Luck definitly plays an enormous role in Pokemon. Gambler, Pokeball,
Recycle, Sleep!, and Digger are the Trainers I can recall off-hand. And a
good half of Pokemon attacks also involve large amounts of coin-flipping
madness. Kangaskhan? Exeggutor? Electabuzz? Then there's card-drawing, too.
That is also an aspect of deciding a game.

I'm going to try to figure out how much luck goes into a Pokemon game, for
either player, and how much is deckbuilding/playing skill. Let's satrt with
card drawing, since that is the least obvious.

You have a 1 & 2/3% chance of drawing one specific card at any given time.
Add another card, and that percentage jumps up to 3 and 1/3%. Having four
cards makes the percentage 6 & 2/3%.

The key card in your deck is Professor Oak. Naturally, you've got four in
there. In your opening hand you have 46 & 2/3% chance of getting one. Let's
say you get one in your opening hand. You now have 3 Oaks in a deck of 53
cards.

Your chance of getting an Oak as the next card is about 6%. Your chance of
stuffing an Oak in your prizes is about 34%. Let's say you put one in there,
too.

Now you have 2 Oaks hidden in a deck of 47 cards. Your chance of getting one
with any given card is about 4%. Drawing one with your current Oak is about
30%.

So you can see how picking one card, even if you have 4 of them, is rather
slim. I don't even want to think about evolutions.

Anyway, If my math is faulty, or you have something valid to say, please
e-mail me at powershadow5k@hotmail.com

Thoughtless flame-mail can go to somewhereinsiberia@nowhere.net

~Kyrin