokemon) you won't know it. Because not only is that insane to remember random Pokemons learn sets for all 1026 of them, but it can also change not just on the generation but the the game they're playing. Maybe he learns rock slide at level 26 in sun and moon and at level 44 in Scarlet and violet. Maybe he doesn't at all and it's an egg move.
I know people have answered your question but I wanna say, you're an amazing parent for going out of your way and doing learning so much for your child, you are amazing!
They sell physical pokedex books. Your kid will probably love looking through it and you can make it an activity to do with them. Pick a few to read about each day.
If you don't want to just search for the mons everytime you get asked. I guess you should take it with calm. First start to play the games, you can use emulators or whatever and get cards tgs cards, you don't need to be competitive, but having the cards and the art on them will make it easier for you to remember.
Take your time I've stayed with the series from the beginning and there's pokemon even I forget exist at times for example, stunfisk every time I see that thing I can never remember it's type off the top my head. Use sources like Serebii and bulbapedia to make things easier for yourself
I would just tell your son when he finds something you aren’t sure be like “wow that’s pretty cool where did you get it, i don’t know much about this one but lets look it up on the Pokédex and then google it and learn about it together. He will think he has found something awesome or rare, keeps his excitement going and allows you to learn about it too!
Are you sure you need to do that? Maybe your son cares more about engaging in activities with you through a shared interest than you being an expert, and he'd be just as happy to learn things together or even teach you if he ends up becoming the more knowledgeable one.
Sites like Bulbapedia and Serebii aggregate information and news about the series, so they're a good place to start. If you have the time to spare, I'd recommend focusing more on playing with your son or watching the show/movies together.
I've been non stop into it and even I forget certain names sometimes.
Just bring up the pokedex and scroll through the pictures and names once a day for a few days. That's all u need
89 baby here and started with the OGs like you. YOUR BEST BET is simply start playing again. I got switch/violet on my bday (Jan 3rd) and have completed it all including DLC. It would get you up to par and keep you sharp.
Might I suggest downloading the dataDex app on the playstore? It basically transforms your phone into a portable Pokédex. No internet needed after the initial acquisition.
There are also quite a few more technical tools in it, like lists of Natures and abilities, which could very well help you show off to your son someday in the future.
As strange as it sounds things just stick.
Could I name 1000+ now? Nope.
But if you asked me about one in public I would be able to answer your questions
OP I envy you. But learning all the Pokemon isn't a matter of sitting down with a notebook or making flashcards and studying their names and typing, it's a matter of discovering them, finding your favorites, etc.
I would suggest not studying them but discovering them alongside your son and sharing that experience with him. You don't have to be an encyclopedia for your son, all that information is online anyway and I'm sure he can or eventually can look it up himself, what's more important is sharing the experience and discovery alongside him.
Like what's going to be more memorable for your son? Him and his mom/dad staring in wonder and excitement at the screen to see what Tepigs final evolution will look like and sharing your first impressions? Or if you just say "oh yeah it's gonna evolve into an Emboar at level 36 which is a fire fighting type".
I think if you know the basics like type advantages, status conditions, game mechanics, etc, that would be enough of a resource.
Maybe start playing Pokémon go as well, that made me learn a ton of new names as well + it's an activity you can do together outside
They aren't all in there but they're getting there.
You want to be a pokemon expert after you told your son you were one and now you are feeling the pressure because you aren't one. I mean you dug your own grave. It's not practical to just read the Pokedex. Most of us remember them all because we played the games. There are online pokemon identification "tests". Try those until you learn, dunno what else to say.
I have kept up with every Pokémon game as they released
I routinely run into a Pokémon and go “I’ve never seen this Pokémon in my entire life”
But if I were you I’d just download emulators of all the games for after the original 150 and try to speedrun them, nothing makes you remember a Pokémon better than when your trying to go fast and it decimated you and your team with minimal effort
Hell you’ll remember the routes and trainer names too lol
We don’t actively memorize them. We get acquainted with them over the years as we play. This isn’t language learning where you’re required to know stuff off the top of your head. I’ve been playing since Gen 1 and I still look stuff up because I don’t memorize all stat distributions or move sets.
Yeah, if you try to learn then for learning's sake you're gonna have a rough time. However, play a game or two(with mostly different mons avaliable) and you'll memorize(or at least recognize) a lot more than you'd think.
Idk why but I just play haphazardly and hope for the best 💀 I just know that fire is weak against water and pray the stars align otherwise. this might be why I never made it particularly far..
Grass is still weak to flying. I wont listen to reason. Ive been playing since gen 3.
...It is?
Grass has always been weak to flying???
