4th Gen starter pokemon

[Bitter]

Decisions, Decisions. It is tough to choose a starter for Diamond/Pearl in my opinion. I just ordered the game and I am having a rough time choosing between which would be best to start with. I am aware this type of thread has been posted more than enough times, but I just have to ask for myself, which Pokemon do you prefer as your starter, and why? From what I hear, there aren't many fire pokemon in Diamond, and Chimchar would be best to start with in case of a needed fire pokemon. But I hear Chimchar can be defeated pretty quickly. On the other hand, I hear that Turtwig has a high defence, but it is slow. And I don't hear very much about Piplup except that its moves arent the greatest.

I need opinions please. I am confused =/

Thanks for your time.


Bitter.

 

[Meganium Lover]

I kind of think it's based on personal preference more than anything else. Of course, this is coming from a person like me, who only uses the Pokemon she wants to train as opposed to the most elite/"strongest" Pokemon everyone else fondles over. XD

*cough* Anyway, I chose Piplup (who I named Memphis) and I absolutely adore him. When I first bought my Pearl Version about a month ago, I tested the game out with Turtwig. He was pretty slow, but still a decent Pokemon. I just wasn't too in to him, so when I started my game for real, I chose Piplup.

Piplup's moveset isn't the best, so I've had to upgrade mine's with Blizzard and hopefully some other strong TMs later on. But nevertheless, my Memphis does the job. >P

Also, yeah, there's like, one Fire Pokemon in D/P, I think, and that would be Ponyta (discounting Chimchar or that legendary Heatran thingie or Magmortar). XD But thanks to Wi-Fi, I managed to get myself a Charmander, so life is good. :P

And I can see I've been talking a lot. :x Um, yes, I would, honestly, go with whatever Pokemon you feel is right for you. Afterall, it is your starter and it will be with you from beginning to end. So you might as well choose the one you could deal with the best. :)

 

[Bitter]

AH thats a great answer, I see what you mean completely. It escaped my mind that if I didn't choose a fire type, I could still trade for one later on anyway. I suppose I should just give each starter a test drive, lol. until i find the one i feel best with in terms of working together well. i appreciate the advice. anyone else have an opinion on choosing a starter?

Bitter

 

[ShadowTails]

I chose Turtwig, he's really helpful through the game, I don't remember him fainting outside of Wi-fi. I mean even my Bashful one I started the game with did pretty well through out. I went through with 5 main Pokemon and got around fine, I had gotten Cyndaquil from a friend which helped out a lot. I could get you a fire type if I have access to it, not like I can't breed anything and I'm sure I can get probably every fire type Pokemon by now >.> if you have Wi-fi that is.

I mean Chimchar is great, I had one but it kept dieing as a Monferno, I decided to let it go, I mean one fire type is enough. (After beating the Elite four, I used him to get my Shiny Houndoom! =D he evolved first though... XD)

I've not really done much with Piplup, but when it turns into Empoleon it's a good walling Pokemon, he has his weaknesses of Water and Steel types, but over all I've seen good methods that have helped him come out on top in battle.

 

[TwilightBlade]

I chose Chimchar and named him Charlie and I love my monkey... aha. 8D

I think Chimchar is a good choice and he really helps you sweep through the game pretty quickly since he is the fastest of the 3 and has a nice offensive stat and movepool. Even when he was a dozen levels under the E4 Champion's pokemon, he still owned them to a pulp and is the strongest pokemon in my team. Empoleon/Torterra are more defensive and can last much longer than Infernape but as Meganium Lover nicely put it, it is your starter and your game so pick whichever one you like. If you train it well, then any of the 3 can become equally strong so it's all up to preference. I like fire types and an offensive strategy so I chose the fire starter and I'm happy. ;D

 

[Bitter]

hmm I see what you mean. I am thinking of starting with Turtwig since a few of my friends tried starting with Chimchar and he fainted too much. So I might just trade for a good fire pokemon early on instead of starting with one. Thanks for the reply, any more comments or opinions from anyone?

Bitter

 

[Vegeta™]

trust me get a chimchar it has great speed and power combo, teach it earthquake,close combat,flare blitz/??,stone edge and its the best

 

[Black Ice]

Chimchar/Monferno/Infernape is strong and frail.
Piplup/Prinplup/Empoleon is average and slow.
Turtwig/Grotle/Torterra is strong, bulky, and slow.

Take your pick.

 

[j3llii3]

I chose chimchar..at first he was a bit difficult to use for the first badge but after that he was great! Just keep in mind that he is particularily good at using fighting type moves..

 

[The Real AAA]

get Chimchar cuz it's stronger than the other starter pkmns

 

[Shiraishi]

Infernape and Swampert are pretty much the best starters :/ Go with chimchar for breeding purposes XD

 

[J00N45]

Mm... I think Chimchar is the best choice.

 

[Eruption]

Its not just about how the good the pokemon is it is if you like it too.

I wouldn't be forced to use a pokemon I hate e.g. Turtwig. ugh.

Meanwhile, there arent many fires in diamond so Chimchar over Piplup besides that Infernape can have just moves as mach punch and Grass knot and can knock down more types than a normal fire type.

 

[-Jirachi-]

I was happy with my choice.....all three lol

I simply gave the other two to my girlfriends daughter who then traded them back to me i just kept them within the badge limits and i walked over all gyms with them (Except for Brawly which i used a Chingling with Psychic.)

My favourite out of the three.....either turtwig for his/her final evo Torterra or chimchar for being a cheeky looking monkey lol

 

[Bishopk]

I don't like it when people say that particular choices are "the best". In game, it doesn't matter much, you could make an argument for any starter. Out of game, you could make a case for most (if not all) starters too. The fact is, they're all different, and that means they all have different uses. Compared to each other? It depends on the situation. My Empoleon's moveset is pretty kick-butt, but Infernape could go faster with an Earthquake or Mach Punch. Against a Torterra, my Empoleon Ice Beams it into oblivion. There are so many combinations, it's hard to say exactly which one is better. So, I say to you, collect them all! Make it a personal decision!

(sorry if I reiterated anyone else's points, but it should be said in this fashion)

 

[Enki]

I took chimchar and didn't have any problems. I didn't actually lose a battle until the E4

 

[Shiver]

All three of the Sinnoh starters look decent and have ok movepools, although I did chose Piplup as my starter, and he swept through most of the gyms with ease and can even take on the Elite Four by himself if used correctly. :)

 

[Bitter]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I know what to do now, lol. I will probably start with any of the starters, and then possibly trade for the others, or a pokemon that is the same type as the other starters to have a well-rounded group of pokemon of different types to begin with. Or I will do something similar. Like start with Turtwig and just train a real beastly Ponyta, lol.

Thanks for your opinions everyone. It helped me a ton!

Bitter