Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee are terrific entries in the long-running series of games that brilliantly migrate the franchise to the Switch while also incorporating features form the incredibly popular Pokémon GO mobile game. On top of being some of the most visually impressive Pokémon games to date, they also offer a solid blend of content for players both new to and familiar with the series. The mechanics in the Pokémon Let’s Go games are simple enough that newcomers can pick them up pretty easily, and there are enough winks and references to the franchise’s extensive lore to keep veteran players invested.   

However, there’s still plenty of room for error in Pokémon’s first mainline entry on home consoles. Even if progressing through the Kanto region is easier than it has ever been before, some arcane design elements can easily trip up new players. The alterations from the original Pokémon Yellow might also trip up those who beat the original games back in the day. Even if it’s pretty easy to get through the Pokémon Let’s Go games, there are still a lot of less efficient habits a player can fall into or enriching parts of the games they can accidentally overlook.

To remedy this, and hopefully enhance a playthrough, this list will go through the 25 most common mistakes and bad habits that pop up during a playthrough of Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee. Watching out for these items will help make the road to becoming a Pokémon Master quite a bit smoother and shorter.

Here are Everything Players Are Doing Wrong In Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu And Let’s Go Eevee.

Skipping The Starter Trio

Just like in the original Pokémon Yellow, a player can find a Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle based on the ones Ash catches in the anime. A protective Bulbasaur is given to the player in Cerulean City, an unwanted Charmander is found just north of Nugget Bridge, and a mischievous Squirtle is given away in Vermillion City.

Considering that these gifted monsters have nearly perfect stats and that they round out the typing a party, skipping these monsters is a grave error. Wanting to catch every monster yourself is irable, but for some, you need to take a freebie or two, or three.

Not Utilizing The Pokédex

The Pokédex, a digital encyclopedia of Pokémon that a player fills out over the course of their journey, is a staple of the series. A player receives the device shortly after starting their adventure, and it provides interesting tidbits of information whenever a player catches a monster for the first time.

However, it also provides some extremely useful tips that most players overlook. Just by seeing a monster once, either in battle or the wild, will log its habitat in the Pokédex. This means that the device will let players know exactly where they need to go for a chance at catching some of the rarest and coolest monsters in the games.  

Staying On The Beaten Path

It’s really easy to just progress linearly through the Pokémon Let’s Go games. Most routes are rather simple and straightforward and there aren’t too many locations where a player would think to return to after clearing an area. However, there are just enough secrets hidden throughout these games that make exploring worthwhile.

All of the legendary birds are hidden just out of site and the fabled Mew truck is still waiting for players who think to return to Vermillion City once they gain the ability to traverse water. These secrets helped make Pokémon the franchise it is today, and missing them cuts out a major part of the Pokémon experience.

Procrastinating On Coach Trainers

Coach trainers are new additions to the Pokémon Let’s Go games that offer more of a challenge, and more of a reward, than most run of the mill opponents. Coach trainers usually have more monsters in their party than the surrounding trainers and will have a strategy based on a specific move or theme.

Defeating them will earn a trainer a TM, several Rare Candies, or another useful item. Even if the challenge can be daunting with a party weakened by several previous battles, it’s important to take on coach trainers as soon as possible, as their rewards are usually helpful in situations and battles.

Walking Everywhere

While there aren’t any running shoes or bikes in the Pokémon Let’s Go games to speed up getting from place to place, players are able to ride on certain Pokémon for faster travel. As early as Vermillion City players will discover that they can move through the world faster by riding larger monsters like Arcanine and Persian.

A player can even ride on some flying Pokémon for even faster travel and, after they defeat the Elite Four, they can literally soar over most obstacles that block their path. Sometimes it’s nice to take things slow, but for those in a hurry, riding monsters is the way to go.

Paying For Pokéballs

Unlike previous Pokémon games, NPCs will give players Pokéballs in addition to prize money when the player defeats them in battle. This means that, unless you're specifically catching monsters to grind for levels or hunting for a Pokémon with perfect stats, you really don’t need to purchase Pokéballs in the course of normal gameplay.

Preparing for every eventuality is a big part of most Pokémon games, but with trains in the Let’s Go games giving a player items after every victory, you really don’t need to stock up in Pokémarts as much as a player needed to in games past.

Changing Teams For Different Dungeons

In older Pokémon games it made sense for a player to rotate out their party to compensate for the different monsters they’d run into in different parts of the game. For instance, you’d want to bring a Water or Grass-type monster if you were going into a cave where you’d likely run into lots of rock and Ground-type Pokémon.

However, you don’t need to do that anymore in the Pokémon Let’s Go games since wild Pokémon battles are only tied to specific event monsters. This means that players can instead focus on raising the monsters that they like, instead of trying to give themselves the advantage in battle.

Not Turning In Extra Pokémon

Just like in Pokémon GO, in the Let’s Go games a player can turn any monster they catch into the professor for candy. These candies are useful in powering up a specific monster’s stats and making them an even greater threat in battle.

Since the Let’s Go games encourage a player to catch as many monsters as possible, this means there are plenty of opportunities to trade monsters in for some sweet candy. Considering that the vast majority of monsters are just going to end up sitting in a PC box anyway, this is actually a pretty good mechanic that makes every bit of effort put into catching monsters feel even more worthwhile.

Not Using Candies

You can get through the entirety of Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu or Let’s Go Eevee without giving any of your Pokémon a single piece of candy. But then you’d be denying them some easy stat buffs and some delicious treats too.

Candies of any type are tremendously useful in quickly boosting your monsters stats and level, making even newly acquired Pokémon a viable choice in battles. These stat boosts are even big enough to compensate for significant level differences, meaning that even under-leveled Pokémon can contribute if given enough candy.

Catching Pokémon Out Of Sequence

Catching Pokémon is easier than ever before in the Let’s Go games, but there is a useful trick in making some of the best and rarest pocket monsters spawn more quickly. By catching the same kind of monster repeatedly, a player will start a catching combo.

As this chain of catches grows, so does the likelihood of rare monsters appearing and monsters in the sequence having perfect, or near perfect, stats. Continuing a catching chain also makes it more likely for shiny monsters to appear. You don’t have to catch Pokémon in a sequence, but ignoring this feature deprives a player of some rare and shiny monsters.