>>34494923I'd always suggest playing Random Battles on Showdown for a while before trying to build your own team. That'll make sure you have a good understanding of what stats do, what moves do, priority, status, entry hazards, type advantages etc. Obviously you'll know most of that from main-game, but chances are you won't have a good understanding of what's important and what isn't, since main-game is just choosing big attacks until you win
From there, make your own team for OU or VGC or whatever it is you want to play. You'll be shit at first, but look at what your opponents are using and try whatever they have that covers your weaknesses.
I really don't get why people always want to read guides or watch YouTubers. It's slower and less effective than just playing yourself. The only thing that you can't really learn from that is EV spreads.
Don't try playing on cartridge unless you really want to do VGC and already know what you're doing
