Starters

[invisible_light]

What are your thoughts on starters? Do you keep them through the entire game?

Personally, I find starters to be immensely important as they are the first Pokemon you get in the game and after using them a lot you might get an attachment to them. I find it difficult to ever take the starter out of the party.

 

[Joshawott]

I almost always use the starters — they're essential! The only exception is if I'm doing a certain type of challenge. I, too, find it hard to just store the first Pokémon of your journey in the PC.

 

[PlatinumDude]

They're essential for kick-starting your journey. As already mentioned in the OP, if you travel with them a lot, you might bond with it and refuse to let it go.

 

[Zayphora]

I always keep my starter. It's my partner. In fact a starter is the only Pokemon I've ever trained to lvl100, and in my other games my starter is always waay overleveled compared to the other pokemon in my team. lol.

 

[Hikamaru]

Even though there were times where I dumped my starter, from HG/SS onward I keep my starter.

The starters show how true of a Trainer you are. They remind you of that day where you started your journey.

 

[Sydian]

I used to always keep my starter, but eventually I shook that thought of "they're your first pokemon and are important" around gen IV. I just didn't like the gen IV starters lol. I occasionally ditched my starters in RSE, but it would usually be for some type of challenge where they didn't meet the criteria (Steel monotype, etc). I ditch my stater in almost all my BW playthroughs though. Yeeeah, I don't care for them. They're very generic and boring and don't really bring anything fresh to the table, and there are better Grass and Fire types in the region. Can't say the same for Water, but well, without the absolute need for a Surfer anymore...YA KNOW...

 

[Lucifer]

I almost always used my starter. The biggest exception was back in my original Silver. I accidentally did not put thought into my starter, it was only the second game I had ever played after Yellow whre you don't have a choice because you're automatically given pikachu. So about halfway or so through the game I stored my Feraligatr but took it back later either for or after the elite four I can not remember for sure, it's been so long.

Other than that I might store torchic/cumbusken in Hoenn because it's pretty useless until the elite four since it doesn't learn it's two fighting moves when they are most needed.

I also recently boxed my Bayleef in SS because I begun to wish I had chosen Cyndaquil, that is another rare reason I will box a starter.

Besides these instances I always use my starter.

 

[BakingBluePotatoe]

What? Ditch my starter? YOU WILL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!

*ahem*

No, I never ditched my starter. I always like the one I pick, and I bond with them like they're my children. :3

 

[Haseyo]

My starter is basically my best friend throughout the whole journey. I've never once thought about not having one. Not to mention, their stats are pretty decent compared to many Pokemon.

The only time I do get rid of one is if I'm doing a special run, like "Electric Types Only" and clearly there is no electric starters, not counting Yellow ver. of course.

I get attached easily >_<

 

[Killjoy]

I usually keep my starter as the head of my team, except for the genV starts, whom I chuck as fast and as far as I can. It's not that I hate them, I just don't want to use them anymore.

 

[Oryx]

I don't plan my teams so I always keep my starter because it would be so much effort to find a replacement. They're generally all-around good Pokemon to use throughout the game, while others are a crapshoot so I never bothered with them haha.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

For the most part, I tend to ditch my starter eventually. The only one I'd consider keeping is the Infernape that I'm currently training in Platinum: that's mainly because there aren't enough Fire critters in Gen IV, but also because it's probably my favourite starter in general. For the most part, the starters are often outclassed by some other critter in the Pokemon games... especially the Water ones, for the most part. As well as this, I tend to go for dual-type Pokemon over single-type, and while there are an increasing number of dual-type starters, they just don't appeal as much as most of the non-starter Pokemon. In many ways, I always think of starters as a stepping stone to something bigger and better that will come along in the future.

 

[Absol]

I have always kept my starter even in B/W. I just can't bring myself to get rid of them. They were the first Pokemon I got and they will always be special to me. :)

 

[Infernova]

When I first started pokemon, in my diamond game, my Infernape was way over leveled. Compared to all my other pokemon. So yes. I always keep my starters.

 

[XtinaIsMeLuvinWWE]

I used to be absolutely attached and would never box them but lately what with planning my teams etc there's usually always other pokémon that I want instead.

I think the only starter I keep atm is Sceptile in Emerald.

 

[Otherworld9)]

The only starter I've kept through out the years was Hoenn's starter: Mudkip, and Johto's: Cyndaquil. I found them incredibly important. The others are good....but it's just that I find better pokemon to replace them.

 

[Brendino]

The only time I really keep my starter in my party is when I'm unfamiliar with the region I'm playing in. In the first 3 gens of games, I found my Charizard, Meganium and Sceptile staying in my party throughout the game. I found on the remakes, though (FR & HG) that my starter never stuck on my team that long, and I found myself going forward without them. When I started with Platinum, though (after I played HG), I kept my Empoleon on my team, and I plan on it staying there.

 

[Ultimate Uchiha]

For some strange reason, I feel obligated to keep my starter and I don't think I've played a game where I didn't keep it.

 

[Zephele]

Since there's only one available in the game, I used to think starters were too important to leave out of my team, so I always kept mine through the whole game. I've since dropped that mentality partway through Gen IV, around the time HGSS were released, and the first time I didn't use my starter in my final team was during BW. Now I just think of them as other Pokemon.

Though it is nice to have had someone with you since the beginning of your journey, and the starters are a good set of Pokemon that can take effort to look for a replacement at times.

 

[LapLace1500]

I keep all my starters. Except for that one time in Ruby when I decided to randomly choose a Torchic and released it after the third gym. But, other than that, I keep all my starters. I grow bonds with them. Even if I have multiple teams on a game, my starter always remains the strongest. I would die if I lost my starter, which can't happen. My best friend released my Mudkip once. I think I almost killed her, until she told me she didn't save ^-^