Main Series: Do you plan your team?

[Altair1]

I've never planned my team in any games, just went with what comes my way, works for me! I wonder how many people would have similar teams and what a common in-game team would consist of...

 

[YukiKaru]

I usually always have my starter preset.

R/B- Typically Charmander, but occasionally Squirtle.
G/S/C- Chikorita. ALWAYS. <3
R/S/E- Mainly Torchic.
D/P/Pt- I don't play Gen IV very much, but Piplup.
B/W- I've only played through once, but Snivy was useful.

As for the others, I usually try to find an Ice type somehow because they're good against Lance in Gen II.

Gen I's pretty straight forward. I usually pick up a Pikachu in Viridian Forest, and a Ghost type, and the Lapras you recieve in Silph Co.

Gen III's team usually has an Altaria somewhere--I love Dragon types. :3

And ALWAYS have a good Water and Flying type to learn Surf and Fly, respectively.

Oh, and get Mienfoo in Gen V. You'll thank me later.

 

[FennekinFox]

Sometimes I plan my team, sometimes I don't. Like when I first played Black, I didn't plan the team at all. I just caught pokemon that I thought could work. In White 2, I somewhat planned my team. I bred 1 member and caught the pokemon I specifically wanted for the team. On Black 2 I planned the whole team and bred the whole team. On games before the 5th gen, I don't think planned the teams., I just caught pokemon that could be good for the team.

 

[Sabrewulf238]

Just wondering but did anyone else find they didn't end up with a HM slave for the 5th gen games?

I found it extremely liberating. It was first time that all six pokemon on my team were proper team mates.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

I always plan out my team before the game's release based on the trailers, but it sometimes changes whenever new Pokemon I like are revealed. I made sure I have the three core types (Grass, Fire, and Water) and most of the dominant types of the metagame (Fighting, Ground, Steel, and Dragon) on my team.

 

[Nomine]

If I do, I plan very loosely. I always have one goal in mind whenever I'm making a team though: to have a Dragon or Ice type somewhere. Usually I'd pick 4-5 Pokémon and then just wing it after that.

 

[Bobith]

I've been using the same few pokemon since gen1, so I guess I plan it to some extent, unless one of the pokemon I always use cannot be captured in the newer game.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

I'll plan on catching a few Pokemon or rather hope they find a spot on my team, but if I see something else or decide to fill up my team early I do that. I never plan out a full team in advance.

 

[Zorogami]

I usually have like a roughdraft of the team i want to have by the E4.
Until i can get them all, i might either try out a Pokemon I've never used before or just leave that spot empty

 

[JesterLegacy]

A starter is always in my part slot. As for the others, I can say that I don't plan much. I just take the ones that suit my taste. Well, if they don't fit my style after a while of trying, I'll just switch them.

 

[Sableye~]

During playthrough, I just grab Pokemon that battle well and that I like. I try to balance types in the doing.

 

[Anguscr4p]

Yeah, I plan all 6 members of my team. Occasionally I'll be playing and decide "You know, I'd rather have.." then I'll deviate. My teams always use the starter pokemon, and usually have a core of Fire/Grass/Water, with 3 optional pokemon (although I always try to have a flier).

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

I plan pretty much every single Pokemon I'm going to catch and before I even buy the game, if I can. When I was younger, I'd just play with what Pokemon I saw on the anime and liked the design of and with absolutely no form of strategy. Nowadays, I'm meticulous in my team planning, with thought given to final typings, movesets and levels that I want my team to be at pretty much all stages of the game. While some people might say it takes the fun out of the game, to me the fun comes from all of this planning!

Yes, I'm well aware of how weird that sounds, but just go with me! :P

 

[Boilurn]

I usually want to get all 6 members on my team at once, but end up evolving about three or four of them. Any Pokemon I can't raise well or have great defensive abilities (like Roggenrola with Sturdy) would be my support Pokemon.

 

[Syltti]

When I got White, I caught everything I found and trained it. I saw what could be used and what couldn't, and built teams around that. In White 2, though, I already knew who was good or bad, so I planned a lot more then.

 

[Oshamaru]

I have always planned my entire team, but I'll try to plan just half of it in X and Y.
But I don't remember if I actually planned it in Pearl...

 

[Arlo]

I never plan out a team at the start of a game (other than the one solo challenge I did, I guess). I catch everything that interests me and use everything that's useful and constantly rearrange my team. Before I do anything notable like explore a new route or challenge a gym, I put together a team specifically for that purpose, and that includes the E4. As the game progresses, I come to know which pokemon are most dependable, so I might start to have some idea of who I'm taking to the E4, but I don't decide until I actually get there.

 

[bashau]

only the stater and a dark type

 

[Shrew]

Gen 5 was the only generations where I was able to plan at least half of my team. In previous generations, my plans end up getting discarded, and I end up improvising instead.

D/P: Only one member planned... and it wasn't the starter. I literally decided Turtwig over Piplup last minute.
HG/SS: Only starter and the togepi egg was planned.
BW1/BW2: Exactly half of my team planned, half improvised.

 

[Gogofreak]

Well, after playing Emerald, I decided to always have a Raichu at hand. I also picked up an Abra/Kadabra because I enjoyed having such power. Things don't always go as planned, in White 2 I want to add a Pokemon to my team, but I'm too impatient in training them up to the levels of my currant team.