LGPE Tips and Tricks

Introduction

Although Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, or LGPE as they will be referred to throughout this article, seem to be fairly straightforward games, there's much more than might meet the eye! Looking beyond the surface, there are several quirks that the player can take advantage of to maximize how much of their game can be explored. Some of the most unique niches in any Pokémon game can be found in LGPE, and this article will provide you with all the tips and tricks you need to get the most out of the games. It's important to note that certain features of the games are exclusive depending on whether you're playing them on a Switch or a Switch Lite.

Before beginning your adventure through Kanto, you will be given a starter Pokémon that depends on your version—Pikachu in Let's Go, Pikachu! or Eevee in Let's Go, Eevee! Both of these starters will have 31 IVs in every stat. Throughout the game, you will continue to find move tutors across the region that will teach your starter Pokémon incredibly powerful moves. These moves are only able to be taught to your starter; a random Pikachu or Eevee you catch will not be able to learn these moves.

Below are the moves that can be taught to the starter Pikachu and starter Eevee at Cerulean City, Celadon City, and Fuchsia City, along with Pika Papow and Veevee Volley, which do not have to be taught at all:

Cerulean City

Celadon City

Fuchsia City

In battle

In order to get Pika Papow or Veevee Volley to appear, be sure to play with your partner Pokémon frequently, both to increase the likelihood of these moves appearing and to power them up further. These moves will not take up a moveslot, and they are incredibly powerful, so be sure to use them often. It's important to note that both Pika Papow and Veevee Volley cannot be accessed in the Switch's handheld mode or on the Switch Lite. These moves are motion-sensitive and require the Joy-Con to be shaken, which can't be done in handheld mode, or is simply impossible in the case of the Switch Lite, as there are not detachable Joy-Cons.

The special tutor moves found across different cities are also incredibly useful assets to your starter Pokémon, and finding the right combination will ease your journey greatly. For example, learning either Zippy Zap or Buzzy Buzz will help you versus Misty. All of these moves are able to be taught by Ace Trainers in the Pokémon Centers of the cities listed above. There is no fee or cost to learn these moves, and they are able to be relearned. Unlike the special in-battle moves, these tutor moves do take up a moveslot.

Another important thing to consider when starting your journey is how you're going to plan your adventure. Just like other games that take place in Kanto, LGPE is not a linear game. After defeating Misty in Cerulean City, the player is able to navigate to the following five gyms: the Vermilion City Gym, the Celadon City Gym, the Fuchsia City Gym, the Saffron City Gym, and the Cinnabar Island Gym. Firstly, you can obtain the Chop Down Secret Technique on the S.S. Anne, which allows you to skip the Vermilion City Gym and head to Celadon City. After clearing the missions in Lavender Town, continue to navigate until you reach Fuchsia City, where you are able to learn the Strong Push and Sea Skim Secret Techniques, which allow you to reach Cinnabar Island. Finally, head back to Saffron City after receiving Tea from Brock in Celadon City, and you will have access to badges three to seven at your disposal. To quickly defeat these Gym Leaders, you are able to catch Articuno in the Seafoam Islands, or Zapdos in the Power Plant, or both.

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Gym Requirements

Before even being able to challenge Gym Leaders across the Kanto region, there are several roadblocks to overcome before entering each Gym, which you can find listed below:

Gym	Requirement
Pewter City	Have a Grass- or Water-type Pokémon in your party.
Cerulean City	Have a Pokémon Level 15 or higher in your party.
Vermilion City	Have learned the Chop Down Secret Technique.
Celadon City	Have a cute Pokémon in your party.
Fuchsia City	Have at least 50 species registered to your Pokédex.
Saffron City	Have a Pokémon level 45 or higher in your party.
Cinnabar City	Have retrieved the Secret Key from the Pokémon Mansion.
Viridian City	Have defeated Team Rocket, gained all seven badges, and received Mega Stones from Professor Oak.

Here are some tips on how to meet these requirements quickly:

• Pewter City Gym—For easiest entry, catch an Oddish (LGP) or a Bellsprout (LGE) on Route 1 before proceeding.
• Cerulean City Gym—Be sure to take on the Nugget Bridge and all of the Trainers on Route 24. This will get you to the required level, and it will hopefully evolve your Pokémon to ensure you are better equipped to take on Misty.
• Vermilion City Gym—You will need to have completed the S.S. Anne saga to learn this technique, so do this as soon as possible and be sure to battle the Trainers there as well so you're ready for Lt. Surge.
• Celadon City Gym—Either Pikachu or Eevee will allow you to access this Gym; however, it is recommended to stop in the Pokémon Center with a Sandshrew in LGP (found on Route 3 and Route 4) or a Vulpix in LGE (found on Routes 5, 6, 7, and 8) and trade it for its Alolan forme. The Ice-type which both share will be helpful in defeating Erika, who specializes in Grass-types.
• Fuchsia City Gym—This requirement does not mean to catch, for example, 50 Eevee before entering the Gym; you will have to catch 50 unique species, or 50 Pokémon with different Pokédex numbers. To accomplish this, catch as many Pokémon as you can while making your way to this Gym so you don't have to backtrack.
• Saffron City Gym—After defeating Team Rocket, you will have gained a lot of experience. Through battling Trainers leading up to this point, you will likely have a Pokémon level 45 or higher. In the situation that you do not, Route 7 to the west of Saffron City has the highest leveled Pokémon near the location, which you can fight to gain more experience.
• Cinnabar City Gym—Complete the Pokémon Mansion mission upon entering the city.
• Viridian City Gym—What is key to getting into this Gym is to have gained access to Mega Stones, so be sure to stop back in Pallet Town and check in with Professor Oak after fulfilling the other requirements. Upon doing so, the Viridian City Gym will finally open and you can battle Giovanni.

