Planning teams

[Altairis]

Do you like to plan your teams before a playthrough (I'm going to pick Froakie, then catch a Pidgey on Route 3... then a Goomy on Route 25, etc etc) or catch whatever you like along the way?

I like to plan mine, so I don't end up using the same Pokemon over and over and so I don't have a team with a ton of weaknesses to a specific type - I like them to be balanced. wbu?

 

[Trogd0r917]

I usually just plan the starters and two or three others I'd like to use or try using. If I end up not liking one I replace it with another with the same or similar typing.

 

[Apollo]

I like my catches to be spontaneous. :) The only thing I'll plan is probably my starter and whether I'll use it or not, but otherwise I catch anything that interests me. Although I do plan them on some occasions.

 

[XtinaIsMeLuvinWWE]

When I first got into Pokémon I never bothered planning things but for the past few Gens I've had a very systematic way of researching and planning everything ahead of time (kinda like when I was in school I never bothered doing plans for my essays but now I couldn't imagine not doing so lol) :)

 

[Khoshi]

I do a little bit of planning, as in I check what's in tall grass and then plan out what to catch, but nothing to do with planning in advance or planning anything too in depth. Maybe plan the first 2 Pokemon I get including my starter, but other than that, no I don't plan. My teams are usually made up of 3 actual members and maybe 2-3 HM slaves and a legendary in case stuff goes down, so not much planning's really needed. Just my starter, a first route bird and maybe something I randomly come by.

 

[Imperator161]

The first time through a game/in my primary version of each pair, I just try to catch and train everything, and the dominant members who become my team appear naturally. I guess I had certain Pokémon I knew I wanted to use in X (my starter, Blastoise, and Pikachu), so there was a bit of planning, but I wasn't even sure I'd stick with that plan till I got started and just realized I enjoyed using those Pokémon.

I plan more for later playthroughs, though, to make sure I use a new mix. I've been thinking for a couple of months about what to use on a run of Y (I'm going to trade myself a bunch of custom-bred eggs from X to use, and may do it as something of an egglocke), and I still haven't been able to settle on what Pokémon to use yet, so I haven't gotten started.

 

[Judge Mandolore Shepard]

Planning a team in a Pokemon game has become quite natural to me. Course I do have various steps in planning the team. First part of the team planning is the theme of the nicknames. After figuring out a theme, then I plan the nicknames. After both of those steps are done, that is when I figure out the members of the team.

 

[SaniOKh]

I never plan my team before playing a game for the first time.

When I'm done with the first playthrough, however, then it depends on whether I'm recording the game (for the Youtube channel that I never seem to muster the courage to create :D ) or not. If I do, I design my teams to only use the Pokémon that I can catch during the main quest. If I don't then I compose my team of three starters (from different generations), one pseudo legendary and two other preferably powerful Pokémon. All the Pokémon except one of the starters are traded from other games as eggs as soon as possible.

I even used to have a Google doc where I wrote down my teams so that I would: a) never repeat a type in the same team and b) never repeat a Pokémon in the same generation. Now that I'm done with my almost year-long Pokémon binge, I erased it.

 

[Megan]

Normally I put my team together while progressing the plot. The only thing that I might consider is using unusual ones. It even happened to me that at the end of the playthrough there where still unused spots in my team.

 

[Arlo]

I played for about 12 years before I ever planned a team. I honestly had no idea for quite some time that people actually did plan teams, and for a long time after that, I still had no idea why they did. Since I've tried doing it, I can see some of the attraction, but it's still not my preferred way to play.

The first time through a particular region, I always catch everything I've never used before and use them long enough to get them to their final evolutions and get a good idea of what they're like. On later playthroughs, I pass up stuff that I'm sure I won't use, but I still catch pretty much anything that seems like it might even be marginally useful, and generally work out of a pool of up to a few dozen different pokemon, rearranging my team constantly.

It wasn't until I had already played and replayed White a couple of times that I decided to try a planned out playthrough. It was sort of fun, since I didn't have to sweat catching stuff or grinding stuff, but I thought it was a bit dull to just use the same six pokemon all the way through. Since then, I've done one in Black 2 and I tried one in Platinum and in Emerald, but neither lasted - I ended up rearranging my team anyway. I've got a vague plan to do a hacked one in White 2 with a "dream team," but I haven't been able to decide on a team yet.

