Distinguishing Game Elements

The Pokémon games offer many elements for the player (Trainer), many of which are unique. However, there have been instances of game elements that are very similar to one another, making them hard to be differentiated or distinguished from one another, even for those who are experts. The execution of this process then relies on looking out for specific characteristics, which also becomes the challenge for its completion.

A few Shiny Pokémon have coloring that are not terribly different from their non-Shiny counterparts; an example of this is Slowpoke, with its Shiny form being of a brighter color but otherwise sharing mostly the same appearance. When dealing with Pokémon such as this one, it would be very helpful to pay attention to other indicators such as the Shiny marker, or be able to somehow segregate that which is Shiny and that which is not. Otherwise, it could be easy to lose track of them.

In early generations, the cries of some Pokémon are very similar and virtually indistinguishable (a notable example being Caterpie and Goldeen). This problem was highlighted in a guessing game that involved first-generation Pokémon cries, though fortunately the cry was not included in it. One cannot really do much about this, especially as the cries are retained even today; for the generations of concern, it can only mean that the cries cannot be the sole differentiator, unless either Pokémon are excluded somehow as above. Whether this can happen would surely depend on the situation.

Pokémon Go has a minor differentiation problem regarding its Gyms (and to some extent PokéStops), in that if they're close by and of the same colors, further with similar or hard-to-discern titles, it can be hard to pick out specific ones. For the proximity problem, the trick is to tap its pole or its base, not its head. For the specific case of Gyms, it may be easier instead to call them out by colors (like "red Gym" and "blue Gym"), and if necessary to take over one by someone of a different team. This latter practice works especially well if a Raid Hour or Raid Day is incoming and a Trainer can be enlisted to do so. The solutions are small but also incredibly effective.

Pokémon has a lot of elements in the games, but sooner or later, some of them are bound to resemble one another, possibly even very closely, as above. Any player or Trainer has to be able to eventually look out for ways to distinguish or differentiate them, and that surely has to be a marker for greater success in different ways as well.

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