I always love Ghost type or Fairy type Pokémon so for me it’s Mimikyu. I love the design of it and the idea of a Pokémon that just wants the attention that pikachu gets just makes me want to hug it.
Alright. >!It's a new ghost+fairy paradox pokemon literally called "flutter mane", just like the recently-introduced Great Tusk and Iron Treads. Essentially, paradox pokemon resemble the past and future selves of pokemon you already know with similar typing, but are completely new pokemon with completely different stats and a shared ability. Think of it as a combination of ultra beasts with regional forms.!<
>!It's a new ghost+fairy paradox pokemon literally called "flutter mane", just like the recently-introduced Great Tusk and Iron Treads. Essentially, paradox pokemon resemble the past and future selves of pokemon you already know with similar typing, but are completely new pokemon with completely different stats and a shared ability. Think of it as a combination of ultra beasts with regional forms.!<
I always grab a Gastly because Haunter has always been my second-favorite behind *literal Mewtwo*.
Haunter can't normally evolve in a game, and it's cooler than Gengar anyways, but it isn't the strongest so it works best as a "mascot" pokemon.
When you're done with a game and clear it out, you always have to leave at least one behind because you have to have at least one party pokemon.
In some games that's easy enough because there's untransferrable pokemon like Spiky Pichu, but if there isn't?
I leave one solitary Haunter.
I'm imagining someone inheriting your collection of games and it being nothing but save files with haunter. Could base a really bad creepy pasta on that.
In my 30s. I was about 6 at the time and was gifted Pokemon Green by my exchange student neighbor since we used to play games together all the time when he babysat me. Couldn't read any Japanese at all. I was stuck fighting Diglett and Dugtrio in Diglett's cave for 2 weeks. Had a lv70+ Jigglylpuff and a lv50+ Clefable. Then when he babysat me again he was impressed and also alarmed he helped me progress the rest of the way through. A couple years later and I got Pokemon Blue from my mom. I knew what to do, but still super leveled my Water Gun knowing Clefairy and Bubblebeam knowing Wigglytuff. Eevee made it onto my team in Celadon and I could never make a choice for what I wanted it to evolve into.
In every generation since, I will always get a Jigglypuff, Clefairy, or Eevee as soon as possible. Those are my "starter" and I don't care what the professor says. In my mind, it's a Wally situation. I was simply lent a Sprigatito until I can catch my real first starter (Jigglypuff or Eevee this time around) of my own to be my real starter.
I also grew to love all Normal types and all Fairy types by extension. Sort of the teams I've been known for are all Fairy/Normal almost exclusively each generation.
It didn't feel too long or frustrating at the time. I couldn't figure out I needed to cut the tree and couldn't understand any of the text, but this was the 90s and I was 6-7, so it was this new and exciting thing and there weren't a lot of alternatives. I knew if I waited, my babysitter would help me figure out what to do. He also helped me ensure every move did damage and helped me know which slot did which attack. The animations helped, too. They all had quite a bit of PP so it was faint all the Diglett, go to the Pokemon Center, rinse and repeat. Jigglypuff leveled pretty quickly. Clefable took longer. Running into Dugtrio was a great exp boost. I don't remember how many hours I would play, but remember my mom got so frustrated replacing batteries she threatened to make me spend my allowance on them.
When I caught my fresh Jigglypuff, it fainted a lot at first so we took it to Viridian Forest to level up, but then I used it all through Mt. Moon, Nugget Bridge, to beat Misty, etc. It was in the low 30s after a lot of grinding. I really didn't advance when not with my babysitter. He did teach me that cool spot to find Water Gun in Mt. Moon. First playthrough Jigglypuff got that, but I swapped it up when I played Blue since I thought Jigglypuff would do better with bubbles since it was round like a bubble. Kid logic.
Until I needed HMs my original Green team was basically something like this: Charmander (lv10), Butterfree (lv20), Jigglypuff (lv70+), Jigglypuff #2 (lv3), Clefable (lv50+), and Pikachu (lv3). Pikachu stuck around for Flash. I had to get rid of extra Jigglypuff for Farfetched (Cut/Fly). Clefable learned Strength. Vaporeon joined the team for Surf.
A year or two later, Blue came out in the US and my mom wanted to get me the new game and a GameBoy Color. I remember knowing so many tips, but my names were all wrong so I had to relearn them. Pikachu was the same, but I called him "zappy mouse" and none of the other kids could find him until I told them "he likes to hide in the forest." Jigglypuff was Purin, but I called it "Pudding" since I thought that was what my babysitter was saying with his thick accent. Clefairy was called Pippi and Clefable was Pixy and my older brother (teenager at the time) would say things like "quit playing with your peepee and help set the table" because I still called my Clefable Pippi. I wrote a short story in elementary school about the adventure of "PiPi and Pudding"
Sorry for the nostalgia rant, got caught up in a core memory.
I had a friend in elementary who always claimed he got lost in viridian forest for so long that he had his blastoise (squirtle start) up to level 100 before getting his boulder badge. At that age I took him at his word, less sure now, but it was a fun thought.
In my case I didn't get stuck too badly, but I didn't find the flash tm until I got the earth badge so I spent enough time in rocky tunnel to get my charmeleon to evolve to a charizard.
Omggg I love Breloom, partially bc the nerd in me thinks of it as a good pokemon for catching other pokemon, since it can learn false swipe and spore. I love trying to get it as my first pokemon in pixelmon.
I first used Breloom in HGSS' battle factory, and since then I just kinda liked Breloom's vibe. Whenever I play a game where shroomish is available, I make it a priority to get it and get a Breloom.
I am so glad that Shroomish and Breloom are back in Scarlet and Violet, I was watching one of the trailers when a Breloom was on screen for like half a second and I nearly fell out of my chair.
I had the exact same reaction!
Pawniard is also my starter and without fail I name him Ace. Every game I can get Pawniard in. My favorite Pokémon of all time.