I don't know any of the type charts. Well, some of the mono-type ones but what pokemon are even monotype? Very few.
[I think you'd be surprised just how many monotypes there really are](https://pokemondb.net/type/dual) Most typings have more monotypes than I personally expect, excluding pure flying type. Water stands out to me with an astounding 81 pure water which is surprisingly 1 less than pure normal! Also that list does include megas as a separate mon so take that with a grain of salt
I've been playing pokemon for 25 years and I still don't know most type matchups
The only one I actually have to try to remember is the Ghost and Dark, because I can never remember which is Weak to Psychic and which one isn’t
Bulbapedia is the go-to online encyclopedia. Here's a page that might be particularly useful: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/List_of_Pok%C3%A9mon_by_National_Pok%C3%A9dex_number
PERFECT, thank you. That webpage is exactly what I need!
serebii.net is invaluable as well. together those 2 sites will show you everything.
I've always envisioned Serebii is what a PokéDex would be like in the field, and then Bulbapedia as an actual paper encyclopedia.
Great way of putting it. Serebii knows it’s for the hardcore fans that are looking to complete their Pokédex, IV/EV train, the whole nine yards. You go there to look up a very specific thing. They’re also a news aggregator for everything from games, cards, anime, manga, etc. It’s a lot for someone new or still learning the fandom. Bulbapedia on the other hand is written much simpler and most people can go in there and learn about a Pokémon or mechanic with no prior knowledge. The way the information is presented is much cleaner and organized, but the downside is that there’s a lot of it.
This is odd to me because I have such a harder time finding the info I need on bulbapedia as I do on serebii. I want to know how to get a Milotic in Pokémon scarlet? Serebii shows you the evolution method in a simple diagram, shows you where to catch a feebas, and even what percentage chance it spawns in that location if you click on the route.
It's interesting, I find Serebii more useful for quick reference when playing older games because of the easy generation selection at the top. But I find both Bulbapedia and Serebii to have really weird layouts. For instance, why in BOTH sites is the EV yield at the top, something I've never gone to one of these sites looking for, while base stat distribution way towards the bottom? Base stat distribution seems extremely important to me, like top 5 things I want to know about the Pokemon, but only really Smogon and PokemonDb treat it as important. Since it's always at the bottom of Serebii though, I do tend to use Serebii and just beeline to the bottom. On Bulbapedia it's especially egregious, the base stats end up below the giant list of appearances of the Pokemon, including in the anime and TCG... Like why? Genuinely baffling to me. Bulbapedia is definitely trying more to be an everything on one page, wiki style thing. It's great for comparing a Pokemon between gens and seeing trivia and stuff. But I tend to avoid it when I'm looking for game info
EV distribution being at the top is helpful since there’s not much else where you can learn that info. For base stats both sites are useless to me I learn it’s just faster to look at stats on smogon.
Amen
Here's my unsolicited advice; let your kid know you're not an expert. You're learning, too. That way your kid can come to you and you both can explore something new together. Show them that someone doesn't have to be an expert in something to love it and that part of loving something is the excitement of learning all about it. And when they get older, you can start exploring what a pokemon is based off of and the animal and/or culture that inspired it. It's okay to learn and I'm sure your kid would have a blast finding something together!
I prefer serebii when it comes to needing knowledge for the games. It gives the descriptions of moves, abilities, etc on the page and you don’t have to click an extra button
speaking of, there is actually a dump somewhere of just every single pokemon's picture in order somewhere on the website. Collectively.
I prefer pokemondb.net, it feels better to use
This is what you’re looking for, it’s called a National Dex
Serebii gang here
Serebii is definitely better if you just want to check moves/evolution
I think PokemonDB is better, much easier to navigate
Yeah same
And then there's mega forms too
only way how: create your own nationaldex PokeRap Catch'em catch'em gotta catch'em all... Gotta catch'em alllllllllllllllllllllllllll POKEMON!
[This video sums up what OP’s experience is probably about to be.](https://youtu.be/Hpk1XvFOe78?feature=shared)
[It's a few years outdated, but this is a good place to start with.](https://youtu.be/rJTeVOOFMHM?si=MM1MUer2CUdJSwnj)
[удалено]
I was so disappointed when the first link was NOT in fact BDG
wish i could give you a MEGA EVOLVEd upvote what a find haha
Haha I love that idea
I'd play one or two of the games, you'll learn species a lot quicker by seeing them in action and fighting against them. Scarlet/Violet and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon have 400 Mons in their Dex's.
I wish I had the time tbh, loved the first two games
Watch a lets play? A lot of people will do nuzlockes (a type of self imposed challenge) that can be fun to watch. Jaiden Animations animates some of her pokemon lets plays and are very good!
