Do you plan a team in advance?

[Sirfetch’d]

Whenever I am getting ready to play a new Pokemon game I always have my team planned way ahead of time and then never end up using what I wanted to because I encounter something super cool and HAVE to use it. I then run out of team space :( What about you guys. Do you plan your teams before you play a game or do you just see what you run into/feel like using? 8)

 

[Sopheria]

I most often just end up using my favorites. I usually have an idea of what Pokémon I'd like to keep on my team once I encounter them, but it's not set in stone and I usually just end up catching anything I see that I like. Running out of team space usually isn't too big a deal for me because I often have a few Pokémon on rotation and swap them in and out periodically.

 

[noa]

Oh, I definitely plan ahead! I remember planning my gen 4 team the day all the Pokemon were revealed. The one game I didn't plan ahead for was Y, because I went into it semi-blind. I'll probably plan ahead for gen 7 though, it was so fun to plan teams and really added to the hype for me!

 

[classiccartoonsftw]

My teams consist mostly of a few team members I've planned ahead, as well as some members that I encounter during my journey and feel like using.

 

[Sycamorph]

When I started playing Platinum, I was planning to use the best looking Pokemon I could find, Lucario and Lopunny for example. And I ended up with the team of cutest/coolest Pokemon in Sinnoh. Half of them were bad at battles though, but I don't care. I guess it counts.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

When I started playing Platinum, I was planning to use the best looking Pokemon I could find, Lucario and Lopunny for example. And I ended up with the team of cutest/coolest Pokemon in Sinnoh. Half of them were bad at battles though, but I don't care. I guess it counts.

Most of the time the Pokemon that I use in game are really bad at battling too. I guess that doesn't matter as much in game though to be honest as you can win with just about anything. I'd rather use my favorites than Pokemon that are not as appealing to me and only make the game "easier". Competitively though I don't apply this logic.

 

[Apollo]

Most of the time I just go with the flow and catch whichever Pokemon I find that's good enough to earn a spot on my team. It adds to the excitement, imo. Sometimes, however, I plan but usually it's just my starter or a few of my all-time favorites.

 

[Arjay]

I do when re-playing a game. Such as in X, I'll decide which Pokemon I want to use and whether I'm going to use my starter and/or the Kanto starter given to me by Sycamore. Sometimes I plan to use all my favourites but it doesn't always happen because, for example, I love both Talonflame and Pyroar (has to be male, looks majestic as ****) but they're both fire type and I try to spread my typing evenly across the whole team. But other times I pledge to use Pokemon I've never used before/rarely use/not used for a long time to mix things up. Recently I looked at the Kalos Pokedex and decided to use 6 Pokemon that I don't like. That's nearly always because of how they look. Call me shallow, but there are certain Pokemon I just hate visually. But this time I forced myself to swallow my pride and try a playthrough with 6 such creatures. I almost wished I could use TM21 on myself!

 

[Sydian]

It depends? For challenges, I usually plan my team because that's usually required for events, monotypes, etc. When I'm just playing the game, I either plan a team of Pokemon that I'm really in the mood to use or I just go through casually and when I find a Pokemon that strikes me as something that would be fun to use, I'll catch it and go. But I would say I mostly plan because when I replay Pokemon games, it's usually for a challenge, so yeah.

 

[Bellsprout]

a lot of times i like to plan ahead and usually i stick through with my plan unless a team member isn't working out. i noticed i was planning way too much so i started every once in a while when i need to spice it up "playing blind" as I like to call it. I just go into the game and use what interests me at the time or sometimes i challenge myself to use a team of pokemon i haven't used before.

 

[Hikamaru]

Sometimes I plan a team, but then there are others that I add blindly that really do surprise me. I do like to catch any Pokemon I possibly can and may rotate them if I wish.

 

[Elysieum]

I always plan my teams these days. Sure, the first play through of each Gen is at random in the interest of experimentation and exploration, but after that I like to design my team configuration. Psypokes.com has a nifty feature called Pokémon Comparer which is great for team planning.

I quite like having a mixture of reliably strong Pokémon (usually including a starter) with some underused or overlooked runts to prove their mettle.

 

[Fannie]

When I started playing Platinum, I was planning to use the best looking Pokemon I could find, Lucario and Lopunny for example. And I ended up with the team of cutest/coolest Pokemon in Sinnoh. Half of them were bad at battles though, but I don't care. I guess it counts.

I always play with aesthetically pleasing Pokemon too. On my next playthrough I should go for the most hideous!

 

[Caite-chan]

There have been a few times trying to make a team only to forget usually what I started or I just don't feel like I even want to use the team I made up.

 

[Judge Mandolore Shepard]

Planning a team is one of the things I usually do before I play a new Pokemon game. Here are the steps in planning a team:

1. Decide the theme for the nicknames of the team members
2. Choosing six names under said theme to use as nicknames
3. Choose which six Pokemon will be my team members

Course I also have rules regarding the theme of the nicknames:
1. Never repeat a theme I used before
2. If I have used a nickname under one theme, I can not use it under another theme

 

[magicalgirlj]

I plan my team as I go through the game. Seeing which Pokemon are good in battle against the gym leaders and the Pokemon league. But I already knew I wanted to gave another Gardevoir on my team in Alpha Sapphire.

 

[Imperator161]

For my first time through a generation, I generally plan out a couple of member and then wing it with the rest, trying to use as many different Pokemon as possible. For example, in X, I knew I wanted to use Froakie, Squirtle, and Pikachu from the start, and I added other members from there. On subsequent plays, I tend to plan my teams more, as I like to breed Pokemon and trade them in.

 

[Kikaito plush]

Not really I'll use any pokemon that I find that looks cool.

 

[Mapleseruhp]

Its really 50/50 for me. Normally, when I head into a new game, I like to start thinking about who I will have while playing. Sometimes if there's a pokemon I really like i.e Scolipede, then I will plan out in advance how I would acquire them. Rarely i'll just see a random wild encounter and decide to chuck a pokeball at it, because I kinda like planning.

 

[TCB]

It really depends. What you initially comp up with in the beginning before play could always changed once you get into it, you know. I know that with X I wanted to plan out using a Kalos only team, but then I quickly gave up on that when you were swamped with the variety of Pokemon out the gate. When it came to games like White, SS and AS that was a definite in planning out what I want to have on my team.