What do you think of Dragonite as a starter?

[Richie77]

I've alerady written 2 chapters, and Dragonite, my favourite Pokemon, is my starter. I found it walking to Oak's lab, and it was being attacked by Pidgey, and I saved it, and he gave it to me blah blah.

Anyway, what do you think? I've made sure to mention that it's still only just hatched, so there's NOT going to be any strength advantage over the early gyms, I was just wondering of your points.

Thanks.

 

[JX Valentine]

Wait, Dragonite? The massive, orange dragon that's the last stage of its evolution line? O_o Might not be a good idea for a starter due to sheer power.

Dratini (the lowest stage on that evolution chain), meanwhile, might be easier to swallow because starters tend to be the lowest member of their evolutionary family. This is because when a trainer starts out, they're usually absolute n00bs at controlling the power of their Pokémon (even if they've studied beforehand -- what with the principle of experience being different from studying something in a book and all). So, having a powerful Dragonite right off the bat will probably cause some hilarious problems that would eventually level the trainer's hometown. Not to mention having the lowest stage usually means that the trainer is restricted in power by default, what with its lack of a movepool combined with lack of strength/stats/however you want to see it.

That and if you really are saying that the Dragonite hatched from an egg and that it's your starter, you'll have to then explain how that happened since it goes against canon and sort of blows off the first two stages of that evolution line. And how, for that matter, a Dragonite managed to be beaten up by Pidgey (especially since Pidgey are, according to at least one 'dex, not the kinds of birds that like to put up a fight). And why, for that matter, the wild Dragonite decided not to maul you. It might be interesting to explore if you went into a lot of detail into the reason why this or that happened, but it'd take a lot of careful planning. In other words, if you just do it without an explanation or without a really, really good one, your readers might not buy it.

Beyond that, the plot. As a warning, a lot of people tend to go with the "I got my starter by finding it injured and abandoned" plot. So many, in fact, that it's actually hard to take seriously because a lot of people have decided to do parodies of it. Case in point (along with a better explanation for why this might not be a good plot idea than I can come up with on the fly): this.

So, in all, I'd say it might be easier to rethink what you're doing. Your plot will call for a lot of careful detail -- probably Dragonfree or Facia-level awesome. This isn't to say that I think you don't have the skill to do it. It's more to say I think a chunk of your potential readers will find it hard to swallow.

 

[Astinus]

You're going to need a really great explanation as to why an extremely rare, newly-hatched Pokemon is left out in the middle of a route for some ten-year-old (or however old) new trainer to find.

That's really the problem when you have a trainer who is supposed to get their starter from Oak, but instead gets a (usually rare) Pokemon as their starter. There needs to be a good reason for it.

Also, the whole "rescue a Pokemon from angry Pokemon and they become my friend" is seen a lot. It's overused, seen a lot in fanfiction. Besides, Pidgey don't attack anything unless said "anything" attacks Pidgey first. So unless baby Dratini decided to go against instinct and beat stronger creatures up, that doesn't make sense to me.

The main problem with this is that Dratini are rare Pokemon. They aren't even thought of to exist since they're so rarely seen. (Says so in the Pokedex."It is called the Mirage Pokemon because so few have seen it.") The only way that people know it exists is because fragments of its skin had been found. Even if your trainer finds one, I doubt Prof. Oak would say that some really rare Pokemon that's so rare it's called a mirage should go out into battles with a brand new trainer who has no experience with Pokemon. There's too much of a risk right there: Dratini getting too hurt, Dratini getting stolen, and others. But those are the main ones.

I'm also kind of suspicious that you post as if you are your character.

And yeah, ninja Jax pointed out that are you sure you're talkin' Dragonite? That's why I responded as if you meant Dratini. Because while itty-bitty Dragonite are damn adorable...it makes no sense.

 

[Richie77]

Wow, thanks for the massive replies.

I could start with a Dratini, that's a great idea.

Are you able to describe to me how it moves though =s Would it wiggle, or slither or what? I'm a bit confused.

Thanks again, i'll take it all on board.

 

[AutumnFeather]

A Dratini... well... swims. That's was what I saw in one of the Pokemon episodes anyway. (There was this dragonair and its dratini and they were in a lake together and then at the end of the whole episode the dragonair got reunited with its benefactor when it was a dratini itself...)

I'm not sure if Dratinis could fly, but I do know Dragonairs and Dragonites do ^^

Hope this helps...
~Autumnfeather

 

[JX Valentine]

Are you able to describe to me how it moves though =s Would it wiggle, or slither or what? I'm a bit confused.

Since it's a serpent, it'll most likely slither a la snake or inch along a la worm. (And, yes, it also swims.)

Thanks again, i'll take it all on board.

I hope so. Astinus and I said a lot more than just, "Er... Dragonite?" ._. Astinus has got a good point regarding Dratini's rarity. You'll have to come up with a really good explanation for how Dratini pops up in the wild and why Oak lets your character keep it.

Good luck.