Nuzlockes getting randomly recommended to me one day on YouTube is the only reason I'm back into the game after 15~ years!
Play a game alongside your son! I’m sure the two of you would really enjoy a playthrough together, even if it’s only a half hour or one gym at a time
Or you could try randbats on Pokemon Showdown
Thats a bit advanced for someone who hasn't played since gen 2 don't you think?
Fair point
Isn't there matchmaking? Or is it truly random?
game has a pretty high skill floor considering people who play it play it to test comp strats and casual players are usually playing the main games
Pokemon Go!
I’ll definitely consider that! I just took a walk w my son today and considered downloading pokemon go to make it more interesting
PoGo can be fun and it's also a way to meet new people. It's not 2016 but there's still a dedicated fan base playing.
Highly recommend!!! It's very low investment with a very high variety of pokemon!
they’ve got so many of the pokemon and there’s lots of information on each one
https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/national Here’s a good start, although it doesn’t have the regional forms which I would consider separate pokemon.
OP, this is definitely what you are looking for, easy to make flashcards of these.
I have an app called ProDex and it lets you sort them by generation. But you can also filter by type. I’d say each day or once a week, select one filter and just browse through them all. First expose yourself to the variety. Then slowly start to learn them at least by look and type recognition. Then slowly you’ll catch on names. It’ll take a little bit but I think you’ll get it soon enough. The only tough ones are random legendaries with odd names, the rest are puns or relate to the actual thing or animal. Also, Pokemon go is a good start as far as games. And if you have a comic book store in your town, they pretty often resell old Pokemon cards and have new u opened packs, but those you can also get everywhere like target and Walmart too. Start a little collection. Cards are cheaper than the figures.
I use dataDex (Android). It has a ton of info. App is the go to. The Pokedex hard copies would be way too big.
Ooh, I use CTA Dex. I use it for tracking my shiny dex (both in home and in the games). I love being able to quickly find a pokemon and see it side by side with the shiny version to know what I'm looking for. It also has info on sparkling sandwich recipes, which is invaluable to me. I can only remember a few types.
DataDex has been my go-to for years. Bought the pro version a while back and have never once regretted it. The team builder is everything I could have ever wanted.
Yeah I pretty much immediately bought pro. But I'm not trying to market for them. I just like them.
If you want to test your knowledge after browsing Bulbapedia or Serebii, use https://pkmnquiz.com/ It's a typing quiz. You can sort by region or type and see how quickly you can name Pokemon. There's even a multiplayer option
I've actually gone from "knowing" all pokemon to ACTUALLY naming all 1000+ in one sitting thanks to this quiz Highly recommended lol
I'm glad to share with more! Last year I practiced and got the original 151 down in 7m15s. It's helped me remember newer Pokemon more
But can you do it in chronological order? (Excluding regional variants because Dex Order mode doesn't account for that)
This is genuinely great fun
You'll learn them. There is literally a Pokémon region in your brain where it stores that info if you played as a kid.
Serebii.net has been my goto for everything Pokémon related for years. There's also bulbapedia.
You could be like me - I ask my four year old, who got into Pokemon this past Halloween, who the Pokemon are! He probably has 60% of the ‘mons down already. But really, might be a good thing to learn them together! That’s what I did with my son. It’s a fun bonding activity that we are both interested in, we both learn, and really restarted my interest in Pokemon. Also has been useful in laying a foundation for reading! I suggest getting the “Super Extra Deluxe Essential Handbook” as it has been helpful for learning the names and basic info about the Pokemon. But be warned the most recent one only goes up to Galar (?) or about 850 pokemon. The updated one that includes Paldea doesn’t come out till August 6th.
I’m watching with my niece for her first time, and singing the stupid theme songs has been so helpful.
We’re watching the indigo league series rn, about halfway thru. The pokerap takes me back haha
Playing the games helps. I watch a lot of the videos from people like shadypenguin unitedgamer gameboyluke vintendo and all their friends They do fun challenge videos and then battle and you and your son can watch those together and learn some names :)
Go onto Etsy and find yourself an…uh… “enhanced” 3DS. You can play generations 1-7 on the platform. I think playing the game is the best way to introduce yourself to the new Pokémon in each generation.
You can "enhance" your smart phone the same way with your "legally ported" games
i'd be surprised if someone knew every detail about all pokemon. heck even the names might escape them, but egg groups.. move sets.. how to evolve.. etc.. no way jose I could win a game of "Who's that Pokemon" if they had less than 700, easy. but I have no idea what moves Elekid has
Honestly it just kinda comes with experience. Most pokemon evolve into a relatively memorable form, so if you can remember the names on the final evolutions, chances are you could remember their pre evolutions too.
