• Forum Moderator applications are now open! If you're interested in joining an active team of moderators for one of the biggest Pokémon forums on the internet, click here for info.

Who’s your least favourite starter?

PageEmperor

PageEmperor

ŤHę Pïñķ +ħèîF!
Joined
Dec 14, 2016
Messages
261
Reaction score
144
Pronouns
  1. He/Him
What the title says, and please, do not get upset if you see people complaining about the first Pokemon you ever used in battle.

Especially bear in mind: I personally do not tend to hate Pokemon species. And therefore even my personal least favourite starter I still don’t think is that bad.

That said, my least favourite starter is a tie between Emboar and Cinderace for reasons I’ll state below. After thinking about it though, I eventually came to the conclusion that Cinderace is the one I like less of the two.

Reasons pertaining to both: I find that many of the other Fire types available in their games outclass them battle-wise, and I also much prefer the other starters of their respective generation, both in terms of battle and design but I’ll get to that later.

Reasons pertaining to Emboarg: Why did they make this the third Fire/Fighting starter in a row? I can sort of see how the Fighting typing works, but since the last two Fire starters had that typing, I wouldn’t mind if theh just changed that. And again, I feel like there are too many better options in the game. Darmanitan is in the game too and as long as you can tolerate the bad ability it has before it evolves, the end result is something much more worthwhile. And I also prefer both the other two starters, both for their final evo designs and because again, I just think they are better in-game, epecially keeping in mind the element monk in BW1, Tepig is the only choice that doesn’t give the player a Water type to use Surf. But still, it’s not all bad, since I’ve never actually had a bad time using Emboar. It’s always been at least somewhat reliable when I use it… unlike…

Reasons pertaining to Cinderace: What I said about the other two starters completely outclassing this one applies here… doubleso. Once you’re done with the FIRST gym, Sobble has no more weaknesses. But both Inteleon and Cinderace both have similar stat distributions, so there you have it; Sobble already totally overshadows this just because of that. And then Grookey is the only one who isn’t a Glass cannon so it’s already much more interesting. And there just isn’t any way Cinderace stands out from the others in my opinion, and as a result, I don’t usually pick it.

And when I do, it usually just isn’t good. Only the first time I used Cinderace was it useful. Every other time it died very easily because it has no defenses to speak of and it’s movepool felt mediocre. Again, at least Emboar was usually quite reliable everytime I did try that out!

So at this point I think it’s clear which my least favourite starter is. With Emboarg at least, it would possibly be okay in like a randomized run when I have no idea what to get and it’s possible I won’t find the better Fire types. With the rabbit, I just find very little reason to actually use it in battle, let alone pick it, and in all honesty I would rather pick the other two because there is at least something notable about them, such as one being weak to only ONE improtant boss and the other not being a glass cannon, and bear in mind that I already thought Gen8 had the weakest set of starters.

Oh and before I forget… I also just do not like the design. Not very interesting stuff about it and looks too much like a person in an outfit… it’s a shame because I do like it’s pre evo designs. To be fair both starters I metioned could have had better designs, but this one is worse because it doesn’t have a fire beard and looks too much like an actual human.

So yeah… what are your least favourite starter lines in the game?
 
I don't have a starter Pokémon that I actively feel like I dislike. But my least favorite is Popplio. The entire evolutinary line has never stood out to me over other starters. If I had chosen it as a starter in a playthrough, maybe my thoughts would have changed but I went with Litten in Pokémon Sun and with Rowlet in Ultra Moon.

Others should be Torchic and Oshawott. The designs never appealed to me even though I played with both these Pokémon in Omega Ruby and Legends: Arceus, respectively; though Torchic running back turning its back to the foe is one of the cutest battle animations I've seen.
 
Skeledirge is my least favourite Pokémon overall because it’s ugly (and Crocalor’s in second worst place for the same reason). It doesn’t help they forgot to make it a singer to back up its name, category and signature move and made it the first (new) starter since Gen 5 that appeals to antifurries (who after the drama about whether or not Sprigatito’s fully evolved form should stand up when my favourite starter at the time was Delphox and Sprigatito reminded me of Fennekin so I wanted it to go that direction) while Meowscarada and Quaquaval (my top two starters) appeal more to furries makes me associate the people who wanted Meowscarada to stay on all fours (and really hate furries) with Skeledirge fans (at least they got their jobless starter I guess)
 
Hmmm...Grookey on net, I think. I'm not especially fond of Chimchar's design either, but I ended up using it during my Platinum playthrough on account of my brother and sister really, really wanting Turtwig and Piplup, respectively, and us not wanting to duplicate starters so we could trade eggs later. I developed some affection for that line as a result, but Grookey was left at the baseline of "it's an ape-monkey-creature, and I'm just not crazy about apes."
 
