So you've decided that using the calculator is boring, and would like to learn to battle with the best of them, without the aid of such mindless machines. I congratulate you, and assure you that you will learn how to make the most of your Pokemon during all battles, and rise through the ranks be one of the best!

So here is how to battle...

A GCEA Battle can be broken down into three stages.

1. The setup
2. The calculations
3. The final sum

1. The Set Up
Put simply this is where you fill in the first half of the form. Putting in your Pokemon, your opponents, and both of their points. Simple as that.

2. The Calculations
This is where it gets tricky, and scares most people! But follow me and you will be laughing.

There are two pieces of reading material that you need for this. Firstly, the Bonus Table:
Spoiler:

- If the disadvantaged pokemon is under Lv. 5, there is no bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
- If the disadvantaged Pokémon is Lv.6 to Lv. 10, there will be a-5 bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
- If the disadvantaged Pokémon is at or above Lv. 11 and below Lv. 21, there will be a -7 bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
- If the disadvantaged Pokémon is at or above Lv. 21 and below Lv. 31, there will be a -9 bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
- If the disadvantaged Pokémon is at or above Lv. 31 and below Lv. 41, there will be a -11 bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
- If the disadvantaged Pokémon is at or above Lv. 41 and below Lv. 51, there will be a -13 bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
- If the disadvantaged Pokémon is at or above Lv. 51 and below Lv. 61, there will be a -15 bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
- If the disadvantaged Pokémon is at or above Lv. 61 and below Lv. 71, there will be a -17 bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
- If the disadvantaged Pokémon is at or above Lv. 71 and below Lv. 81, there will be a -19 bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
- If the disadvantaged Pokémon is at or above Lv. 81 and below Lv. 91, there will be a -21 bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
- If the disadvantaged Pokémon is at or above Lv. 91 and at or below Lv. 100, there will be a -23 bonus for the disadvantaged pokemon.
*Bonuses depend on the Pokemon Current Points! Not its Overall Point Total!


and secondly the evolution table
Spoiler:


Excuse how messy it is. MS Paint isn't fun...


The third thing you need is a knowledge of type Matchups, however they can be found on the Bulbapedia page.

Here are some things to note before we begin:
1. The list of bonus values above, is based on the disadvantaged Pokemon's CURRENT POINTS. Not their overall total. This means that if there are multiple bonuses (for example, an evolution bonus and a type advantage), the bonus value can change.
2. A Pokemon cannot have it's points brought below five by bonuses. For example, if I have a Mankey Vs an Aron, both on fifteen points, the bonuses against Aron (Fighting>Steel, Fighting>Rock) will total to -12 to Aron, however it will only be -10 as the bonus cannot bring Aron below 5 points.
3. When reading the evolution chart, you are finding a multiplier. The colour of the cell will determine the value of the multiplier, and the symbol (+/-) will determine who the bonus is against. If the symbol is "-", then the opposing Pokemon will lose points. If the symbol is "+", your Pokemon will lose points.
4. When calculating type bonuses, you are taking into account type advantages and immunities only. Disadvantages are not counted. So in addition to the standard Type 1 Vs Type 2 advantages, you have the following:
Immunities
Normal>Ghost
Ghost>Normal (these two do not cancel out, so don't look past them)
Ghost>Fighting
Flying>Ground
Ground>Electricity
Steel>Poison
Fairy>Dragon
Shadow Types
Shadow Pokemon have appeared in GCEA before and may appear again. Shadow types are fearsome creatures, who have advantage over all standard types. They are neutral to other Shadow Types, and Weak to light types.
Light Types
Light Type Pokemon are the weapon against Shadow Pokemon. They are neutral to all types of Pokemon except Shadow Pokemon, over which they carry an advantage.
5. Because of the way GCEA battling works, don't not calculate bonuses where they may appear to cancel out (eg Swampert Vs an electric type, Dragon Vs Dragon, Ghost Vs Ghost, Ghost Vs Normal, Normal Vs Ghost). Because the bonus is based on current points, they will very rarely cancel out perfectly, and there will probably end up being a bonus. There will be an example of this later.

