Get Level 1 entry on a section as Nav
To expand on my comment you could do this:

In templates/_pages/index.twig you would do:

{% include '_pages/_types/_' ~ entry.type %}

Then create a folder in /templates/_pages/ called _types in it use, an example _standard.twig in which "standard" coincides to your Entry Type slug.

I hope that helps. I couldn't find the original SE post but I know that this method has been mentioned and preferred by many Crafters!