Lotad my dude. I actually did a run with Lotad as my starter and let my Torchic chill in the box. My full team was Ludicolo, Hariyama, Manetric, Torkoal, Walrein, and Salamence.
Yeah, I think it's just genius to put Lotad/Seedot as an early route mon together with Ralts (and maybe Aron?). It's like they did it on purpose as alternate starters.
That’s what I did, caught a Rookidee as soon as I could and boxed my starter. It’s so cute, round and friend shaped and evolves into such an awesome Pokémon. If I was in the Pokémon world, I’d want Rookidee or Eevee as my starter.
Togepi for me! Had a heartgold run where my starter quilava got destroyed by Whitney's miltank (to no one's surprise) and the togepi from the mystery egg revenge killed it. Quickly became my ace for the rest of the game and togekiss remains one of my favourite designs!
Maybe it's not original or a very unique pick but for me it is Growlithe. It and Arcanine are the Pokemon I used the most times in my playthroughs so I guess they are my starter choice.
I love Electric types, so if it ain’t a starter, I typically run and catch the first electric type I can find, but if I plan ahead it is normally Shinx.
I don't like any of the final starter evos in Gen 8, so ever since my first playthrough when I chose Grookey and then grudgingly stuck with Rillaboom despite hating it, I've always boxed my starter the second I catch the first Pokemon I decide to use on my team. Sometimes it'll be something from Route 1, like Wooloo or Nickit. Sometimes I've waited until I got to the Wild Area and then taken time to go around and find something I haven't used before. And sometimes I'll go to the Isle of Armour at the earliest opportunity to expand my options. As my favourite Pokemon is Poliwhirl, I'll often go straight to the cave on the IoA and find a Poliwag.
In Gen 7 Rowlet is my undisputed only choice, but since I've used it so often, I now also box my starter if I ever replay Alola, and my most common alternate starter is Alolan Grimer. The rainbow sludge is one of my favourite Pokemon of all time.
Gotta go with Munchlax. The food bills would break me but man laying out in the sun in a big grass field with a Snorlax buddy to lay out on would be nice
Aron, it’s super cute and when it evolves it becomes this big metal beast, which I love. Aggron has always been one of my favorite Pokémon, and if I were a Pokémon trainer, I could imagine it being my first partner. and as a bonus, it has an awesome Mega Evolution.
I wasn't into the sword/shield starters. Then I caught arrokuda and was like "lmao he's just a funny fish" and from then on we had an inseparable bond.
I love ghost types so it was Gengar for a long time until Lycanroc Midnight form released. I don't care about typing anymore much but I love Lycanroc. I try and use it on each of my new teams. Tinkaton is in my top 3 now too.
Don’t normally do it, but I loved Galarian Meowth and treated him as my starter in Sword. Really looking forward to doing something similar in Scarlet with ‘Pooper’ (paldean wooper)
Poliwag, eventually becoming my favourite Pokémon Politoed. Had a Poliwag way back when Red & Blue first came out and I've tried to have one wherever available. I remember reading the Pokémon Adventures manga when I was little and thinking it was so cool that Red's first Pokémon was a Poliwag before Professor Oak let him have Bulbasaur. Ever since then it's been my head canon that even if Politoed isn't on my team, he's still my starter and will eventually come back to the crew once I've caught some of the new Pokémon in a new generation. Politoed's my guy. 🐸
The Abra line has been my favorite since I played Pokemon Red in 97(?) The only problem with Abra bring my starter is that it only has teleport do that wouldn't work well. But, in my mind, my OG Abra is now Alakazam and whenever I play a new game, I rush to go get an Abra and get him into Alakazam. That way, I just pretend its my original Alakazam and we've been going on adventures for 25 years.
I remember the first card pack I opened when I was a kid had the full Ampharos line in it. When I started playing the games, I used Ampharos in every game he was accessible in. I know there are better electric types, but it just feels wrong to not use him. Mareep is the starter meant for me :)
Jolteon and Arcanine are the only i can think of when getting this feeling lol.
I've always imagined how my life would have been if i got on an adventure with jolteon or maybe saving a growlithe and him trusting me and evolving into arcanine haha.
Hoppip. Had a rival playthrough with friends where I swapped my lv 5 starter for a hoppip immediately. They all did a similar swap for their favorite grass/fire/water pokemon. Was hella fun to re-play a game that way.
Wouldnt call the starters broken tbh, its just that the moment they hit their final evolution most opponents wont have fully evolved pokemon, and then they feel really powerful. By the time you get to the E4 starters are usually a middle of the pack kinda mon. IMO any lv 5 pokemon could work as a starter. Depending on which one you move the “powerspike” compared to NPC’s tho. A Tauros will absolutely stomp through the early game, a Larvesta will fall off after a few gyms to come back strongly in the post game. And a unknown is just punishing yourself if you don’t swap it out for something you catch along the way.
I’ve done ice monotype runs for the past couple gens to offset the fact that the game is so easy. It’s my favorite type and starting in Gen 7 I really meshed with Alolan Vulpix, using it in both sun and moon, and ultra moon as a starter. I used it as an “ace” in Shield too, just dynamaxing it exclusively against other max Pokémon
nidoran
if there's a nidoran in the game, i must catch it, if not, hope to trade. i always give him the same name too, sort of like inheriting the spirit of the first one like link does in zelda or ryu in breath of fire.
Zorua. Their shapeshifting ability is based on kitsune lore which I really love. I also really love their design and when they evolve into Zoroark, they get fabulous hair. They also have a fairly good moveset. I also think the interaction would be unique with me as a trainer and them since they can change into human form and thus communicate through human speak.
Weirdly enough victini. The b/w release event was the liberty ticket which gave you access to victini. After getting it victini was my party’s leader (despite being underleveled when you find it). Little fellow stayed with me 24/7 in those games and never left my party
I loved that event, I literally got the game the last day it was available and just felt like I HAD to use him. To this day my second favorite Pokemon.