3. The final Sum
This is where your Pokemon go kamikaze against one another. After you have derived their points after bonus, you simply subtract your points from your opponents points and vice versa. If a pokemon hits 0, it faints.

That is a lot of text and very confusing. So here is an example.

Aggron (25) Vs Mankey (25)

1. The setup.

Let's get the first part of our form filled in.

Your Pokemon: Aggron
Opposing Pokemon: Mankey
Your Pokemon's Points: 25
Opposing Pokemon's Points: 25
Bonuses
Your Pokemon's Remaining Points:
Opposing Pokemon's Remaining Points:

And with that, step one is complete.

2. The calculations.
This is where it can seem tricky, however I find it easier to break this into five substeps (in this order)
1. The evolution Bonus
2. Type 1 Vs Type 1
3. Type 1 Vs Type 2
4. Type 2 Vs Type 1
5. Type 2 Vs Type 2

1. The evolution bonus
The first step is to determine what sort of bonus there will be. To do this, consult the chart. In this case, the chart shows a -2 multiplier. "-" means the opponent will be the one to lose points, and 2 means that the bonus will be multiplied by 2.

So now we have our multiplier it is time to find the value of the bonus. Mankey (The disadvantaged Pokemon) is at Level 25, which means its bonus is -9. So 2(the multiplier from the chart) times by 9 (the bonus based off of Mankeys level) is 18. So after step 1, Aggron is at 25, and Mankey is at 7 (25-18=7)

2. Type 1 Vs Type 1
In this case, Type 1 of Aggron is steel and type 1 of Mankey is fighting. Fighting has an advantage over steel. When looking this up on Bulbapedia, look on the pages for the type, as opposed to the pages for the Pokemon, as the pages for the Pokemon will not show advantages that cancel out in game, and cancelling out in game and in GCEA is different. So in this case, instead of looking for Aggron on Bulbapedia and checking it there, you should instead look for Steel Type on Bulbapedia and check it there.

Anyway, Fighting has an advantage over steel meaning, that Aggron is the disadvantaged Pokemon. Aggron is still at 25 points, so the bonus will be -9 points to Aggron. So after step 2, Aggron is on 16 points, and Mankey is on 7 points.

3. Type 1 Vs Type 2
In this case, Mankey doesn't have a second type, so we skip this step.

4. Type 2 Vs Type 1
Type 2 of Aggron is rock, and type 1 of Mankey is fighting. Fighting has an advantage over Rock, meaning that Aggron is the disadvantaged Pokemon. Aggron is currently on 16 points, so according to the list of bonuses, Aggron will have a -7 bonus leaving it on 9 points. At the end of step 4 Aggron is on 9 points and Mankey is on 7.

5. Type 2 Vs Type 2
Mankey doesn't have a second type, so this step is skipped.

Once you have completed these five steps, total the amount of points lost to each Pokemon.
-16 Aggron, -18 Mankey
Now we can put that in the form.

Your Pokemon: Aggron
Opposing Pokemon: Mankey
Your Pokemon's Points: 25
Opposing Pokemon's Points: 25
Bonuses: Aggron (-16), Mankey (-18)
Your Pokemon's Remaining Points:
Opposing Pokemon's Remaining Points:

3. The Final Sum
Now that bonuses have been applied, it is as simple as deducting each Pokemon's points from it's opponents.
Aggron is on 9 points, and Mankey is on 7
This leaves Aggron on 2 points (9-7=2) and Mankey on 0, and therefore fainted (7-9=-2)

And that is it! That is how you battle without the calculator!

I will provide a few more examples in the posts below in order to demonstrate concepts.

Feel free to use the calculator until you are comfortable but if you feel up to it, I'd recommend having a go at learning this. It will show you ways to win battles that the calculator won't.