How many Pokémon do you use during a playthrough?

[Lysander]

Do you use 6 or less, or do you use more than 6 and rotate your party frequently to have better type coverage?

I usually use 6 Pokémon during each playthrough, although I had about 12 different Pokémon during my first playthrough of Pokémon Shield that I was rotating between for a while before settling on a team of 6 near the end of the game. It was easier to rotate thanks to the Box Link.

 

[TepigLover101]

lets just say it's in the hundreds
cuz always need a extra pokemon

 

[Sheep]

I used to just use my starter way back as a kid! lol
Nowadays, 5-6. 6 more often than not, since HM slaves are no longer needed.

 

[Bellsprout]

I tend to always use a team of six. Usually when I play HG/SS I'll go with a team of three because of how severely under leveled I end up in those games with a team of six once I get to the E4.

 

[Megan]

I usually try to build up my team throughout the journey, maxing out at 6. Kind of like how in an RPG different characters join during different parts of the story. I make a point on focusing on job distribution. There's no HM slave, every member of the group needs to pull their weight both in battle (especially since I also include "less good" Pokemon) and outside. Even if the game has tons of HMs.

Exceptions I make are gifted Pokemon that get forced upon me. How dare you give me free stuff, game!xD

 

[Zeostar]

Always 6. Sometimes these 6 will be shifted out for different Pokemon though.

 

[Brendino]

Ideally I've got 8 or 9 Pokemon that are interchangeable in my team, but the last few playthroughs I've really only used 5. The 6th Pokemon in my party is just kind of there as an insurance policy, but never really sees battle as often as my core team members.

 

[colours]

in past pokemon games, it was pretty normal for me to finish playthroughs with like,... four or so pokemon in a team. this is because i'm honestly so picky when who i put on my team, so i gave up at certain points and beat the game with what i had. in more recent games though, i try to go for a full team, depending on whether or not there's enough pokemon that i like.

 

[Nanusmightyena]

I always use a full 6. I'm surprised that they haven't changed that mechanic yet that you can hold more. I also never switch out the Pokémon I train either unless they are particularly bad. I only train and use the same six throughout the game.

 

[scubied]

I have 5 normal and one loser to learn all the HM's so 6. but on Pokemon Let's Go! It's not so much a problem so I use 5

 

[Belly]

If a Pokémon can evolve I will use it

 

[doreMi♪]

always six unless you count nuzlockes, in which there's an alarming few. most swap ins happen due to early route pokémon being caught, some stay some get boxed away, others get traded to norway.

 

[Sweet Serenity]

At the very least, for a story play-through, I use 12 Pokémon because I prefer to play with a primary and secondary team. I use the primary team all the way up until defeating the first team and then box them to use my secondary team. I repeat this process until I defeat all the gyms.

 

[BlueMew1512]

I prefer only going for 6 at a time. Mainly because it was a pain to grind everyone in the earlier games and it kind of stuck even after Exp All came on the scene.