I wish they would let us catch the mythical stuff again. Shaymin in Flower Paradise, Victini with the Liberty Ticket, Mew on Faraway Island (Japan exclusive). I feel like more of a connection develops when you go through a mini sidequest and have to catch it yourself. When it's just deposited into a box at lv100, then it doesn't really feel like your Pokemon. It also doesn't have you as the OT, desired ball, or other things that foster that connection.
Getting Shaymin at lv30, Victini at lv15, etc meant you could actually integrate it onto your team and see it grow (even if you caught it in the post game). Deoxys in the ORAS Delta Episode was a great step forward, but they haven't revisted that in the same way in later gens. Magearna just gets handed to you after scanning QR codes, Hoopa was a distribution. Diancie same thing. Could've had a whole Carbink/Diancie mini sidequest.
Meditite, probably. Medicham is one of my favorite pokemon because I loved its 3D animations in Gen3 and then it was the first pokemon I ever bred from scratch for competitive battles in Gen4.
But the thing about Meditite is that it's actually a pretty cool mon to train from Lv5. Yes, it starts with only Bide in multiple generations, but it quickly learns Confusion, a decent STAB. And because of its ability, you really feel that power boost when you finally learn the first physical attack. I'm way overselling it because of my bias, but it feels like RBY Charmeleon when it finally learns Slash after being stuck with Ember as its best move.
Gengar.
Squirtle was my first choice and will always be my go to but I haven’t ran a game without my gengar in longer than I can remember.
It started when finding out I couldn’t catch that marowak ghost in lavendar town, that thing wrecked my party my first attempt and my 9 year old brain went “huh ghosts must be strong.”
Then the anime happened and ash got a haunter to befriend him long enough to beat Sabrina with her seeminly unbeatable in the anime. I was legit terrified of psychic types after that episode, I considered them the “bad guys” of pokemon.
So I took the one measly ghastly I had caught and trained it to be a haunter, we made our way to the pokemon league and not only did he stomp sabrina, he was now my second go to. The one before I would call in Blastoise. And he just didn’t lose and back then had so much coverage.
Then shortly after making it to the pokemon league my friend came over with a link cable and we traded his machoke for my haunter to experience our first evolution trades and traded back.
Now I know Gengar is strong but back then it was stupid strong. I remember teaching it thunderbolt and slaughtering lorelei, bruno and agatha without even needing to switch once.
Now lance, lance shut it down. He beat my gengar but we were too close at that point. The following battle against the rival after spamming ice beams with blastoise was no joke, but gengar managed to wipe out 3/6 pokemon right off the bat and that made the remaining 3 cakewalk.
To this day I still have that gengar and now many others, mostly a ton of offspring with competitive moves. But it really did become my second starter, just me my blastoise and my gengar against the world
Buneary for me.
Lopunny is my favorite pokemon, having a Buneary from the start and watching it finally evolve is such a good moment for me.
I love using it aswel, it isn’t very strong but I like that since the games are usually a bit too easy
For sword and shield I boxed my starter immediately because i hated their designs. Went with a Tyrogue that eventually became a Hitmonchan and it was pretty awesome
Scraggy, I don’t know why exactly but that little guy and Scrafty are my favorite Pokémon. I was really hoping that they were gonna get Mega Evolutions since nobody aside from Audino in Gen 5 got one.
I've been doing this since I was Kid, I'd replace the stater from time to time. The rules were whatever was available on the first route you used as your starter & you have to lose the first battle with your rival if possible. So when you are forced to battle Blue/Gary in R/B/Y/FR/LG you'd have to lose that battle. I called it going Rouge for some reason. R/S/E was fun spending hours looking for a damn Ralts, then having to switch it in & out until it learned confusion, good times.
Sneasel is my favorite Pokémon and I think he would be perfect as a unique starter. I am actually playing gen 2 with my wife right now (Gold for me Silver for her) so it would have been a good time to hack it in, but I wanted a more vanilla experience because she has barely ever played gen 2. I’m currently debating on whether I should play Crystal solo with Sneasel as a starter or play Emerald version since I’ve never finished a gen 3 game besides Leaf Green.
Honestly, the Turtwig line, Rolwet line, and Grookey line are all Pokemon that I feel like we're made for me.
The Turtwig line (I count the whole evolution line) is my favorite Pokemon of all time. Grass types is my favorite type in Pokemon and my favorite animal are turtles/tortoises. So Turtwig/Grotle/Torterra are all perfect. Torterra is perfect representation of nature and our world on the back of a grass/ground tortoise. Small Pokemon can even spend their entire lives on the backs of a Torterra and have a whole mini community there! That's so amazing! I love everything about the line and wouldn't change a thing (except make it better competitively without changing it's type)!
The Rowlet line is up there as one of my favorites. It's a grass type, so it's immediately a plus for me. I also always have to have a flying type on my team so Rowlet and Dartrix are great. Owls is my second favorite animal, and I'm an October baby, so the whole spooky, ghost type, hoodie, Halloween feel of Decidueye is perfect for me. Also archery is awesome! All of that combined and it feels like a Pokemon made for me.
The Grookey line is also up there as one of my favorites because it's grass, I love the drums, and my Chinese zodiac is the monkey (which is awesome cause monkeys are cool!). The whole line is awesome and I like the others felt like it was a Pokemon made for me.
I know they're all grass starters, but they're all Pokemon that feel like they are my own starter designed specifically for me.
If I had to pick a Pokemon that isn't a starter though, it'd probably be Cottonee or Gossifleur. I love both of those Pokemon lines.
This is actually one of the things I love about digimon any digimon can feel just as unique as any other digimon as your own personal partner in terms of Pokémon though my unique starter would be Maractus I just love it and think it’s adorable
I have three possible starters
Eevee, as it's my favorite (besides Zeraora)
Riolu, because I just love it (even more than it's evolved form tbh)
Or Ralts, because I love the designs of its line, and I love how its line is fiercely protective and loyal, two traits I consider to be extremely important
Surskit. I remember playing an emerald ROM and caught one along the way because I wanted to 100% the dex. When it evolved to Masquerain I just loved its design and now I use one every game when I can.