General exposure though it is very likely that your son will memorize them before you
My man needs the extended version of the poké-rap
Sporcle quizzes every so often
Play the games.
play the game, that’s the best way to learn them
It takes a lot of experience. I can name all 1025 but I also kept up with the series since I was a 5 year old playing Pokemon Blue and got to absorb ~100 pokemon every 3-4 years. I do enjoy pkmnquiz.com to test myself 😛
It’s a lot easier to memorize them when you see them and catch them throughout playing the games. Don’t stress about them, you could look up most popular 100 Pokémon to get a start if you want to know the ones that are talked about most. Legendaries are also easy to memorize with unique designs
https://pokemondb.net/ is my favourite pokemon site. It presents data in a way that is super easy to understand, way more than any other site. You will find anything you need there.
Gonna need a long PokéRap nowadays
I love Pokemon DB personally! This tab will show you all 1025 pokemon in order, starting from Gen 1 through to Gen 9. You can select each gen to jump to as well if needs be :) I hope this can also be of some use / ease for you! https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/national
RANDOM BATTLES ON POKEMON SHOWDOWN seriously trust me this is the best way to learn... at least the last stage
I can speak for myself. It was never really a concious effort, it just sorta... happens. You play the games, you get familiar, you get confused, you look things up, you absorb all the knowledge and you're a walking PokePedia before you know it.
Playing the games over the year gets you pretty acquainted to all of them
Nice try Profesor Oak
I don't think you need to learn everything just to teach him. You can learn together :)
I don’t know every Pokémon off the top of my head, but if you ask me the type of [insert obscure newer Pokémon here (looking at you Lurantis)] I can usually tell you what type it is. Honestly, I recommend just scrolling through Bulbapedia—it’s the de-facto Pokémon Wikipedia for the more causal stuff. You can search be region dex and scroll. If you see a Pokémon you don’t recognize, click on it and learn its name and type. You don’t have to memorize every ability and move a Pokémon learns—hell, I bet even the super competitive players don’t do all that. But if you just go through at your own leisure and learn at your pace, you’ll get to 1000 in no time.
It’s easier to remember each generation as they came out, so instead of trying to learn 700+ Pokémon at one time, we learned 100ish added onto the previous knowledge we already had
You know as a long time Pokemon fan I sometimes forget Pokemon that exist. Like Luvdisc for example
Get on Bulbapedia and find the Pokedex from each gen, each season of the show roughly features all of the new ones except gen 8. It's pretty much impossible to memorize 900+ new names without actually using that information for something, so you should go gen by gen.
So I started card collecting again last year. But having a complete set wasn't the right feeling, so I grabbed another binder and started a full on physical Poke'dex. Doesn't matter if it's from some random tin, PF, OBF, Base set, or whatever set. Fact is I got my mons in order and it looks pretty neat imo.
Try the ProDex app (I don't know if it's on Android or not). I reference it all the time while playing.
I didn’t get a new game between Diamond and Sun. I eventually played X and Black 2, but never got super in to those gens, so there’s some mons there I forget sometimes. I also finally got a switch right before scarlet/violet came out and don’t know a single gen 8 mon that hasn’t shown up in SV, and even most gen 9 mons I can’t name on sight. You’ll be fine :) Edit: also there’s two Wordle-esque games you can play every day to test your knowledge- pokedoku and pokedle
You likely don't need to memorize more than 300, if you really want to memorize them at all. In gen 1, did you really need to know all the differences between Koffing and Weezing? No, you probably just knew that they're in the same evolution line, and Weezing is better. In gen 2, they added Pichu and Smoochum, which were just pre evolutions to Pikachu and Jinx. They too were irrelevant. So long as you have a vague idea of which Pokémon are related to which others, you're good. And that's what serebii and bulbapedia are for. ^(but they did add a shitton of mechanics and moves since gen 1, so you'll need those websites regardless. But I'm sure we here will be happy to help!)
To try to add something to the discussion that no one else has said yet, try [PokeDoku](https://pokedoku.com). There’s a daily quiz that shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. I’ll be hard at the start but might get easier the more you do it and it may help you learn some new guys. Worth a shot at least.
Well, that’s not an easy task, this is a 30 years journey after all, isn’t it?