As stated previously, LGPE is not a linear game, and thus these Gyms can be quickly cleared if you advance to a point of catching either Articuno or Zapdos, or both.

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Farming Money

One of the most efficient ways to quickly earn money in LGPE is to challenge the Elite Four with multiple Persian that know Pay Day. Unfortunately, this method is best utilized in the Switch's docked mode because in this mode you are able to de-sync your controllers to call for a partner. In doing so, you can have two Persian on the field at a time that can repeatedly use Pay Day to expedite the process of farming money. Even in handheld mode or on the Switch Lite, this method is still highly efficient. It is recommended that you have at the very least two Persian, if not a full team of them. Be sure to use PP Maxes, which can be found as regenerating items in Cerulean Cave, to maximize the number of times you are able to use Pay Day. It is also worth noting that Agatha will have three Ghost-type Pokémon upon rematching her, so having a Dark-type move on your Persian is necessary, since you cannot use Pay Day on them. There are two options—Persian learns Bite at Level 6 or it can opt for Dark Pulse, which can be taught with TM20.

There are two daily events that will also award you easy and quick money, and they can be exploited as well. The first of these is in the Warden's house in Fuchsia City, where a Diglett resides behind a boulder that requires Strong Push to access. Upon interacting with the Diglett, it will give you a Nugget, which sells for 5,000 Poké Dollars. Another daily repeatable method is watching a lady's Slowpoke in Pewter City while she is away. Doing so will reward the player with a Big Pearl, which sells for 3,000 Poké Dollars. These events can be redone daily; however, it is possible to exploit time skipping to gain these items infinitely to gain money quickly. In order to do so, open your in-game menu and navigate to "Communicate," then "Play With Others," and finally "Faraway Player." From here, input any code you'd like. While searching, exit out of the game and go to "Time and Date" in your Switch settings under "System" and advance by one day. When you enter the game again, you will be able to immediately interact with the Diglett again or repeat the Slowpoke event. Do note that this requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

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Natures, IVs, and Hyper Training

Natures

Madam Celadon resides in the Celadon Pokémon Center, and she is able to set the nature of all Pokémon that you will encounter through the day (including legendaries!). She will be to the left with an Abra by her side, and she will charge you 10,000 Poké Dollars per nature change. In order to change natures, she will ask you which flower to water (the positively affected stat) and which flower to thin out (the negatively affected stat). It is important to note that this effect does not last for 24 hours, but instead until the clock rolls over midnight for the day you've set the natures. Changing the time back will allow you to keep the nature you're searching for without penalty.

Here are the correlating stats to which flowers you choose to either water or wilt:

Flower	Correlating Stat
Red	Attack
Yellow	Defense
Blue	Special Attack
Green	Special Defense
Pink	Speed

And here are the most likely combinations you will be searching for:

Desired Nature	Watered Flower	Thinned Out Flower
Adamant	Red	Blue
Modest	Blue	Red
Jolly	Pink	Blue
Timid	Pink	Red
Bold	Yellow	Red
Impish	Yellow	Blue
Calm	Green	Red
Careful	Green	Blue
Brave	Red	Pink
Quiet	Blue	Pink
Relaxed	Yellow	Pink
Sassy	Green	Pink

IVs exist in LGPE as they do in other games, and to view them, the IV Judge function must be unlocked by encountering one of Oak's Assistants on the second floor of the building that connects Route 11 to Route 12. After registering 30 unique Pokémon species in your Pokédex, he will give you access to the Judge function. To check your Pokémon's IVs, view them in your party and press "Y." Below is what each of the different phrases mean:

Description	IV Range
Best	31
Fantastic	30
Very Good	21-29
Pretty Good	11-20
Decent	1-10
No Good	0

Hyper Training is the action exchanging either a Bottle Cap or a Golden Bottle Cap to maximize a Pokémon's imperfect IVs to as if they were 31. One Bottle Cap will raise one stat, while one Golden Bottle Cap will raise every stat. These can be given to Mr. Hyper, who resides in the Pokémon Day Care Center on Route 5. An easy way to farm Golden Bottle Caps is by battling Mina in Vermilion City after you've beaten the Champion. She specializes in Fairy-types, and upon defeating her, she will give you a Golden Bottle Cap. Don't underestimate her, however, as her team has a Mr. Mime that will set up both Reflect and Light Screen, making defeating the rest of her team challenging. It might seem wise to bring Magneton to handle the Fairy-types that Mina uses, but do be warned that she carries a Wigglytuff that has Flamethrower. Snorlax is a solid choice to battle Mina with, as she only uses special attackers and Snorlax is not hit super effectively by any attack Mina will use. Mina can be battled once a day, and using the time skipping method will also allow you to quickly gather Golden Bottle Caps to Hyper Train your Pokémon.