My preference is still for just catching and using whatever I'm in the mood to use and letting my final team sort itself out.

 

[Bellsprout]

I almost always plan mine. I notice though that I overly plan a lot and that takes away from the fun (but most of the time planning is pretty fun to me tehe) so sometimes I do a run where I force myself to just catch as I go. I also like to do runs where not only do I catch what I need as I go but I also make myself only use ones I haven't before that way I stop relying on old favorites.

Idk why but I love planning out my teams though. Like planning out my team is half the fun for me... the other half being actually playing the game lol. I guess I just get a little too into it!!

 

[Yato]

I used to not plan mine because I didn't use the Internet to learn about what Pokemon were in the games, but since BW I've planned my teams just about every playthrough I've done. Though part of this is due to my knowing what Pokemon could be found and captured in the region, my change in method is mostly due to the fact that I like using a combination of Pokemon I've never used/haven't used much and Pokemon I like. Plus, planning sometimes helps me figure out any weaknesses my team may have so that I may change around Pokemon to fix that.

 

[Firox]

Except for my first play through (I just use my favorite Pokemon that I can catch up to that generation).

Every time I play a new team, I will plan it out from the start.
First I decide which team/challenge I want to play (Type challenge - water, normal, fighting - or a Species challenge - Cat Team, Weasel Team) and decide which Pokemon I want to use that fits in with the challenge - I'll do the research and even ask other friends on various Pokemon forums (Serebii, Bulbagardens, Marriland, and here on PC) for opinions, ideas, and suggestions. At the end, the team usually end up as:

2 Pokemon I already know and like love, and I have tons of experience using, usually one or both are Pokemon within my top 15 favorites

2 Pokemon I have never used before, I'm always surprised how well they do and slowly become some of my favorites.

2 Pokemon that also fit in with the specific team/challenge/type I'm playing

 

[Dr. Silver]

Gen V was the only time I ever planned my team ahead of schedule. I planned out a team of Dark types, and ended up with 2 Liepard, Bisharp, Hydreigon, Krookodile and Zoroark. I used to hate Scraggy with the passion of my dislike for Grimer and my disappointment that Farfetch'd still lacks an evolution.

Of course in X I decided that I'd just use any Pokemon that looks enjoyable to use or that I was really fond of. I had a team of 30 before I beat the Elite 4...

 

[Guardian]

I so wish I could just randomly/spontaneously catch Pokemon, but I always end up planning out my entire team.

 

[Gulpin]

I plan every team. It really doesn't take the fun out of it like it sounds like it could, because all I really miss out on is leveling up Pokemon that I won't actually be using.. which sounds boring. I couldn't image playing through without at least a basic team plan in my mind. The amount of challenges I do probably reinforced my planning tendency; I used to plan in extreme detail the teams for my challenges.

 

[Pepperton]

Before I play a Pokemon game, I have to meticulously plan out my team down to the smallest detail. I've never had two of one type of Pokemon on a team, even if they're two of my favorites from the region, like Swampert and Milotic. Since they're both water types, I forced myself to pick one. That's why I enjoy Nuzlockes so much, they force me to do the opposite - have no idea what Pokemon I'm going to have, and just go with it.

 

[Brendino]

I've usually got ideas of a few Pokemon that I want in my party (using Y as an example, I knew I wanted to have a Chespin and a male Litleo), but other than that, I tend to leave it up to chance. I can see why some people plan ahead for type coverage and whatnot, but I usually take care of that as I go along. For instance, rather than saying "I want a Pidgeot on my team," I'll just look for any Flying-type Pokemon to fill that void. Sometimes I end up replacing it, but more often than not I'll have no problem using them throughout the game.

That's not to say I haven't come up with team ideas for Aqua Sapphire though (especially since we know where to find a majority of Pokemon), but I'll still try and keep an open mind as I play through the game.

 

[Princess Diana]

Usually I just catch them as and when, then swap them out if I feel it necessary. I'm thinking about trying a play-through of an older game with a pre designed team though.

The problem is, when I plan out a team in advance I get impatient when I have to wait to catch them!

 

[skyluigi2]

Generally I just go through games catching any Pokémon I think will be good. As a rule, I try to avoid single-typed Pokémon and having duplicate typings in my team (finding 6 Pokémon with 12 unique types between them is honestly kind of fun). After beating the game, I'll then plan a team, mainly to take on post-game things, and get in some competitive battling... sometimes.