Does your starter Pokemon *have* to be strong?

Would it be bad to have an eh starter pokemon, so the player doesn't feel restricted to it and can instead have more of a choice? Or would that be bad?

It wouldn't, I know some people would actually like that since they'd be forced to actually use strategies, or to catch more Pokémon. The normal starter trios are always strong enough for me to just level them up and not care about training any more Pokémon until late in the game.

Though this may also depend on the starter Pokémon you're going for.

I think this is a nice idea, and would even out gameplay a lot. I was always torn about my starter in the canon games, and in Citrite I tried to ensure your starter wasn't specially unique for that reason.

I'd enjoy getting rid of having unique starters that no hardly anyone else has, because it'd make my Pokémon feel more interchangeable and less bound down. It'd also be more like if we started our journeys as, you know, regular trainers? :P