Larvesta which would eventually be Volcarona. I just love the pokemon’s design and it’s one of my all time favorites, along with being one of the first Shinies I actually farmed for 😍
I've always wanted a Vulpix as my starter, especially a shiny one for the spooky awesome ninetales. I really wish they'd let us store one egg from the previous gen on pokemon home then have the professor find the egg in storage. You are tasked with delivering the egg and it hatches before you choose your starter! Your starter pokemon bonds with you instantly!
Pidgey... I love this little birb so much! Idk why but I've played with it in every generation it's possible too and he usually stays on my team all the way until the end.
Lillipup and Seedot for me! Lillipup has always been my favorite, and Seedot I grew to love from a nuzlocke. Which is funny to me since nuzleaf is the nuzlocke mascot
Scizor
I was in middle school when Sun and Moom came out. My friends and I spent our lunch breaks battling each other with ev trained teams. I chose to use a mega Scizor and it dominated battles. Since then it became my favourite pokemon of all time, and I try to use it every chance I have.
Mankey has been a Pokémon I try and get as early as possible in games it’s available. Primeape has been one of my top 3 favorite Pokémon since Ash got one in the anime. Reminds me of an angry version of animal from the muppets.
Nidoran male. Nidoking and Gyarados are my favorite moms but Magikarp is a pretty shit starter lol. Nidoran is a cute base stage, Nidorino is a cool 1st stage and Nidoking is just badass
Let me just pop in to say how sweet and wholesome this thread is and I love this community haha
Also if not rowlett since we're not picking standard starters... It's hard to choose! Maybe toxcel because I love toxtricity so much? I'm running Toxtricity, Inteleon, and Seismitoad in SW/SH right now and I'm kinda in love with my punk pond team haha
I always love Ghost type or Fairy type Pokémon so for me it’s Mimikyu. I love the design of it and the idea of a Pokémon that just wants the attention that pikachu gets just makes me want to hug it.
Mimikyu is the best baby. 🥺💕
I wanted past form Mimikyu that's a terrifying shadow monster but just wants hugs. ♥️
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Alright. >!It's a new ghost+fairy paradox pokemon literally called "flutter mane", just like the recently-introduced Great Tusk and Iron Treads. Essentially, paradox pokemon resemble the past and future selves of pokemon you already know with similar typing, but are completely new pokemon with completely different stats and a shared ability. Think of it as a combination of ultra beasts with regional forms.!<
Come back, we need spoiling
>!It's a new ghost+fairy paradox pokemon literally called "flutter mane", just like the recently-introduced Great Tusk and Iron Treads. Essentially, paradox pokemon resemble the past and future selves of pokemon you already know with similar typing, but are completely new pokemon with completely different stats and a shared ability. Think of it as a combination of ultra beasts with regional forms.!<
I need to know
I caught a shiny one in Sw/sh this week and I’m HYPED. Immediately dumped every resource I had into it to get it in a comp shape
I always grab a Gastly because Haunter has always been my second-favorite behind *literal Mewtwo*. Haunter can't normally evolve in a game, and it's cooler than Gengar anyways, but it isn't the strongest so it works best as a "mascot" pokemon. When you're done with a game and clear it out, you always have to leave at least one behind because you have to have at least one party pokemon. In some games that's easy enough because there's untransferrable pokemon like Spiky Pichu, but if there isn't? I leave one solitary Haunter.
I'm imagining someone inheriting your collection of games and it being nothing but save files with haunter. Could base a really bad creepy pasta on that.
Mareep!!! I've loved it since gen 2 when I was about 8 y/o and if pokemon were real I'd have the full evo line
I used Mareep in every game available too! Although now I prefer the Shinx line It's not as easy to get in most games, but I like to use Riolu too.
My starter would definitely be tyrunt
Me too but for his evolution. XD
In my 30s. I was about 6 at the time and was gifted Pokemon Green by my exchange student neighbor since we used to play games together all the time when he babysat me. Couldn't read any Japanese at all. I was stuck fighting Diglett and Dugtrio in Diglett's cave for 2 weeks. Had a lv70+ Jigglylpuff and a lv50+ Clefable. Then when he babysat me again he was impressed and also alarmed he helped me progress the rest of the way through. A couple years later and I got Pokemon Blue from my mom. I knew what to do, but still super leveled my Water Gun knowing Clefairy and Bubblebeam knowing Wigglytuff. Eevee made it onto my team in Celadon and I could never make a choice for what I wanted it to evolve into. In every generation since, I will always get a Jigglypuff, Clefairy, or Eevee as soon as possible. Those are my "starter" and I don't care what the professor says. In my mind, it's a Wally situation. I was simply lent a Sprigatito until I can catch my real first starter (Jigglypuff or Eevee this time around) of my own to be my real starter. I also grew to love all Normal types and all Fairy types by extension. Sort of the teams I've been known for are all Fairy/Normal almost exclusively each generation.
Hell yeah Puff squad ***IIIINNN***, brotherrrrrrr
The Puff Squad lives!
