4th Generation: "I choose you, ___________!"

[Magmaruby and Aquasapphire]

I chose the cool one's, piplup and Cyndaquil due to their final evolutions, plus I like their anime versions .

[Ultimate Uchiha]

Since there hasn't been an electric type starter since Pikachu in yellow, I could never choose a starter based on type alone so I usually just choose by offensive abilities. This is why I went with Cyndaquil and Piplup.

[AWsquared]

I'm a grass type lover, so in Diamond I picked Turtwig. I don't have Platinum yet, but I'll probably end up picking Turtwig again cause I love it so much.

In HeartGold I picked Chikorita. I end up regretting it though. I only picked it cause I was extremely biased of all grass starters back then, and now I'm trying to be more open-minded about my choice. Chikorita is definitely not the best of the Grass-starters. When I/if I ever restart my HeartGold, I'll pick Cyndaquil.

[Mr Cat Dog]

I started playing Platinum a few weeks ago, and didn't realise how good the Sinnoh starters were! It was actually a tough call as to which one to go for, unlike in most generations. But, in the end, I went with the ol' reliable Fire type and chose Chimchar. And wowzers is Infernape good! It's one of the few starters that I haven't gotten rid of during the game, which is a testament to just how good it is. And partially because of the dearth of Fire-critters in Gen IV... but that's neither here nor there!

As for SoulSilver, I'm not a massive fan of any of these starters, with Meganium and Feraligatr being two of my least favourite starters. By that logic, Cyndaquil was always going to be my pick, even if Typhlosion is kinda boring in comparison to most of the other Fire starters. Except Emboar... ugh!

[XtinaIsMeLuvinWWE]

I chose Piplup in Diamond then boxed it cause there wasn't enough room on my team unfortunately and I'll probably do the same with Cyndaquil when I get Soul Silver.

[Aerinoctis]

I chose all of them over time at least once.

[Snowdrop]

All of the Johto starters are great.

Of the Sinnoh starters, Turtwig is the only one I'll choose.

But I picked Chikorita as my starter, female. I love love love Meganium. Typhlosion definitely comes close though.

[Lilaaa]

chimchar~<3 kinda cos it was cute but it was good too~~

[Bourne-mouth]

In DPPT, I always pick piplup. I had a thing of picking water type starters, such as this one.

HGSS, Cyndaquil. This one is an exception because Typhlosion is cool, and I personally dislike Totodile.

[turt-wig]

in pearl I chose turtwig (torterra in my opinion is extremely strong and one of my favorite pokemon) and in diamond I chose chimchar, platinum I chose piplup for soulsilver I chose cyndaquil and when I play heartgold I plan to choose chikorita (grass/ground types just have a place in my heart (': haha) also because my brother traded me an egg with a tododile so I will have grass and water starters for HG

[o Pikachu o]

In Platinum I chose Turtwig just because I don't really start of with grass types that often and the main reason I even chose Turtwig was because of Torterra's Grass/Ground typing.

In HeartGold or any game that's in Johto most of the times I start off with Cyndaquil just because Typhlosion is one of my favorite Pokèmon's and I remember playing Crystal where I would use only Typhlosion and when I battled Red my Typhlosion was level 100 and it easily beat Red

[Rainy Garden of Fire]

For most of the games I played, I chose the Water-type. But for SoulSilver, I chose Chikorita.

[TheLastAvenger]

Turtwig in Diamond, Chimchar in Pearl, Piplup in Platinum, Totodile in HeartGold & Cyndaquil in SoulSilver.

[danaxe]

on platinum no 1 i chose piplup
on platinum no 2 i chose turtwig and traded piplup and chimchar on
on hg no 1 i chose chicorita who is rubbish
on hg no 2 i chose totodile

my favorite is a tie between empoleon, feraligatr and torterra

[Mentalii]

I usually always choose the water starter. Always. So, in DPP, I started with Piplup. But I was very disappointed by it. I guess it's Emploeon's double type, that really disturb me. A water type has to be strong against fire, so I couldn't bear it not to resist that much. So, I reluctantly started a new game (I was far in the game, but the starter is too much important for me), and picked Chimchar. And, I have to say that I'm very happy with my decision. Infernape's way more practical than Empoleon, and it's great for the Battle Frontier.