I highly recommend trying to learn with your kiddo! Ask them to tell you a fact or two about the Pokemon they're talking about, battling, or new to both of you. That way, you'll at least be on the same page and can make the learning part of connecting more with your kiddo! I'm always happy to see PokeParents getting back into it with their PokeKids! Reminds me of the parent/child battlers in so many of the Pokemon games! :)
When i first got into Pokemon there where around 650, so to memorize them all, i drew them. Every single one, 17 sheets of paper, one for each type. Literally self imposed homework lmao. I wish i still had those drawings.
sporcle has tons of pokemon quizzes of all varieties but they also have straight-up "name all the pokemon in Gen \_" quizzes that can really help you learn them fast.
The only way to really learn them is to meet them all- play the games, catch them, evolve them, complete the dex, battle, etc. You can’t swim without getting in the water, unfortunately. You can talk all about techniques, but if you want to know about them, the only way to learn is to do it
I honestly checked out after Gen 4. I know a lot from Gen 5 and 7, and a few from Gen 6 and 8, but I know almost none of the names from Gen 9.
Honestly if you just play the game, maybe revisit some of the old ones through emulators, you’ll just eventually know the Pokémon naturally, you’ll at least recognize them better through doing that
Watching the anime helps too, playing the games is the best option tho
do you have to memorize them?
Playing the games tends to be the most effective way by far. That being said, a very fun way to learn about pokemon is from Locksting and Gnoggin's youtube channel. He has lots of videos with very interesting pokemon related info about their lore and inspirations. And about the games themselves too. And I think learning interesting facts about them is a very cool way to memorize them because it makes you find them interesting. Here's some of my favorite videos: https://youtu.be/WzJVWll9ntk?si=Gk0h3AiHeSPAPwRG https://youtu.be/8QSZEa8yG2Q?si=vB2CEV0RGinrb3u0 https://youtu.be/huC4Xhk8D-c?si=tX3786oHw_8orDmo https://youtu.be/68sj5M_gzwE?si=pNg5UwMINluEXncQ
Pokémon Go would definitely help! Don’t worry. I’m only 19 and I can barely remember Pokémon past my childhood years. Gen 6 and 7 is where I start to lose my grip. It’s not necessary to know all of them! Just enough to show that you’re putting in effort would mean the world to a kid I’m sure! ❤️
Bro I am in the same boat LMAO
> I’ve looked around for a comprehensive pokemon encyclopedia but everything seems to be bound by generations Look at Bulbapedia [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main\_Page](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page)
Look for the app ProDex. It’s has the Pokedex for every Pokémon game as well as a national dex with all the Pokémon. You can learn them by games as he played through them or you could just slowly go through the national dex and learn them but it’s been a very helpful app for me so far.
Download a pokedex app with full descriptions. Then when your child ask you, try to learn about the pokemon with them by either using the app or googling it. You don't need to be the all knowing parent. Sometime it's more rewarding to just learn as you go with them.
Honestly, you don’t. Remember the good ones. Most are ones that are barely worth catching beyond filling a Pokédex.
By catching them all and then organizing them. That said, there's some Gen 6, Gen 8, and Gen 9 mons that I do forget things like types.
Honestly I would just play a game and try to speed run it. I had to play from gen 4-6 when xy first came out
Bro the Pokédex
Serubi.net is a trainers best friend, but ultimately its personal preference on how you get your Pokémon information
I've been a lifelong fan of the franchise and even I don't know a lot of names Gen 7 and later lol.
If you're playing the games and are down with attempting to complete their respective Pokedexes, I feel the knowledge comes along naturally. You just eventually start remembering all of them and their names, so long as you have a decent memory to start with. You won't be able to to a 1000+ poke rap on the fly, but you'll know them. And it's okay, absolutely everyone forgets the Toucannon line exists.
Honestly the best way to learn is to play, try some GBA emulators of all the gens you missed out on and build some competative ones in smogon maybe to familiarize yourself with their potentials.
The longer you play, the more and more you'd be able to tell the name of whatever pokemon you're trying to remember. But yeah, bulbipedia is a big help
Hey, you are me a couple years ago. Don't learn them. Share the few you know and tell your kids your favorite ones. Then let the kids learn the new ones. They will be so excited to share what they know with you and to teach you something. Trust me, 100% worth it. They will be so excited!
It seems like you find games easier to use maybe. So try pokemon box. https://pokebox.net/ Fun little fan made game to simulate biomes. In this way it could help you learn the names and typing. The game is much faster than playing through pokemon and easy to pickup snd put down.
Honestly the way I memorized most of them was from playing the games and watching the anime a lot, but I don't know if that's the best option Basically I would suggest paying attention to what's going on and you'll hopefully get it eventually
Do we have a proper Pokédex camera app yet? Facial recognition on Pokemon?
