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How Special Is Your Starter To You?

Alola

Alola

UltraMysteryDungeon, when?
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We start with one of three in each core series main game. They are with us when we catch our first Pokemon and often trek through those initial battles as a greenhorn trainer alongside us.

Some of us hold them dear to our hearts-they may always be a few levels ahead of everyone, they get all the regional treats and vitamins, and such. They pretty much serve as our signature Pokemon like Garchomp is to Cynthia or Pikachu is to Ash. We still like to use them in Gym and League battles, even if they would be at a type disadvantage.

However there do exist some of us who could care less for starters. Heck they don't even use them on their in-game teams! They serve to be common trade fodder for something of more personal preference. Or we just lock them away in the PC, never to see the living daylight ever again.

So I ask, how important and special are starters to you?
 
My starter Pokemon are really special to me as they were the first Pokemon that I have received in the games.
They are my partners and seeing them grow up shows how much we have come so far.
 
I tend to give them a spot on my main team, but no special treatment after that. It has no extra sentimental value just because I got it first. If I find a pokemon of the same type that I prefer considerably, I might replace it.
 
My starters are very special to me. They're not always the most special member of my team, but they're still very important to me. I still have all of my starters, and that isn't about to change any time in the visible future. All of them see a bit of use, or at least some time out of the box from time to time. So while my absolutely most signature pokemon wasn't a starter, all of my starters are still very important to me, and I'm not about to forget them.
 
When I started Y my starter was a jolly Chespin, I kept him around until I completed the game, now he's been sitting in a box ever since. I guess he was pretty special at the time.
 
I think I've only done two or three playthroughs where I didn't use my starter as a main part of the team. Those were very weird playthroughs, to say the least.

Of course some starters get better treatment than others. I nearly cried when I temporarily lost my Typhlosion in Crystal, and I remember I pretty much left that game untouched until I was able to get it back. I only saw my Serperior, on the other hand, as a competent-but-not-extraordinary Grass-type, and another Pokémon was considered the "star" for that team. But no matter what, I almost always use my starter, no matter how bad they are. It just seems weird not to, in my opinion.
 
A starter is by no ways more important than a regular Pokémon to me. In fact, most of the time, I drop the starter in the box and catch something else to use as my "main" Pokémon. The reason for that is because most starters Pokémon's designs aren't exactly my cup of tea and the design is what matter the most in a Pokémon to me.
 
The starters are more or less my best friends. Unless they're really useless, like, having a really poor movepool or fainting frequently in battles, I keep them in my team until at least I beat the League the first time.
 
Very much so. I've always ended up attached and used them in my main team until the end, except for my Empoleon in Pearl, which got shafted for some reason I don't really remember. That was the first time I'd chosen anything other than the Grass type at the start of a generation, so maybe that was why.

I still have him in Kalos, though, along with my Sceptile from Sapphire, Blastoise from FireRed, Samurott from White and Serperior from Black 2. I'll never get rid of them, and they still see occasional use on my ever-rotating team, but my Meganium and Typhlosion from HeartGold and my Chesnaught from Y are used much more frequently. They might not be the strongest options, or IV bred or EV trained, but I'm keeping them all with me as long as I can.
 
I would say that they're very important to me and that I spend a lot of time trying to find Pokemon I like to also go with it.

But then again, almost every game I get I keep resetting and resetting with new starters every time because meh. Kind of hard to do that these days though but whatever.
 
My starter always has a special place at my heart, I pretty much don't care if it looks cool or has a bad movepool, I can still teach it TM and HM moves to cover it up and there wasn't one I choose or not choose because it didn't look cool or such. I can kinda understand Ash never leaving Pikachu home. I usually have my starter in my team (on different positions) every second I play a Pokèmon game. The only time I put it in a box is if it reached level 100 and I want to train some others but then still, it's always in the box where I keep legendaries and other members of my main team.
 
My starters were pretty special and stayed on my teams up until Kalos. As soon as I learned competitive battling, Delphox didn't seem very strong.
 
Usually my starter isn't that important to me, the exception being Teishi, my Greninja. Being my favorite Pokémon species, of course Teishi was never going to leave my team and he helped out in the main game a lot, though it got to a point where he was so overleveled I had to bench him so the other could catch up. When I discovered you could pet your Pokémon after battles after getting a certain level of affection with it, I started petting him after every battle just because.

Of course, since he has Torrent, he hasn't seen much use competitively, but I still use him so I can do horde training with new species I'm training since he has Surf, so I kinda picture him acting as sort of the mentor to all the other Pokémon I get. I even have a little legacy thing going on since I have another Teishi that has Protean and use him competitively from time to time so now my starter has a successor.

So yeah, my Greninja is pretty special to me =P
 
I always keep the starter on my team, but it's not always the most valuable. Actually, I almost never have a "special" pokémon, with the sole exception of my Volcarona in White.
 
I cherish all of my starters (except gen 5's, I don't really like them) I love caring and nurturing for a Squirtle like it's a young baby and helping him turn into a giant turtle with cannons of water on his back. When I get gen 6 (no 3ds yet) I shall love and pet and feed Fennekin and cuddle him to death.
 
Yes they are very special to me, i still got my 9 years old Swampert from Sapphire, my 8 years old Blastoise from Leafegreen, i have the 6 years old Sinnoh starters that i used to complete Pearl, my 3 years old Emboar from my White and now Chestnaught in Y.
 
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