Best Starter that's not a Starter?

[Sweets Witch]

Mareep was fun, but I'd enjoy trying Chinchou one day because of its dual typing. Maybe my next Pearl runthrough will be that. Either Chinchou or Seel.

 

[fenyx4]

Well, I do have the experience of making non-starter Pokemon my essential starters:
Kanto: Butterfree (as is the plight of almost everyone who starts with Charmander and has to beat Brock somehow)

I laughed at the Butterfree comment. XD

I normally use the "official/traditional" starter Pokemon and catch other Pokemon along the way. I liked Pokemon Colosseum's concept of letting you start with both Umbreon and Espeon, and Pokemon XD and Pokemon Conquest enhanced the concept by giving you a plain Eevee that you could evolve into one of the various elemental Eeveelutions later on in the game (though you have to wait longer for certain Eeveelutions). Even Pokemon Yellow let your rival start with an Eevee. In any case, I think starting with an Eevee in a handheld main series Pokemon game could also prove to be interesting.

For Hoenn, I read somewhere that stated that Camerupt, Wailord, and Tropius were supposed to be the "original" Hoenn starters, though since I've hardly seen any decent evidence to support that, I'm presuming that the theory is pretty much false. Nonetheless, I think it would be interesting to start with Numel, Wailmer, and Tropius (although Tropius stick out a bit because has no pre-evolution or evolution :x), as they're 3 "big" Pokemon with somewhat extraordinary concepts (a camel burdened by volcanoes on its back, a whopping whale, and a flying brachiosaurian? thing that sprouts bananas for food :D), and 2/3 of them have a quadruple (4x) weakness (Camerupt against Water, Tropius against Ice).

For Unova, I would like to see Emolga treated as a starter Pokemon (would've worked even better if it actually evolved from Pachirisu T_T), seeing as BW hearkens back to the RBY experience...since Kanto technically has 4 (or even 5 >.<) starters, it would be nice to see an Electric-type complement Unova's starters as Pikachu complements the 3 main Kanto starters.

 

[LocksmithArmy]

I have taken the advice from this thread and am implementing it in my hack...

you will have an option to pick one of the 3, or catch one for yourself (in a special area similar to the safari zone)

problem is I cant use pokemon above gen 2...

thanks for all the ideas ;)

 

[C_r_e_a_m_p_u_f_f]

A few of mine are :

Growlithe : Arcanine rules!
Starly : I don't know why, but I'd really thought it'd be a great companion.
Gible : My fav dragon
Sandile : Good enough.
Beldum : Nice, except it only learns ONE move...
Poliwag : Such a nice little thing... (Maybe that's why it's Red's starter)
Ducklett : Sooo cute!
Lotad : Yep, I love water types.
Buizel : Damn you waters!!
Horsea : I think I'm gonna faint...
Panpour, Pansear & Pansage: Duh!
Chinchou : Water again...
Seel : This time it's for ICE, not water! Yay! (Even though Seel is only water xD)

BEST:

Eevee : This goes without saying. The MOST perfect starter, because you can choose to make it into any one of SEVEN types.

 

[*Shiny*Monster0198]

Elekid? Pretty cool little tyke, and who doesn't love E-vire? lol =D

 

[linkofhyrule]

Give me a Larvitar early enough to actually use and itll be done, right beside a Dratini.

 

[Maxresh]

I like to raise Sableye and make it my main pokemon. I find it really cool pokemon. I also like Golduck :D

 

[popplio25]

i've done it too :)


in pokemon black 2, i had a female lv 2 sewaddle that i named kuru *she's lv 43 at the moment*

in pokemon blue, i had a lv 8 spearow that i named row *he's lv 32 at the moment*

in crystal that i'm going to get, i'm going to catch a female meowth that i'll name 'ruby'...

'i'll evolve her into persion' :)


in firered, i had a female lv 3 rattata that i named tatta *she's lv 45 at the moment*

in pokemon gold that i'm going to get, i'm going to catch a female hoothoot that i'll name 'midnight'

in pokemon red, i had a lv 3 weedle that i named stingy *he's lv 33 at the moment*

in pokemon silver that i'm going to get, i'm going to catch a female sentret that i'll name 'senti'

in my 2nd copy of pokemon x, i'm going to have my female lv 1 nidoran named 'rina'

in my 2nd copy of pokemon y that i'm going to get sometime, i'm going to have my female lv 1 eevee named 'kimiko'

& currently, in ultra moon, i've got my female lv 1 Minccino that i named 'fuzzy' *she's currently lv 10 & on-going :) *

*i had a male rowlet before her until i got my pokemon traded back to me in the festival plaza, anyway :) *






& i'm not sure if it counts, being a johto starter, but...

in my 2nd copy of alpha sapphire, i'm going to have my female lv 5 starter totodile named 'liako'

 

[Cosmo-GX]

Pickachu for me. But I also seriously enjoyed having Espeon and Umbreon as starters in Colloseum.

If I'd choose any pokemon I'd go with Sandshrew probably.

 

[Hikamaru]

I'd definitely say Eevee.

The fact you can evolve it into all these different Eeveelutions makes it a partner that can be anything you want. No wonder why it's used as the player's starter in both Pokemon XD and Pokemon Conquest, coupled with the starter Espeon and Umbreon in Pokemon Colosseum.

 

[BlazingCobaltX]

Eevee is one, but I'd also consider Tyrogue. Though they're all the same type, having three final evolutions make relate to the three starter options you usually have. Pokémon with different final evolutions, like Poliwag and Slowpoke, could also work to give the player variation.

 

[Flowerchild]

Any Pokémon with a split evolution line would be interesting to see in a game. Especially if it was a custom Pokémon made just for that game so that with of its evolutions is preferred can depend on story events in some way - like a story choice you make affecting with branch you end up with. I also wouldn't mind starting with an Oddish!

 

[CodeHelmet]

For me, I like Pokemon where Evolution isn't possible or is optional. Some examples would be Growlithe, Staryu, Pikachu, etc. Fortunately for me, Yellow version gives you Pikachu as opposed to the Kanto starters(you get them optionally later on in the game), hence he fits the bill every time I play. However, an ideal starter to me would be Vulpix. Be it the Kanto Fire variant or the latest Alolan Ice type that anyone with Sun&Moon has likely used by now(Anime influence or not).