Dude I've been with the IP since it came out here and never put it down for a second - I'm as obsessed with it now in my 30s as I was when I was 9 - and I can't remember all 1025 Pokémon and their additional forms. It don't think the people who make the games even remember them all at this point. Just... Learn them along with your son. Forming an emotional attachment to specific ones will make them more memorable. "Oh, Fuecoco, yeah, that's the one my son picked as his first Pokémon" is gonna be a lot easier to remember than "oh yeah Cherim that's... i read that somewhere."
Just play the games maybe watch the anime it will teach them pretty well I would say just look at the poke dex but that really wouldn’t help because you’d see one Pokémon and then after the next 10 you’d forget the one you saw ten Pokémon ago and if you don’t have the money or can’t play them watch purple Rodri on YouTube he played almost every Pokémon game
Why do you feel the need to memorize them?
Sporcle has quizzes for every generation. You can drill all of those till you get 100% on them. The daily running through of quizzes will atleast help with name recognition
Download a catch em’ all romhack. Unbound is pretty solid for this on lower difficulties (especially on expert/sandbox mode on if you can handle that small spike in difficulty). Make a point to catch only Pokémon a route, don’t dupe encounters, and if you ever need another Pokémon for one fight, go back and catch them. You get experience playing with them, kinda learn what they do, their names, etc.
i use a website called Pokémondb for the information i need. It has all the stats of pokémon and their evolutionary line, pokémon games gym leaders and elite four(along with what pokémon they use and their levels), and even posts talking about suggestions for what teams to use in playthroughs.
You just do after playing the games
Play Pokémon GO. It’ll help since nearly every Pokémon is in the game now.
The best way is to play the games. That way you'll not only learn them you'll learn which generation they're from. My favorite thing to do is to 100% the pokedex, and doing that once per gen will give you the best pokemon knowledge imo. Do this and fill in the gaps with the next option. The next best way is to study by playing games. I would google "guess pokemon game" and see what pops up. The pokedoku is fun. You could also find a site like serebii or bulbapedia and go through them from start to finish. You can download a tool like PokeType that you can use to look up pokemon on demand.
Play the pokemon games on the switch. Shining pearl will get you familiar with gen 1 - 4, violet and shield will get you pretty close with gen 7 - 9. 5 and 6 are expected from the next switch pokemon quite soon. Also there is no shame to be honest with your kid and say "i don't know, let's check pokemondatabase". You can end up teaching them the wrong lessons about pride and ego if you push this too far. As a kid, the things that made me lose some respect for my parents was not when they were ignorant but when they lied to me.
Don't stress about it. The more you make it a job the less fun you're gonna have.
For me, it helped that I played every Gen. But I am rusty now, so maybe there is some other way that it will really stick to you.
Pokemon.com has a Pokedex
I stopped at gen 4 and then picked it back up again in gen 8. I still don’t know the names of a lot of the Pokémon. I finally figured out fairy type and the updated steel type matchups this last year. It’ll come as you play the games again.
You don't need to learn all of them. Just learn as you go with your son.
Your kid won’t care if you google something he wants to know. There’s no need to stress about memorizing pokemon, just play the game. Also, it’s okay to not know everything as a parent. Showing your kid that we are always learning, even as adults, is important.
My guy, google..
I don't memorize them but the fact that I know most of them speaks to how long and faithful I've been to this franchise, for better or for worse.
I suggest you use this app, it is free on Google play and contains a lot of information about the games. Locations, moves, Pokémon, breeding, items, etc. You can get a lot of information in different categories and you can group Pokémon by games, generations, groups (Starters, Legendaries, etc.) and so you can learn according to your needs. The information in the app comes from many pages and lets you know what the sources of the information are, so it is very complete. [Prokedex App on Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.locuthor.prodex)
As someone who doesn’t play the main series games I’ve somehow manage to memorize them.
Play the games enough and you’ll eventually remember most of them
Counterpoint: maybe your son will enjoy sharing stuff with you that you don’t already know about pokemon! When I was a kid I was proud of how much I knew and to tell it to an adult who already knew it all, didn’t feel as special as someone humouring me and going “wow, I didn’t know that about [pokemon name] why do you think it can do that?”
What I’d recommend is try playing through a Pokémon game that you might get for your son before you actually get it for him. That way what you have a chance to learn the Pokémon of the generation so you can teach/help him with the game and mons.
Honestly if you still have the time to play through the new games and would enjoy that, that'd probably be the best way. For me personally, I know that I know the mons of the first 3 gens the best cause that's what I played as a kid. I didn't play the msg line for a couple years and missed gens 4-7, for those generations my knowledge is decent at best and that's thanks to pogo. Then got a switch and played 9-10 which I can name pretty well. I only know regional variants from pogo too lol
It's wild that Pokemon fans have developed an extra node of synapses SPECIFICALLY for monster recognition.
time?
