How To Pick Your Starter Pokémon?

Pokémon has become a staple franchise for many people. Who wouldn't fall in love with these adorable pocket monsters who you can befriend and travel alongside you as you explore a vast new region and fight to become the best Pokémon trainer there ever was? Seeing these creatures on the screen of a Gameboy nowadays fills many with nostalgia. Being able to watch these games evolve over the years and across multiple consoles is an amazing feeling. New regions have emerged and with a brand new one about to grace the Switch in late 2022, one question has stood the test of time. Which starter do I choose?

If you have ever played Pokémon, you know the bond that can occur with your starter. Having to choose between three Pokémon can be the most daunting decision a player can make in their run. Looking around at how other people take on this choice, there seem to be two main ways to decide. Cuteness vs usefulness.

Cuteness and Bonding

If you are someone like me, you like to pick your teams based on how cute the Pokémon are. In the past, I just went with the grass starter because they were what I found really adorable, and then I would end up getting the water starter and trading it over to my main game file. Even though I would initially pick the grass starter, I found myself leveling up and using the water starter throughout more of my playthrough. Things like nicknaming your Pokémon can also help the bonding between trainer and Pokémon. Nothing stings more than pushing for one more hit on a gym leader and having their Pokémon crit yours and your Piplup named Leon faints on you.

The worst pain I ever felt in a run was in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond when I was trying to evolve my Budew into a Roselia. I had caught my Budew young and named it Mamoru in preparation for his final evolution. I wanted to level it myself and watch it grow since I wanted a Roserade in my final team. For those of you who know how evolving a Budew goes, you'll know that they evolve once you reach a certain friendship level. I had finally gotten Mamoru to two hearts when I had to face a battle where he would be my best bet, but it would be risky. I went with the risk.... and he fainted. The amount of distraught I felt when my little buddy went down was worse than being one hit away from beating Cynthia and getting one shot.

Usefulness and Strategy

If you like to be one of those players who goes in a uses set-up moves to win hard fights instead of throwing in a randomly strong Pokémon that you over-leveled, then you might be someone who puts some thought into which starter you pick. Things like how many of the starter types you can catch in the wild are common things to consider. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, there was a lack of good fire types until the late game, so Chimchar was a common pick for many. Thinking about all of the gym leaders you will face, and obviously, the Elite Four is a thing that can halt your progression if you're not prepared are things that the strategist players go through before even starting that save file. I've known people who even go as far as to look up each gym/Elite Four member's Pokémon and move set to make sure that their own Pokémon have the most optimal moves to counter.

Don't even get me started on how long some people spend trying to get a specific nature or ability of a Pokémon. 8 hours. That is how long my partner spent hunting for a modest-natured Ralts with the synchronize ability in Pokémon Shining Pearl. Add on that he also wanted an adamant-natured Ralts and he spent more time in the underground than I did on getting the first five gym badges. All of this was after spending 3 hours resetting the game to get adamant-natured Chimchar (because there are no good fire types until after you beat the Elite Four).

Ending Thoughts

No matter what way you go about choosing your starter Pokémon, they will most likely be your buddy for the rest of the game. There will most likely be a bond of some kind no matter what as you explore this vast new region and take on many challenging battles together.

Stay tuned for a post dedicated to starter picks throughout the generations and feel free to drop which method you tend to use when picking your own Poké pal.