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Catch Combos

Some IVs can be guaranteed to be perfect through creating a Catch Combo with a Pokémon, otherwise known as a chain, by catching the same Pokémon over and over. After each catch, text at the bottom of the screen will let you know how long your chain is. When your Combo is 0 to 10, no IVs are guaranteed to be perfect. However, once your Combo is in the range of 11 to 20, you will have 2 guaranteed perfect IVs; when it is in the range of 21 to 30, you will have 3 guaranteed perfect IVs; and when your Combo reaches 31 and above, you will have 4 guaranteed perfect IVs. This makes catching Pokémon with amazing IVs very easy, and coupled with Madam Celadon, you can even control the nature of the Pokémon you are hunting. It is important to note that these guaranteed IVs only apply to the Pokémon you are chaining; they will not be guaranteed on any Pokémon outside of the chain. Here is the correlation between your Catch Combo and guaranteed IVs:

Catch Combo	Number of Guaranteed Perfect IVs
0-10	0
11-20	2
21-30	3
31+	4

Through raising your Catch Combo higher and higher, you also increase the odds of Pokémon of the same species in the chain appearing, along with rare spawns such as Lapras having higher odds to appear. For more information on shiny hunting in LGPE, be sure to check out this guide written by snow.

To get a Catch Combo started, find an area that the Pokémon you're seeking spawns in the most frequently and keep catching them for as long as you can. It's advised to stock up on Lures as well, as they cause more Pokémon to spawn and also increase the odds of a Shiny Pokémon appearing. Bringing along Berries for more difficult Pokémon, such as Porygon, is also a smart idea because, if a Pokémon flees, the Catch Combo will be broken and you will have to begin again. Another occurrence that will break the Catch Combo is closing out of the game (as in, fully shutting down the game; Sleep Mode on your Switch will not break the chain). More commonly, though, chains can be broken by catching a different Pokémon than that being chained. For example, if you have a chain of 40 Pidgey and catch a Pidgeotto, the chain will break and you will have to start again. Fighting a Trainer or moving between routes will not cause the chain to break.

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Cerulean Cave

The classic Cerulean Cave, home of the legendary Mewtwo, has glitter scattered across the second floor that has more dazzle than meets the eye. Each of these spots contains rare items, of which the most notable is the Master Ball. Beyond this incredibly rare Poké Ball, the player can also find Golden Berries for easier catching and any of the available fossils. Golden Berries can be sold for high prices as well. These glittering spots are so special because they re-spawn through various ways, both time-based and step-based, which means you are able to, theoretically, have an infinite amount of Master Balls.

Beyond items, Chansey lingers on the second floor of Cerulean Cave. Although Chansey is able to spawn across nearly every route, it has a guaranteed 10% chance to spawn in Cerulean Cave, making this the most efficient place to level up your Pokémon. Chansey rewards the highest amount of Exp. Points per capture in the entire game; optimizing Exp. Points modifiers, chains, and, if possible, de-syncing your controllers can allow your Pokémon to level up absurdly fast. Certain methods of capture, such as capturing on the first throw or landing an "Excellent" throw, add modifiers to the base Exp Points that is gained upon defeat. These modifiers stack with the experience boost that is gained from chaining Chansey as well. There are some other modifiers to consider as well—all of large, extra large, small, and extra small Chansey will give an extra bonus, and thus having a solid supply of Max Lures to increases the odds of different sized Chansey appearing is beneficial in the long run. Lastly, it is recommended to de-sync your controllers if you are able to, as there is an additional bonus for using two controllers over one. Don't be discouraged if you play in handheld mode on the Switch or have a Switch Lite, however, as the Exp. Points gained through this method will be staggeringly high regardless. With all modifiers added together, catching a single Chansey can reward the player with upwards of 90k Exp. Points, a much larger amount of Exp. Points than Blissey Bases from ORAS.

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Conclusion

Now that you're well-equipped to explore the deeper parts of what seems to be a rather surface-level game, be sure to test some of these strategies and tricks out! You can find many amazing and unique things in LGPE, such as Teleport Magmar and Calm Mind Pikachu, that cannot be found elsewhere. With these tips, you'll be set to find these Pokémon with great IVs and the correct nature, and much more!