Pokémon X and Y Pokédex Strategy Guide Review

It took several months after the game and first strategy guide released for us to receive the last half of the guide for Pokémon X and Y. My first review for the main story portion of this game is right here, but I was not happy that it was half of a guide. Sadly, the long wait was more to test out patience than to provide something full of quality to reward the wait.

The first 92-pages cover the side quests and activities that are missing from the first guide. Yes, 92-pages is all it takes to cover what is left of ancillary fun in the game. It is hard to swallow that little bit had to wait this long and could not be included in the prior guide.

What is in those first few pages is rather decent. The various events, unknown locations, and egg mechanics are all here. I found the portion on breeding Pokémon completely lacked anything pertaining to the changes made in X and Y. What is listed only pertains to the prior games, Pokémon Black & White/Pokémon Black & White 2. There is no mention of how abilities or Pokéballs pass onto offspring. This is a big oversight and will certainly leave readers thumbing through the pages trying to find information that is not there..

The bulk of the guide goes to the Pokédex itself. This provides a hefty amount of information on the 450 Pokémon found in the three areas of Kalos. Yet it still lacks the information on what is located in places such as Rattata. That means just over half of the Pokémon out of the some 750 known to exist are actually listed.

What is here is detailed enough to help form a good battle strategy. Evolutions, moves, and vital information abound. There are even breakdowns for what each Pokémon looks like (male and female) from the front, side, and rear. There is a small area in the middle of each listing stating where and how to capture it based on based on the game version.

The last part of the guide is chock full of tables detailing aspects such as berries, moves, and items. It’s a nice way to quickly reference questions as they come up without having to flip through two strategy guides worth of information.

Much like the first Pokémon X/Y strategy guide, this is only half of a guide. The fact that it took months for this to release and it still lacks information is inexcusable, and not something I can overlook. Yes, this guide is $19.99USD, but that is in addition to the cost of having to acquire the first book for the main quest coverage along with prior Pokédexs. I know that covering every Pokémon and all the nuances of this game might be daunting, but if I am buying a guide to look at EVERY THING I CAN DO, I expect it to be there. My advice, buy the first guide, skip this one, and find one of the plentiful websites or phone/tablet apps to aid you in your quest to collect them all. Most of these give as good, if not better details, on every Pokémon that exists, and are free in most cases.

SGR Rating 2/5

Author: The Pokémon Company International
Publisher: The Pokémon Company International
Editions Available: Paperback
Acquired via Publisher