In HGSS, I chose Totodile. My favourite starter ever. Plus, it's the water type, so it was an easy choice for me.

[PikachuAddict]

I've gone through Platinum with all three starters, in different playthroughs. While in SoulSilver, I've either choose Totodile or Cyndaquil. My run through Chikorita on lasted to just after I beat Falkners Gym before I reset it.

[Turbo_Dee]

Originally Posted by Toshiro.

In my Platinum game, I chose Chimchar because I love all his evolutionary stages and I never really choose the fire types for my starter so it was a nice change.

In my Heartgold I chose Totodile because he's awesome and water types help a lot :3

Exactly this. Infernape really is a brilliant pokemon for the game, particularly as there is a lack of any decent alternatives until later in the game. The same logic goes into my choice in HG/SS, I pick Totodile because Feraligatr is useful for teaching Waterfall to, and there are decent fire types available in that game. Of course, picking between Houndour and Growlithe ends up being just as hard!

Originally Posted by Sakura Rain

In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, I picked Turtwig, because it is my absolute favorite starter ever because it is a adorable turtle, which eventually evolves into this still adorable but monstrous turtle with a tree on its back. That is badass.

This is why I picked Turtwig when I got round to getting Platinum. I always picture the Giant turtle from that Zelda stage on Super Smash Bros. I imagine if I was allowed that I would neglect my bike in favour of lounging on Torterra's back, drinking tea and pruning his grass, whilst he ferried me about. In my mind we would have a falling out as I attempt to drive an umbrella into his back, you know, for sun protection. He would obviously take exception to that and I would have to treat him to a fancy meal before we could go back to first name terms. That's the dream anyway.

[Rainbow Arcanine]

Pretty much always, I use water starters so Piplup and Totodile. I've tried Cyndaquil and he's one strong battler xD.

[WillPowerPedro]

I chose Turtwig for Both Sinnoh games, and Totodile for my Soulsilver. But in Platinum I traded my Turtwig for a baby Sprittomb as soon as I started. :P

[giradialkia]

I've generally chosen them all at least once on various playthroughs, but on my first playthrough of each I went with:
Pearl: Turtwig
Platinum: Chimchar
HeartGold: Cyndaquil

I really think it could have gone any way at all with the Sinnoh games- I think the starters are all perfectly weighed against one another, and are all equally valid to use. In HeartGold that's not really the case- I've played through with Meganium and it's just.. nah. With Typhlosion, battles were quick and firey, and Feraligatr packed a punch too, but Meganium just couldn't hack it.

[The Shiny Umbreon in the Corner]

In Diamond I choose Piplup <3 and also in Pearl and but in my first play through of Diamond it was Turtwig and now I have such a soft spot for Turtwig now <3 before I decided to pick Water Types all the way because of my first pokemon which was Squirtle in Leaf Green. So from then on I choose nothing but water types so is SS I choose Totodile!

[Zupplu]

Grass Types all the way, well for these Gens anyway. Well I love Chikorita and Turtwig, so yeah.

[gimmepie]

I have played them all so many times now haha

I've used every starter except Chikorita at least once (I just don't like it as much as the others... and meganium from beilief doesn't make any sense as far as design goes). I used Chimchar and Cyndaquil in the first play through of each.

My most recent "starters: in SS were Gible (last time) and Nidoran (Male) for an all poison type game

[BiGoDeViN28]

I usually choose the same for each Gen. I've gotten myself in a groove for each game, haha.

GSC/HGSS: Cyndaquil. I never liked Gen 2 starters, but Cyndaquil is alright, haha.
DPPt: Turtwig every time, too. I was drawn to him my first playthrough and from then on continued to use him.

[Kanto_Johto]

Turtwig and Cyndaquil for me. On my most recent playthrough of HeartGold I chose Totodile, though.