5th Gen Elemental monkeys

[LilyGardy]

My starter was Oshawott and got Pansear from the Dreamyard. Due to the lack of fire types in Black I took the monkey all the way to the Hall of Fame. He was a useful part of my team if nothing else.

 

[Xebelleon]

Not too fond of the Fire one. Had Role Play Simisage get Liquid Ooze from a Tentacruel once which made me think of broccoli soup and runny noses.

Mostly like them and use them with mandatory STAB move of some sort, Acrobatics and Thief usually.

 

[SuperEspeon]

Only Simisear. Simisage and Simipour look to ridiculous for me to ever use.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

I used them for the first gym but ditched them shortly after. I just didn't find them all too appealing or even fun to use. they were quite weak and severely outclassed by nearly everything. Cute concept but just not for me haha.

 

[Hikamaru]

I really liked those monkeys. They were simple but very efficient and good to use. I did use them back in the days.

I love the monkeys, because they can still remain usable even after you obtain them, later on they gain some useful TM and Move Tutor coverage making them pretty versatile. Speaking of proving how good the monkeys really are, in Marriland's Black Wedlocke, his Simisear (nicknamed Cardinal) was his longest-surviving team member, staying on the team from his capture all the way to the end.

 

[Infinitum]

I love the monkeys, because they can still remain usable even after you obtain them, later on they gain some useful TM and Move Tutor coverage making them pretty versatile. Speaking of proving how good the monkeys really are, in Marriland's Black Wedlocke, his Simisear (nicknamed Cardinal) was his longest-surviving team member, staying on the team from his capture all the way to the end.

The elemental monkeys were indeed versatile. I wouldn't use them a lot, despite I really liked them and enjoyed Nintendo's effort to make something creative like those monkeys.

 

[Thoriére]

I don't really like the monkeys that much. The only design I like is Panpour and I'm not even sure why, honestly. Pansear and Pansage have alright designs, however, but what stops me from using them were the designs of the evolutions. I really disliked them. That doesn't mean I disliked the idea of them - I liked how the game presented them and offered us a way to beat the first Gym Leaders without it being too easy (or at least in my experience).

I have a vague memory of spending all my time on a Panpour and finding it really useful, but when I evolved it, I was so dissatisfied by the design that I almost turned my DSi off (nearly losing hours of gameplay in the process) Dramatic, I know, but I can be a dramatic person.

I eventually just wound up stowing it in the PC and leaving it to collect dust. :/ Guess that could make me a bad trainer from a moral standpoint, but I have more important things to care/worry about. I think my opinion of all the monkeys is in flux or really not concrete, so I guess I'll leave it at that.

 

[jessluvstolaugh]

Good to have at the beginning of the game, but not very efficient to use for the rest of the game.

 

[Sylphiel]

Meh.

That is pretty much my reaction to them. I don't like them a lot, but I don't hate them either. They're just kind of there. Although I apparently did use my Pansage a bit, since it had some levels added to it...not a whole lot, though.

More than my Pansear, at least. At least Pansage had a use for me as being one of my potential grass types. But since I chose Tepig as my starter, I had absolutely no use for Pansear at the time, looks like I boxed that the moment I got it. :P

 

[Hikamaru]

Good to have at the beginning of the game, but not very efficient to use for the rest of the game.

I can see your problem, because they are hard to train at first even after defeating the Striaton Gym but the good thing is that around Level 22 they start to learn a strong elemental attack (Seed Bomb, Flame Burst, Scald) and you'll likely pick up a Leaf/Fire/Water Stone in Castelia City by then, and you could just evolve the monkey there and then focus on building its moveset out of TMs since they can learn some pretty useful ones so they can still hold themselves for the rest of the game.

 

[jessluvstolaugh]

I can see your problem, because they are hard to train at first even after defeating the Striaton Gym but the good thing is that around Level 22 they start to learn a strong elemental attack (Seed Bomb, Flame Burst, Scald) and you'll likely pick up a Leaf/Fire/Water Stone in Castelia City by then, and you could just evolve the monkey there and then focus on building its moveset out of TMs since they can learn some pretty useful ones so they can still hold themselves for the rest of the game.

Hmm... that's actually not a bad idea! Thanks! lol

 

[Pokelovar]

I chose Tepig, and I got Pansage. I didn't really think of using it after winning the Striaton Gym Badge, but I got stuck to it.
They're actually good, and I have used it everywhere till now (I'm in Driftveil City).

 

[Winter]

I never saw any use for the Pansear so it was boxed. They are a cute gimmicky concept but I guess the game developers never really foresaw that players will just find other better 'mons later on (or trade in). xD May be useful for the first-time pokemon players, I guess?

If I had to pick though, I like Simisage the most. Pansage is just the cutest~

 

[Hikamaru]

I think Ice Goddess has a good point mentioned above, I feel like the monkeys were meant to help newer players understand type matchups and the fact the first Gym revolves around that shows just how crucial the monkey is because regardless of which starter you have, the Gym Leader will likely overwhelm it in battle.

Even if you leave the monkey untrained at Level 10, you can still beat the Gym's monkey despite a 4 level difference, but you get the one that's resistant so it's not too bad.