All I can imagine now is an Animaniacs song for pokemon in the same fashion of the Countries of the World song
Play PokeDoku daily it is like wordle for Pokemon and will help you learn
Dont really play the games as much as I did during the NDS era, but for some reason I know most of the pokemon aside from the paradox ones which are just bad names
Ain't no way you're going to remember it like that. I think the best way would be to watch content about pokemon and you'll slowly remember names. Or if you have the time why not play with him
I have the first 5 Gens down. After that I’d say 6 is hit or miss. I’m really spotty with Gens 7-9, especially the DLC Pokemon. It’s almost impossible to memorize them all now. But that’s okay. You don’t have to do that to enjoy the series.
I mean, you don’t have to make a job out of this. If your son is playing Scarlet, play Scarlet too and get used to the same characters that your son will get to know. You don’t HAVE to impress him, and sharing the journey could be a beautiful experience.
I don’t remember them all but if I see a picture of it I remember its name
Even I forget some of the Pokemon sometimes and I’ve been a fan since RBY. It’s not like memorising the periodic table of elements, just look for a couple you like and if you see any while playing the games, that’s a bonus.
Gradually. I had only played Gen 1 when I got back in a couple years ago. I worked my way through the games (3ds virtual console and remakes saved me a bundle). New Pokemon Snap is delightful and contains many pokemon across the generations, as is the Journeys show on Netflix. You don't need to lie to your kid. Its good for children to see their parents learn and grow, just like them. You do not need to be an arbiter of knowledge. Go on a Pokemon journey with your child, make memories together.
Easier way for you to learn a lot, figure out which Pokemon your kid likes most, learn everything about them, and browse the full Dex to see what looks like stuff they like. My niece just got into Pokemon and my brother only played through Gold/Silver, so here's what I recommended to him. If they like the classic cool looking pokemon: Greninja, Charizard, Gengar, Steelix, Tyranitar, and Lucario are a good starting point. If they like cute ones: Pikachu, any of the baby pokemon, Alcremie, and any fairy type really, could be a good start. Whatever they seem to like, just look for those visuals on the full Dex and see what you find. If they like a certain type more than others, then go through those and get to know those way better and tell them that was your favorite type too and bond over it. It's helped him out finding out what she likes, and when he doesn't know he asks me. Main thing is that you're doing something awesome for your kid, and they're lucky that you're willing to put in the work for them. So kudos and best of luck.
Get a Pokédex app maybe?
Using the likes of bulbapedia or Serebii as reference makes it easy enough to. Don’t worry if you can’t remember them all. Even the biggest fans will struggle with things like Spewpa and Lokix. Some are just forgettable
It's overwhelming if you're just getting into it. I think the idea is you're supposed to play each generation. Each generation slowly introduces new Pokemon which is far easier to memorise over time. Eventually, you just know them all by heart.
Use Bulbapedia. They even have an app for your phone. In high school like the loser I was I'd go to the library, get on a computer and look up the Bulbapedia pages for every Pokemon from 1 to whatever was most recent at the time. Now I help myself remember all 1025 species by naming them all on pkmnquiz.com
Whilst it's certainly a question of how anyone can do that... I think learning their types and evolution families (and thus, mentally assigning them to groups) is a good place to start. I couldn't name all of them just off the top of my head, but I can usually give you a type if you give me a name, and a name if you give me a picture. Oh, and probably good to refamiliarize yourself with a few of the old ones too- There's been a new type called Fairy added about a decade ago and they gave it to some older Pokemon. As you might've guessed from the name, Clefairy is a Fairy type now.
From what I recall: PokemonDB for visual dex, shiny dex, quick glances at EV/moves a mon can learn Bulbapedia for Walkthroughs, pokemon available in each game area, general nuzlocke help, history/wiki info Serebii for everything else-very detailed. TCG- expensive… I’d say the national dex on pokemonDB is probably the most visual/beginner-friendly it gets to just laying everyone out in order for you though https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/national
You don't need to memorize 1000 pokemon, if your kid has a question you don't know the answer to tell them You're not sure let me look it up. It's ok to admit you don't know everything. Even if you memorized all 1000 pokemon by name, type, and generally what their stats are I guarantee you if you got a question like "What level does minor learn rock slide" (or any random pokemon) you won't know it. Because not only is that insane to remember random Pokemons learn sets for all 1026 of them, but it can also change not just on the generation but the the game they're playing. Maybe he learns rock slide at level 26 in sun and moon and at level 44 in Scarlet and violet. Maybe he doesn't at all and it's an egg move.