Tepig and its evolution are fairly bad I'd say. I don't like Turtwig's evolutions either but at least Turtwig himself is a cute guy, if a bit forgettable.
 
I suppose if I had to choose it would be Chespin, or rather its evos. Wouldn't call them ugly but they just less appealing to me compared to the others.
 
Hard to pick just one to be honest.
I don't like the Galar starters at all (with the exception of Inteleon who is one of my faves from gen 8). In particular I can't stand Cinderace because of the weird tiny hands and proportions, and because imo it doesn't look like a fully evolved starter. Like, design-wise it looks incomplete if that makes sense.

Also not a fan of the Quaxly line. Quaxly is meh, I don't like weird rim around the tops of Quaxwells feet, and Quaquaval is just a mess of a design imo. It has some great qualities and could've looked good but certain aspects of the design bring it down so, so much. Namely the gross swollen toes, dumptruck ass and oversaturated colour palette. Fix those and Quaquaval would have a solid design imo.

Oh and Skeledirge too. I don't really like Fuecoco but I understand why the lil dude appeals to many people, but man it deserved a better evolution than what it got... Poor guy evolved into balding clown. And why is the body so blocky looking??

tl;dr: gen 8 and 9 starters with the exception of the Sprigatito line (my GOATs) and Inteleon
 
Last edited:
I think, out of all of them, Skeledirge is probably the one I'm the least enamoured with. It's not bad, and it has some cool ideas tied up in it, I just feel like those ideas don't really come together into something I'm all that fond of.
I've come around to them somewhat since, but the Galar Trio also left a very unremarkable impression for quite a while. A lot of their most interesting traits are things that don't show up immediately in their design, so their first impressions are very basic. I only really came to enjoy them after seeing their less obvious stuff.
 
My bottom five including all stages is:

1. Drizzile- hands too big and weird colors, instead of looking like an edgy punk teenager it looks like a clown's assistant.
2. Combusken-it's just an anthro chicken
3. Wartortle-ugly face and weird details that don't correlate much to Blastoise
4. Quaxwell-eyes too big and a concept that can't choose to be a swimmer or a dancer
5. Incineroar-you get used to it after seeing it in competitive, but the hands are too big and Litten deserved something more unique.

Dishonorable mentions: Typhlosion, H-Typhlosion, Croconaw, Servine, Samurott, Inteleon, Thwackey

But the winner overall is...the Fennekin line. First stage is very simple and the others have nothing that I find relatable, the ears hair is disgusting and I feel the designs should have taken more risks.
 
Grookey - dislike the entire line design-wise, especially Rillaboom.
Fuecoco - looks too goofy, and Skeledirge has an odd colour scheme.
Sobble - don't care for the design, and its evolved forms are even more unappealing.
Chimchar - the line is too overexposed, and I really don't like Infernape for outclassing much cooler Fire-types.
Fennekin - I do like Braixen's sleek design, but Delphox has a grating cry, an odd colour scheme, and the ear fur looks ridiculous.
 
  • i hate jumping on the tepig hater train, but the entire evolutionary line's design has never really appealed to me. mega embar is cool though, and the blue shiny really adds to it
  • i am also not a fan of piplup's line for much the same reasons. while i get the inspiration for empoleon, it just looks kinda awkward to me (though ig piplup itself isn't the problem, just its evolutions, but alas)
  • the same reasons also applies to oshawott's line. i think oshawott is probably cuter in the anime since its personality probably shines more there than in the games as a sprite, and i really don't like samurott's design
my dislikes of starter pokemon pretty much come down to design preference than anything else but these are the only three that are the biggest "offenders", i suppose.
 
