How'd you give the player a starter?

As for me, I'll just give the player some pkmn in pokeballs and pkmn prof. will ask him to deliver them to the mart in the next city along with another person (the rival). Then due to a problem, they will have to use them to battle (wild pkmn or some evil team,etc.) Player chooses first, rival chooses later and coincidentally it is the stronger one... And the story progresses. (They get to keep their pokemon)

How'd you give the player a starter pkmn?

For me, right when the player leaves her/his home for the first time, the prof. will be under an attack of the evil team, he/she will let you take a pokemon to help her/him fight against the evil team together. After that, the player will keep the pokemon and then, the story of the game starts.

The player and his friend venture out into the safari zone, where they plan to mess about and do whatever the hell they feel like, I guess. The champion of Harmo catches them when they're chasing a herd of Sparkideer around. He sees promise in the two children and takes them to visit the professor of the region. From there they get their pokemon. That's what we have as a start, at least

The Champion, one of the rivals, and the not-professor, the same person, Riley Spruce, introduce you to the world of Pokémon, but mid-lecture the not-lab (Riley's house in Luchada, and the reasoning is "she was pretending to be Prof. Rowan for lulz") is destroyed by a Golurk sent by Team Nemesis leader Viktoria. You scramble toward the exit, taking one of the three Pokéballs left on the table carelessly, a Waython, a Skufra, and a Peatle (happening to have the same types as all other starters). Then, something falls on the door, blocking you and Riley from escaping. Just as you think you and Riley are going to die, you are teleported to Mount Atraks, the biggest mountain of Zantaru, and where the Pokémon League is. You look around and see a star-shaped Pokémon sitting facing towards Luchada, which you can see because of the smoke and giant Golurk of course. The star Pokémon introduces itself as Jirachi, tells you about why it saved you, and you battle it. Regardless of win or lose, it joins your team (though for different reasons if you win or you lose), and it teleports you back to Luchada. There, you are grabbed by a man in white robes and knocked unconscious.

(My game has two starter Pokémon for you: its own fake Pokémon starters, and a Level 5 Jirachi.)

The player just goes to the next town, where the Lab is, and gets one from the Professor.

Deokishisu said:

The player just goes to the next town, where the Lab is, and gets one from the Professor.

Click to expand...

So in other words, DP?

Alexherobrine45 said:

So in other words, DP?

Click to expand...

Yeah, but I did it before Game Freak did. I also had a female professor before Game Freak and an Elite Four you could challenge in any order before Game Freak.

Hopefully you can figure it out!

I made it that the player is aplying to the Black Syndicate and has to undergo some tests before being accepted. The first test is a puzzle. When he is successful, Pokeballs with the starters in them appear and the player can choose. The choice also affects the game later on.

Have the player do some talking in the starting village including something to go in the forest to collect some berries when he sees the starter pokemons approaching from the forest and the professor running behind them asking the player to help him catch them. The player chooses one to catch and that's his starter, the others run away and are presumably caught by the rivals later on. the professor then says "*pants* Thank you. At least you got one of them!". etc etc

I plan to reference the competitive scene quite heavily in the plot, so my primary idea for getting the starter is that the professor hadn't been getting trainers started recently because everyone goes to the competitive organization. The professor doesn't have a Pokemon to give to you, but just nearby, a strong trainer is about to abandon three recently hatched Pokemon that didn't quite make the cut (imperfect IVs, nature, or ability). You, your rival, and the professor take these.

After you beat your rival and the professor, the mysterious trainer brings you aside and gives another offer to you alone: trade your starter for a perfectly bred pseudo-legendary.

You've been working at a Pokemon Daycare for a couple years. Three Pokemon you've personally taken care of are given to you and your friends by the owner of the Daycare. You each get to choose which one you want to take along with you on condition they choose you as well.

I would make a lottery or some kind of randomized why.
Just so you have more choice than 3. It wouldn't be all of them but a lot.
Or a pet shop where you can buy your starter.
I would also make it so you could sell the pokemon and you caught. I think it would be fun to get a mission in which you have to catch a certain amount/type of pokemon.

I did the typical professor route lol

You and your rival each find eggs lain by a rare Dragon-type roaming the region. You each take turns "guessing" (picking) what Pokemon will be inside, and when it hatches, that's what it turns out to be.

Player's been attending the region's Trainer Academy and is about to graduate. It's the day of their final exam and they're given a Pokemon to use during the battle. They win and get to keep it and are sent on their way after they graduate!

No choice of starters, but it didn't make sense to me for a school to be giving out rare traditional starter Pokemon to their students, felt like it had to be something more common.

You find yourself in a place underground where Pokémon are being enslaved. Not bearing to stand still while it happens, you decide to help some of the Pokémon escape.
If some of them run away successfully, one will become attached to the trainer and become your starter.

The protagonist, a thief on a mission to steal a couple of rare Pokemon, is tasked to break into a secret laboratoy. However he messes up. As soon as he grabs a Poke Ball, he activates the security system and then has to make his way out as soon as possible.

-> introduction of movement and potential stealth gameplay
-> introduction of the Pokemon component (choosing the starter)
-> first information of the world the game takes place (visual and textual)
-> the flight section serves as an introduction to Pokemon battles (weak grunts as first opponents)
-> making the other Pokemon inaccessible also leaves an option for later revisits of the lab and potential retrievance of the Pokemon left behind (either to finish the mission or other reasons, like exploration of the entire lab)

I was thinking about taking the classical professor route,
but also about giving each starter a backstory that the player and
characters might possibly discover more about later on, specific nature
meant as reference(event pokémon and MD personality tests), a set of
character traits and peculiarities, possibly a learn-set of their own that
includes moves they wouldn't normally have (event-specific, egg and tcg
moves, for instance) and, dulcis in fundo, sprites all of their own!(unless
there aren't any other pokémon of that species in-game...)

The player is on vacation with their sister. Both the player and sister have a Pokemon as a pet, but neither has battled before. The player is in a dream during the intro scene, and chooses their starter (after being asked by a Litwick what it is, because the Litwick doesn't remember) in the dream sequence. The player has a choice of any non-legendary Pokemon to start with.