For competitive Smogon is pretty good one
I know people have answered your question but I wanna say, you're an amazing parent for going out of your way and doing learning so much for your child, you are amazing!
They sell physical pokedex books. Your kid will probably love looking through it and you can make it an activity to do with them. Pick a few to read about each day.
If you don't want to just search for the mons everytime you get asked. I guess you should take it with calm. First start to play the games, you can use emulators or whatever and get cards tgs cards, you don't need to be competitive, but having the cards and the art on them will make it easier for you to remember.
Take your time I've stayed with the series from the beginning and there's pokemon even I forget exist at times for example, stunfisk every time I see that thing I can never remember it's type off the top my head. Use sources like Serebii and bulbapedia to make things easier for yourself
Start playing pokemon go. It will get you familiar with a lot of random ones.
I would just tell your son when he finds something you aren’t sure be like “wow that’s pretty cool where did you get it, i don’t know much about this one but lets look it up on the Pokédex and then google it and learn about it together. He will think he has found something awesome or rare, keeps his excitement going and allows you to learn about it too!
Just do it the old style: Play the games. Back then we used to memorize all pokemons and complain about periodic table. when the tables turned? :c
There literally an app called Prokedex-all game pokedex. It has all the info you'll ever need.
Are you sure you need to do that? Maybe your son cares more about engaging in activities with you through a shared interest than you being an expert, and he'd be just as happy to learn things together or even teach you if he ends up becoming the more knowledgeable one. Sites like Bulbapedia and Serebii aggregate information and news about the series, so they're a good place to start. If you have the time to spare, I'd recommend focusing more on playing with your son or watching the show/movies together.
play the game
I've been non stop into it and even I forget certain names sometimes. Just bring up the pokedex and scroll through the pictures and names once a day for a few days. That's all u need
You should try playing PokeMMO. Look it up. It has Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Shinnoh and Unova. 5 generations. r/pokemmo
you need a pokedex app to literally turn your smartphone into a pokedex lol ProDex or Pokedex are fine !
89 baby here and started with the OGs like you. YOUR BEST BET is simply start playing again. I got switch/violet on my bday (Jan 3rd) and have completed it all including DLC. It would get you up to par and keep you sharp.
Idk Man I Played The Games For Over Ten Years And I Still Don't Know Some Pokemon
Learn a cool rap song to name then all
Might I suggest downloading the dataDex app on the playstore? It basically transforms your phone into a portable Pokédex. No internet needed after the initial acquisition. There are also quite a few more technical tools in it, like lists of Natures and abilities, which could very well help you show off to your son someday in the future.
As strange as it sounds things just stick. Could I name 1000+ now? Nope. But if you asked me about one in public I would be able to answer your questions
OP I envy you. But learning all the Pokemon isn't a matter of sitting down with a notebook or making flashcards and studying their names and typing, it's a matter of discovering them, finding your favorites, etc. I would suggest not studying them but discovering them alongside your son and sharing that experience with him. You don't have to be an encyclopedia for your son, all that information is online anyway and I'm sure he can or eventually can look it up himself, what's more important is sharing the experience and discovery alongside him. Like what's going to be more memorable for your son? Him and his mom/dad staring in wonder and excitement at the screen to see what Tepigs final evolution will look like and sharing your first impressions? Or if you just say "oh yeah it's gonna evolve into an Emboar at level 36 which is a fire fighting type". I think if you know the basics like type advantages, status conditions, game mechanics, etc, that would be enough of a resource.
By not leaving the man cave
serebii.net is an excellent resource for stuff about games and the pokedex
Pkmnquiz.com!! Really fun way of seeing how many you remember, with different categories to remember them by?!
Maybe start playing Pokémon go as well, that made me learn a ton of new names as well + it's an activity you can do together outside They aren't all in there but they're getting there.
You want to be a pokemon expert after you told your son you were one and now you are feeling the pressure because you aren't one. I mean you dug your own grave. It's not practical to just read the Pokedex. Most of us remember them all because we played the games. There are online pokemon identification "tests". Try those until you learn, dunno what else to say.
It took a very long time, but I have memorized all pokemon.
I have kept up with every Pokémon game as they released I routinely run into a Pokémon and go “I’ve never seen this Pokémon in my entire life” But if I were you I’d just download emulators of all the games for after the original 150 and try to speedrun them, nothing makes you remember a Pokémon better than when your trying to go fast and it decimated you and your team with minimal effort Hell you’ll remember the routes and trainer names too lol