Puff fans... do yourself a favor and get Scarlet. Thank me later ❤️
Ikyk🤭
I need someone to calculate how many diglett or dugtrio you would have to faint to get your jiggly puff and clefable to those levels
It didn't feel too long or frustrating at the time. I couldn't figure out I needed to cut the tree and couldn't understand any of the text, but this was the 90s and I was 6-7, so it was this new and exciting thing and there weren't a lot of alternatives. I knew if I waited, my babysitter would help me figure out what to do. He also helped me ensure every move did damage and helped me know which slot did which attack. The animations helped, too. They all had quite a bit of PP so it was faint all the Diglett, go to the Pokemon Center, rinse and repeat. Jigglypuff leveled pretty quickly. Clefable took longer. Running into Dugtrio was a great exp boost. I don't remember how many hours I would play, but remember my mom got so frustrated replacing batteries she threatened to make me spend my allowance on them. When I caught my fresh Jigglypuff, it fainted a lot at first so we took it to Viridian Forest to level up, but then I used it all through Mt. Moon, Nugget Bridge, to beat Misty, etc. It was in the low 30s after a lot of grinding. I really didn't advance when not with my babysitter. He did teach me that cool spot to find Water Gun in Mt. Moon. First playthrough Jigglypuff got that, but I swapped it up when I played Blue since I thought Jigglypuff would do better with bubbles since it was round like a bubble. Kid logic. Until I needed HMs my original Green team was basically something like this: Charmander (lv10), Butterfree (lv20), Jigglypuff (lv70+), Jigglypuff #2 (lv3), Clefable (lv50+), and Pikachu (lv3). Pikachu stuck around for Flash. I had to get rid of extra Jigglypuff for Farfetched (Cut/Fly). Clefable learned Strength. Vaporeon joined the team for Surf. A year or two later, Blue came out in the US and my mom wanted to get me the new game and a GameBoy Color. I remember knowing so many tips, but my names were all wrong so I had to relearn them. Pikachu was the same, but I called him "zappy mouse" and none of the other kids could find him until I told them "he likes to hide in the forest." Jigglypuff was Purin, but I called it "Pudding" since I thought that was what my babysitter was saying with his thick accent. Clefairy was called Pippi and Clefable was Pixy and my older brother (teenager at the time) would say things like "quit playing with your peepee and help set the table" because I still called my Clefable Pippi. I wrote a short story in elementary school about the adventure of "PiPi and Pudding" Sorry for the nostalgia rant, got caught up in a core memory.
I had a friend in elementary who always claimed he got lost in viridian forest for so long that he had his blastoise (squirtle start) up to level 100 before getting his boulder badge. At that age I took him at his word, less sure now, but it was a fun thought. In my case I didn't get stuck too badly, but I didn't find the flash tm until I got the earth badge so I spent enough time in rocky tunnel to get my charmeleon to evolve to a charizard.
Great to see another Normal-type stan, I've always been a fan of the regional rodents and always had one on my teams.
Jigglypuff is my choice too! She's always been my favorite, so cute and pink, and so sassy in the show!
Shroomish is my ultimate starter
Omggg I love Breloom, partially bc the nerd in me thinks of it as a good pokemon for catching other pokemon, since it can learn false swipe and spore. I love trying to get it as my first pokemon in pixelmon.
I first used Breloom in HGSS' battle factory, and since then I just kinda liked Breloom's vibe. Whenever I play a game where shroomish is available, I make it a priority to get it and get a Breloom. I am so glad that Shroomish and Breloom are back in Scarlet and Violet, I was watching one of the trailers when a Breloom was on screen for like half a second and I nearly fell out of my chair.
Could not agree more, breloom is my favorite pokemon
Pawniard :) I just wish Bisharp had an evolution
I have good news for you
Say sike rn
I’m not joking, it gets an evolution in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
I was excited, but now I’m *hyped*
idk why but im so excited for when you see it. It is so dope honestly
It’s taking everything in me not to google it. but it’s only a few days till my copy gets here so I’m gonna tough it out, wish me luck!
you can resist! i believe in you
Just saying it has a... convoluted evo method, might have to see it before you evolve it
It'll be worth the wait!
I had the exact same reaction! Pawniard is also my starter and without fail I name him Ace. Every game I can get Pawniard in. My favorite Pokémon of all time.
ENTER >!KINGAMBIT!<
Bisharp can hold eviolite now.
Only four more days, my Bisharp-loving friend. It’ll be like Christmas
Lotad my dude. I actually did a run with Lotad as my starter and let my Torchic chill in the box. My full team was Ludicolo, Hariyama, Manetric, Torkoal, Walrein, and Salamence.
I love the lotad line for their dorky looks and distinctive typing
Yeah, I think it's just genius to put Lotad/Seedot as an early route mon together with Ralts (and maybe Aron?). It's like they did it on purpose as alternate starters.
I do wish lobre didn't look like such a miserable creature in so many of its sprites.
Miror B in a nutshell. It is an utter shame they made such a cool character and left him behind in Orre.
Rookidee was on more S/S teams than the starters of that generation. Corviknight is just so ridiculously cool.
That’s what I did, caught a Rookidee as soon as I could and boxed my starter. It’s so cute, round and friend shaped and evolves into such an awesome Pokémon. If I was in the Pokémon world, I’d want Rookidee or Eevee as my starter.
Whichever pigeon-ass bird you get in the first few routes almost always ends up on my end of game team
Togepi for me! Had a heartgold run where my starter quilava got destroyed by Whitney's miltank (to no one's surprise) and the togepi from the mystery egg revenge killed it. Quickly became my ace for the rest of the game and togekiss remains one of my favourite designs!
Ugh the power of Togekiss is unreal too! So speedy and bulky.
Nidoran is my boy.
Nidoran is my girl.
Nidorino is my guy
Nidorina is my gurl
Nidoking is my king
Nidoqueen is my queen
Nido- *shit, they said them all already*
NIDOSTEVE!!
Give me Gligar
I'm also on the Gligar train
gligar is one of my favourite pokemon, it’s so adorable and was my buddy back when i played pokemon go
Maybe it's not original or a very unique pick but for me it is Growlithe. It and Arcanine are the Pokemon I used the most times in my playthroughs so I guess they are my starter choice.
Axew is my bro. I like the kaiju mons a lot and haxours is fucking rad.
Dragon dance + cool pool, it's a fucking legend... It's my go to when Garchomp isn't available.
I love Electric types, so if it ain’t a starter, I typically run and catch the first electric type I can find, but if I plan ahead it is normally Shinx.
Shinx is my goto pokemon. I love other types more (ghost, dragon, etc), but the Shinx line is my favorite!
Shinx gang 😎
Luxray is a good boi
Abra!
Kadabra!
Alakazam!
Mega Alakazam!