I really, really do not like Incineroar and I feel like at some point I should give the poor Pokemon a break. It just looks too much like a cheesy 80s anthropomorphic cat character and it being in SSB Ultimate didn't help matters. (why did we need ANOTHER fire starter Pokemon? And WHY Incineroar? UGHHHHH)
 
Charizard - Mostly for the fact I think this fire lizard is so played out that there's nothing all that amazing about it now especially in the anime. It's ironic saying this knowing Pikachu is my all time favourite Pokémon and it too could be considered played out but so far aside from any one-off Pikachu we've only had Ash's, Cap and Sparky as far as main/secondary cast members. Charizard on the other hand has had Ash owning one (was also brought back for B&W where it did nothing worthwhile), Alain and his Mega Charizard that ruffled a few feathers, Kiawe having one (though mostly only using it for riding purposes), Leon's of course doesn't need any introduction and Friede also having one too. It just gets pretty boring seeing them constantly go for Charizard all the time and I'm very certain that we'll be seeing it again next gen as well. Gotten to a point where I prefer Squirtle and Bulbasaur much more now when it comes to the Kanto starters.

Tepig - Probably the blandest possible starter ever and I've never really warmed to it all that much.

Grookey - This is mostly again for the anime because I thought Goh's Grookey was such a annoying little shit. Wanted to kick that damn thing to the sun.
 
I dont really care for the Galar starters, and Skeledirge rubs me the wrong way, especially seeing as I really like Fuecoco and Crocalor. The face just makes this whimsical little guy with 5 braincells turn into a depressed dad with 3 hyperactive kids.
 
PageEmperor said:
What the title says, and please, do not get upset if you see people complaining about the first Pokemon you ever used in battle.

Especially bear in mind: I personally do not tend to hate Pokemon species. And therefore even my personal least favourite starter I still don’t think is that bad.

That said, my least favourite starter is a tie between Emboar and Cinderace for reasons I’ll state below. After thinking about it though, I eventually came to the conclusion that Cinderace is the one I like less of the two.

Reasons pertaining to both: I find that many of the other Fire types available in their games outclass them battle-wise, and I also much prefer the other starters of their respective generation, both in terms of battle and design but I’ll get to that later.

Reasons pertaining to Emboarg: Why did they make this the third Fire/Fighting starter in a row? I can sort of see how the Fighting typing works, but since the last two Fire starters had that typing, I wouldn’t mind if theh just changed that. And again, I feel like there are too many better options in the game. Darmanitan is in the game too and as long as you can tolerate the bad ability it has before it evolves, the end result is something much more worthwhile. And I also prefer both the other two starters, both for their final evo designs and because again, I just think they are better in-game, epecially keeping in mind the element monk in BW1, Tepig is the only choice that doesn’t give the player a Water type to use Surf. But still, it’s not all bad, since I’ve never actually had a bad time using Emboar. It’s always been at least somewhat reliable when I use it… unlike…

Reasons pertaining to Cinderace: What I said about the other two starters completely outclassing this one applies here… doubleso. Once you’re done with the FIRST gym, Sobble has no more weaknesses. But both Inteleon and Cinderace both have similar stat distributions, so there you have it; Sobble already totally overshadows this just because of that. And then Grookey is the only one who isn’t a Glass cannon so it’s already much more interesting. And there just isn’t any way Cinderace stands out from the others in my opinion, and as a result, I don’t usually pick it.

And when I do, it usually just isn’t good. Only the first time I used Cinderace was it useful. Every other time it died very easily because it has no defenses to speak of and it’s movepool felt mediocre. Again, at least Emboar was usually quite reliable everytime I did try that out!

So at this point I think it’s clear which my least favourite starter is. With Emboarg at least, it would possibly be okay in like a randomized run when I have no idea what to get and it’s possible I won’t find the better Fire types. With the rabbit, I just find very little reason to actually use it in battle, let alone pick it, and in all honesty I would rather pick the other two because there is at least something notable about them, such as one being weak to only ONE improtant boss and the other not being a glass cannon, and bear in mind that I already thought Gen8 had the weakest set of starters.

Oh and before I forget… I also just do not like the design. Not very interesting stuff about it and looks too much like a person in an outfit… it’s a shame because I do like it’s pre evo designs.

To be fair both starters I metioned could have had better designs, but this one is worse because it doesn’t have a fire beard and looks too much like an actual human.

So yeah… what are your least favourite starter lines in the game?
Click to expand...
Gotta agree on cinderace. It just feels like it's trying too hard to be cool and then just feels hollow, and the gen 8 starters as a whole being weak doesn't help its case at all. At least emboar has some charm to it!
 
Last edited:
Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow specially. It's annoying that it's just basic Pikachu since it's weak for the long run and can't evolve either. At least they fixed this in Lets Go so the Pokemon is good for most of the game.
 
Back
Top Bottom