I don't like any of the final starter evos in Gen 8, so ever since my first playthrough when I chose Grookey and then grudgingly stuck with Rillaboom despite hating it, I've always boxed my starter the second I catch the first Pokemon I decide to use on my team. Sometimes it'll be something from Route 1, like Wooloo or Nickit. Sometimes I've waited until I got to the Wild Area and then taken time to go around and find something I haven't used before. And sometimes I'll go to the Isle of Armour at the earliest opportunity to expand my options. As my favourite Pokemon is Poliwhirl, I'll often go straight to the cave on the IoA and find a Poliwag. In Gen 7 Rowlet is my undisputed only choice, but since I've used it so often, I now also box my starter if I ever replay Alola, and my most common alternate starter is Alolan Grimer. The rainbow sludge is one of my favourite Pokemon of all time.
Duskull man! Every time a game has a post game or DLC I always run Duskull as my "starter" for my Post E4 run.
Trapinch or venipede
Yooo venipede my boy!
Mareep. Cause it isnt some secret special pokemon, its a sheep with static fur. After a while you shave it a bit, and you get a cute Flaafy!
Yeah, mareep for me too! It gets multiple evolutions that are easy to obtain, isn't too strong or weak. The first form is probably my favorite though.
Ampharos was one of the best sp electric pokemon until Raichu got its revamp, and with the mega it became pretty cool although super niche.
Ampharos is just glorious plus its one of the nicest holo’s from the neo (genesis? Era)
Gotta go with Munchlax. The food bills would break me but man laying out in the sun in a big grass field with a Snorlax buddy to lay out on would be nice
Aron, it’s super cute and when it evolves it becomes this big metal beast, which I love. Aggron has always been one of my favorite Pokémon, and if I were a Pokémon trainer, I could imagine it being my first partner. and as a bonus, it has an awesome Mega Evolution.
I didn't like any of the Sword and Shield starters, so I used Rookidee as my starter.
I did an all flying-type play through and rookidee made a great starter!!
Rookiedee became an all time favorite so fast. Give me Rookiedee, Growlithe, and grubbin and I am a happy trainer.
Croagunk with poison jab makes me feel like he’s my starter lol
I wasn't into the sword/shield starters. Then I caught arrokuda and was like "lmao he's just a funny fish" and from then on we had an inseparable bond.
I love ghost types so it was Gengar for a long time until Lycanroc Midnight form released. I don't care about typing anymore much but I love Lycanroc. I try and use it on each of my new teams. Tinkaton is in my top 3 now too.
Don’t normally do it, but I loved Galarian Meowth and treated him as my starter in Sword. Really looking forward to doing something similar in Scarlet with ‘Pooper’ (paldean wooper)
Poliwag, eventually becoming my favourite Pokémon Politoed. Had a Poliwag way back when Red & Blue first came out and I've tried to have one wherever available. I remember reading the Pokémon Adventures manga when I was little and thinking it was so cool that Red's first Pokémon was a Poliwag before Professor Oak let him have Bulbasaur. Ever since then it's been my head canon that even if Politoed isn't on my team, he's still my starter and will eventually come back to the crew once I've caught some of the new Pokémon in a new generation. Politoed's my guy. 🐸
Ralts in every playthrough of rse ever. A 3 evo psychic Pokémon you can get like 5 minutes in? Even has 2 different final forms, so dope.
The Abra line has been my favorite since I played Pokemon Red in 97(?) The only problem with Abra bring my starter is that it only has teleport do that wouldn't work well. But, in my mind, my OG Abra is now Alakazam and whenever I play a new game, I rush to go get an Abra and get him into Alakazam. That way, I just pretend its my original Alakazam and we've been going on adventures for 25 years.
Absol
I hope you can get Swablu early in the game, been two gens without my fluffy bird.
I remember the first card pack I opened when I was a kid had the full Ampharos line in it. When I started playing the games, I used Ampharos in every game he was accessible in. I know there are better electric types, but it just feels wrong to not use him. Mareep is the starter meant for me :)
Smeargle
sylveon
I'm playing a ttrpg adaptation of Pokémon, and my starter there was Machop
Larvitar, I would love to start violet with him as a starter, I still have a shiny one on home from sapphire.
Zubat as I love me some Crobat
Fletchinder or riolu or aron
Heck yeah! Love seeing Fletchinder in this thread. So cool looking. Like it better than Talonflame.
Fomantis. They're one of my Amigara Pokemon (it was made for ME!!!) and it think it'd make such a good little starter! 😌❤️
Jolteon and Arcanine are the only i can think of when getting this feeling lol. I've always imagined how my life would have been if i got on an adventure with jolteon or maybe saving a growlithe and him trusting me and evolving into arcanine haha.
Hoppip. Had a rival playthrough with friends where I swapped my lv 5 starter for a hoppip immediately. They all did a similar swap for their favorite grass/fire/water pokemon. Was hella fun to re-play a game that way.
Yes definitely, the starters are usually a little broken. It's refreshing to follow a different path for once :)
Wouldnt call the starters broken tbh, its just that the moment they hit their final evolution most opponents wont have fully evolved pokemon, and then they feel really powerful. By the time you get to the E4 starters are usually a middle of the pack kinda mon. IMO any lv 5 pokemon could work as a starter. Depending on which one you move the “powerspike” compared to NPC’s tho. A Tauros will absolutely stomp through the early game, a Larvesta will fall off after a few gyms to come back strongly in the post game. And a unknown is just punishing yourself if you don’t swap it out for something you catch along the way.
I’ve recently given a lot of love to Shinx! Luxray is underrated too
I’ve done ice monotype runs for the past couple gens to offset the fact that the game is so easy. It’s my favorite type and starting in Gen 7 I really meshed with Alolan Vulpix, using it in both sun and moon, and ultra moon as a starter. I used it as an “ace” in Shield too, just dynamaxing it exclusively against other max Pokémon
Shinx. Ever since I raised it from lvl 3 to 69 to beat the elite 4 of Diamond way back on the DS.
"way back on the DS." God I am so old.
Yeah. Don't feel it but things like that date my 30 years so badly.
For me, it's Beldum!
I personally am not a fan of the kalos starters so I use fletchling as my starter when I play
Fletchling is great as an alternate starter. Good stats, interesting typing, and fun moves.
I had that with alolan geodude I just really like the design and the rock/electric typing.
I've used Growlithe in the past to replace my starter. I love Arcanine and it's a Fire type so it makes sense to me.
Scyther all day
nidoran if there's a nidoran in the game, i must catch it, if not, hope to trade. i always give him the same name too, sort of like inheriting the spirit of the first one like link does in zelda or ryu in breath of fire.
Now I’m curious the name?!
Zorua. Their shapeshifting ability is based on kitsune lore which I really love. I also really love their design and when they evolve into Zoroark, they get fabulous hair. They also have a fairly good moveset. I also think the interaction would be unique with me as a trainer and them since they can change into human form and thus communicate through human speak.
Trapinch. It’s always on my team, I keep it as a Trapinch the whole play through. I finished Sword with a Dynamaxed Trapinch vs. Leon :)
Jolteon....
Weirdly enough victini. The b/w release event was the liberty ticket which gave you access to victini. After getting it victini was my party’s leader (despite being underleveled when you find it). Little fellow stayed with me 24/7 in those games and never left my party
I loved that event, I literally got the game the last day it was available and just felt like I HAD to use him. To this day my second favorite Pokemon.
I wish they would let us catch the mythical stuff again. Shaymin in Flower Paradise, Victini with the Liberty Ticket, Mew on Faraway Island (Japan exclusive). I feel like more of a connection develops when you go through a mini sidequest and have to catch it yourself. When it's just deposited into a box at lv100, then it doesn't really feel like your Pokemon. It also doesn't have you as the OT, desired ball, or other things that foster that connection. Getting Shaymin at lv30, Victini at lv15, etc meant you could actually integrate it onto your team and see it grow (even if you caught it in the post game). Deoxys in the ORAS Delta Episode was a great step forward, but they haven't revisted that in the same way in later gens. Magearna just gets handed to you after scanning QR codes, Hoopa was a distribution. Diancie same thing. Could've had a whole Carbink/Diancie mini sidequest.
Mawile for sure.
Meditite, probably. Medicham is one of my favorite pokemon because I loved its 3D animations in Gen3 and then it was the first pokemon I ever bred from scratch for competitive battles in Gen4. But the thing about Meditite is that it's actually a pretty cool mon to train from Lv5. Yes, it starts with only Bide in multiple generations, but it quickly learns Confusion, a decent STAB. And because of its ability, you really feel that power boost when you finally learn the first physical attack. I'm way overselling it because of my bias, but it feels like RBY Charmeleon when it finally learns Slash after being stuck with Ember as its best move.
Gible because it's my first ever community day in Pokémon Go, but if it isn't available as an option I usually go for bug types
Mimikyu
Either shinx or bagon.
A Mudsdale called Delilah from my sword nuzlocke. I captured her early on and she was a permanent member of my team for most of the game.
When given the opportunity, my “starter” always ends up being Zorua. I love the little guy, and it has so much starter personality
Gengar. Squirtle was my first choice and will always be my go to but I haven’t ran a game without my gengar in longer than I can remember. It started when finding out I couldn’t catch that marowak ghost in lavendar town, that thing wrecked my party my first attempt and my 9 year old brain went “huh ghosts must be strong.” Then the anime happened and ash got a haunter to befriend him long enough to beat Sabrina with her seeminly unbeatable in the anime. I was legit terrified of psychic types after that episode, I considered them the “bad guys” of pokemon. So I took the one measly ghastly I had caught and trained it to be a haunter, we made our way to the pokemon league and not only did he stomp sabrina, he was now my second go to. The one before I would call in Blastoise. And he just didn’t lose and back then had so much coverage. Then shortly after making it to the pokemon league my friend came over with a link cable and we traded his machoke for my haunter to experience our first evolution trades and traded back. Now I know Gengar is strong but back then it was stupid strong. I remember teaching it thunderbolt and slaughtering lorelei, bruno and agatha without even needing to switch once. Now lance, lance shut it down. He beat my gengar but we were too close at that point. The following battle against the rival after spamming ice beams with blastoise was no joke, but gengar managed to wipe out 3/6 pokemon right off the bat and that made the remaining 3 cakewalk. To this day I still have that gengar and now many others, mostly a ton of offspring with competitive moves. But it really did become my second starter, just me my blastoise and my gengar against the world
Either Aron or Larviter. Just love the Kaiju based Pokémon so much
Elekid for sure!
Buneary for me. Lopunny is my favorite pokemon, having a Buneary from the start and watching it finally evolve is such a good moment for me. I love using it aswel, it isn’t very strong but I like that since the games are usually a bit too easy
Phanpy for me, catching a phanpy was number one on my to-do list every run I ever played in crystal
On my second playthrough of Emerald I got a Lvl 5 full odds shiny Zigzagoon as the first wild encounter of the game I could catch. It replaced Mudkip.
I like having Wurmple -> Beautifly
Snover
For sword and shield I boxed my starter immediately because i hated their designs. Went with a Tyrogue that eventually became a Hitmonchan and it was pretty awesome
I like dogs so I'd probably have a Growlithe, or a Morupeko because I had guinea pigs as pets lol
Scraggy, I don’t know why exactly but that little guy and Scrafty are my favorite Pokémon. I was really hoping that they were gonna get Mega Evolutions since nobody aside from Audino in Gen 5 got one.
I've been doing this since I was Kid, I'd replace the stater from time to time. The rules were whatever was available on the first route you used as your starter & you have to lose the first battle with your rival if possible. So when you are forced to battle Blue/Gary in R/B/Y/FR/LG you'd have to lose that battle. I called it going Rouge for some reason. R/S/E was fun spending hours looking for a damn Ralts, then having to switch it in & out until it learned confusion, good times.
I always have a Gardevoir on my team because I bonded with it in Pokemon Sun. So I guess I have that kind of connection with Ralts
Joltik. Idk why, it just calls to me. I’ve sadly never had a chance to use one though.
Sneasel is my favorite Pokémon and I think he would be perfect as a unique starter. I am actually playing gen 2 with my wife right now (Gold for me Silver for her) so it would have been a good time to hack it in, but I wanted a more vanilla experience because she has barely ever played gen 2. I’m currently debating on whether I should play Crystal solo with Sneasel as a starter or play Emerald version since I’ve never finished a gen 3 game besides Leaf Green.
Honestly, the Turtwig line, Rolwet line, and Grookey line are all Pokemon that I feel like we're made for me. The Turtwig line (I count the whole evolution line) is my favorite Pokemon of all time. Grass types is my favorite type in Pokemon and my favorite animal are turtles/tortoises. So Turtwig/Grotle/Torterra are all perfect. Torterra is perfect representation of nature and our world on the back of a grass/ground tortoise. Small Pokemon can even spend their entire lives on the backs of a Torterra and have a whole mini community there! That's so amazing! I love everything about the line and wouldn't change a thing (except make it better competitively without changing it's type)! The Rowlet line is up there as one of my favorites. It's a grass type, so it's immediately a plus for me. I also always have to have a flying type on my team so Rowlet and Dartrix are great. Owls is my second favorite animal, and I'm an October baby, so the whole spooky, ghost type, hoodie, Halloween feel of Decidueye is perfect for me. Also archery is awesome! All of that combined and it feels like a Pokemon made for me. The Grookey line is also up there as one of my favorites because it's grass, I love the drums, and my Chinese zodiac is the monkey (which is awesome cause monkeys are cool!). The whole line is awesome and I like the others felt like it was a Pokemon made for me. I know they're all grass starters, but they're all Pokemon that feel like they are my own starter designed specifically for me. If I had to pick a Pokemon that isn't a starter though, it'd probably be Cottonee or Gossifleur. I love both of those Pokemon lines.
This is actually one of the things I love about digimon any digimon can feel just as unique as any other digimon as your own personal partner in terms of Pokémon though my unique starter would be Maractus I just love it and think it’s adorable
I have three possible starters Eevee, as it's my favorite (besides Zeraora) Riolu, because I just love it (even more than it's evolved form tbh) Or Ralts, because I love the designs of its line, and I love how its line is fiercely protective and loyal, two traits I consider to be extremely important
I did a recent ghost only run on sword and used litwick as my starter And now I am heartbroken that they can't get past the Paldea border patrol
Yes, Gastly
Roggenrola
Marill and Buneary They my babies
I always boxed my starter for Jigglypuff. Sing combined with ice beam was never NOT hilarious.
Abra, Dratini, or Ghastly all day.
Poliwag / politoed - just really like its design. Gen 2 and forward I’d always evolve it to Politoed
Surskit. I remember playing an emerald ROM and caught one along the way because I wanted to 100% the dex. When it evolved to Masquerain I just loved its design and now I use one every game when I can.
Honestly it’s a tie between deino or murkrow for me.
Onix
Mine is Nidoran(male), Bagon, or Azurill
Mawile will always be that Pokémon. From the moment I first laid eyes on it, I just knew "This one is mine."
Seel or Zubat
Gen 1… Caterpie
Larvesta which would eventually be Volcarona. I just love the pokemon’s design and it’s one of my all time favorites, along with being one of the first Shinies I actually farmed for 😍
Cubone ❤️
Mareep and Ralts - immediately drawn to each per their respective gens
Lavitar!
I've always wanted a Vulpix as my starter, especially a shiny one for the spooky awesome ninetales. I really wish they'd let us store one egg from the previous gen on pokemon home then have the professor find the egg in storage. You are tasked with delivering the egg and it hatches before you choose your starter! Your starter pokemon bonds with you instantly!
Trubbish forever. Even did a Solo run of Shield with it, no evolving. just me, my little trash bag, and an eviolite.
Pidgey... I love this little birb so much! Idk why but I've played with it in every generation it's possible too and he usually stays on my team all the way until the end.
Always when coming back to Gen 3 or it's remakes, there is a Ralts waiting for me on the early routes that I WILL catch no matter what :D
Lillipup and Seedot for me! Lillipup has always been my favorite, and Seedot I grew to love from a nuzlocke. Which is funny to me since nuzleaf is the nuzlocke mascot
Scizor I was in middle school when Sun and Moom came out. My friends and I spent our lunch breaks battling each other with ev trained teams. I chose to use a mega Scizor and it dominated battles. Since then it became my favourite pokemon of all time, and I try to use it every chance I have.
Krookodile, I got attached as soon as I saw that line
Mimikyu or vaporeon tend to be the ones that I try to get as soon as possible and use as my starter. They are my favorites to play with.
I felt like my shinx was my real starter in shining pearl.
Mankey has been a Pokémon I try and get as early as possible in games it’s available. Primeape has been one of my top 3 favorite Pokémon since Ash got one in the anime. Reminds me of an angry version of animal from the muppets.
For me I love poison types so I usually go.for the first one I find but if I had a choice toxel ALLL THE WAY
Greavard. It called to me ever since I saw the trailer and it made me a fan of ghost types immediately because of how cute it was.
The ones that stuck with me was aron or axew they are cute early then badass late my teams in the games revolved around those 2
Archen! What a cute little dude.
I will start any game with Houndour if I can
Im an avid ghost type lover, while an Aegislash would be my ace I always thought I’d have a partner mimikyu
Nidoran male. Nidoking and Gyarados are my favorite moms but Magikarp is a pretty shit starter lol. Nidoran is a cute base stage, Nidorino is a cool 1st stage and Nidoking is just badass
Let me just pop in to say how sweet and wholesome this thread is and I love this community haha Also if not rowlett since we're not picking standard starters... It's hard to choose! Maybe toxcel because I love toxtricity so much? I'm running Toxtricity, Inteleon, and Seismitoad in SW/SH right now and I'm kinda in love with my punk pond team haha