i tend to judge Pokémon more by their designs than their battle-effectiveness overall. plus, my first game was Sapphire, so of course i'll be partial to the Hoenn starters.. and so they got my vote. i seriously love all of those Pokémon, though. maybe Sceptile a little less, but it was still cool.

Kanto comes in second, since i did like those overall, just not as much as the Hoenn ones! Unova is third, 'cause i don't like Tepig (i'm one of the ''Fire/Fighting? AGAIN?''-people) but i did really like the Oshawott and Snivy-lines.
i liked Sinnoh's Empoleon and Torterra, so that's in fourth. Johto was just.. meh. Cyndaquil, Totodile and Bayleef i like, but their evolutionary lines overall were kind of boring. they just grew bigger with each evolution, and got more flames/spikes/leaves.

Kalos i feel like i can't really judge without having seen their evolutionary lines, but i do think just from Fennekin and Froakie that they'll end up higher than Sinnoh/Johto in my ranking

Hoenn >> Kanto >>> Sinnoh >> Unova >>>> Johto

Out of all the starters I've only started with all three in Hoenn. Blaziken, Sceptile & Swampert IMO are a well-balanced trio in their learn set, stats, and most importantly design. I would rank Unova higher but I just am not a fan of Emboar at all. Infernape IMO also holds back the Sinnoh starters. The Johto starters are okay, but besides Totodile and its evolutions I've never really had an affinity for them.

UNOVA Y'ALL!! :D A flaming teacup pig, a cute, blue sea otter, a very awesome and smug lizard/snake!!! How could no one love that?

Next is Kanto, Bulbasaur is just... SO ADORABLE!!

Hoenn all the way. I love everything about Hoenn including all of the starters. Swampert was just amazing at that point in time.

Got to be Hoenn, the others just seem a little too? idk plain.. With Hoenn it's the only set of starters were I'm torn for choose when choosing which one to use.

As a whole my personal ranking would be Hoenn > Kanto > Unova > Johto > Sinnoh. But this is more of a matter of Pokemon that I like and their evolutions.

I've played through Gen 3 so many times and have found a lot of versatility with the starters. Mudkip being my favorite because it's hard to go wrong with a Water/Ground pokemon. But I can pick any of them and do well in the game.
I love all the starters from Kanto as well, although I've gotten to a point to where I usually just go with Bulbasaur because I'm not too fond of the grass types in Gen I anymore.
For Unova it's more of a matter of design, as I've only actually used Oshwatt so far as a starter. But I'm hoping to play with other starters too and see how well I do with them.
I love the Johto starters dearly, and as a group they are unique in that none of them gain a second typing as they evolve, but that is also something that could be considered a hindrance.
Gen 4 is really my least favorite generation overall and while I love my Empoleon very much, and found it's second typing to be very useful in-game, I was not a fan of the other two starters at all.

Its really a toss-up between Kanto and Hoenn. Both are the only regions that I can personally say that I have played through the game with all three starters and that I like all of the designs. Plus, I usually start out with water types because Swampert was an animal and Blastoise had the nostalgia factor . My friends always chose Charizard so I would pick Blastoise and ruin their day in battles :p.

Let's rank 'em!

#6 - Sinnoh. I like Turtwig's line, though it's not my favorite. It's pretty cool. Piplup is cute, but his evolutions are awful. Empoleon might be the most over-designed Pokemon there ever was, it's hideous to me. And I dislike monkeys so there wasn't really much appeal to begin with Chimchar's line for me.

#5 - Hoenn. Hoenn is my favorite region and there are no starters I dislike here, but if I have to rank them in order then this is where they have to be. I kind of like that Gamefreak challenged themselves. I mean, you have rams and tigers in the Zodiac but they chose a chicken? AND managed to make it look great? Kudos! For their semiaquatic animal they chose a mudfish? And, again, they made it look really cool! I'm not a big fan of Treecko's line, but they're not bad by any means.

#4 - Unova. Tepig sort of ruins this for me. I think it's a great design, actually, just not something that's appealing to me personally. It's pretty clever to merge pigs and some sort of sumo warrior thing xD Snivy and Servine are okay, but Serperior is awesome! I love snakes! Oshawott's line is fantastic all the way through, and Samurott is a beast! I'm wondering why it's not Water/Fighting, though...

#3 - Kalos. Nobody's seen the evolutions yet, of course, but I like these little guys already! I disliked Froakie at first, but it started growing on me. It's so fluffly and cute :3 However, I prefer Chespin and Fennekin. Both of them look both adorable and like they could be monsters in battle.

#2 - Kanto. The classics! I totally dig reptiles, so I'm fine with them all being based off of those animals. Charmander and Bulbasaur are some of the most awesome Pokemon there are. There's not that much to say, they're just great!

#1 - Johto! CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA HAM CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA CHIKORITA! Also Cyndaquil and Totodile are pretty cute :3

I may be a little biased, but I just love the Hoenn region starters.

I like the second generation starters since none of them acquire additional types when they evolve.
Apart from that, they're all well-rounded fighters one can use for any purpose.

I love all three of the Hoenn Starters and Johto Starters to death, but my gut is telling me to go with Sinnoh. Piplup was my starter Pokémon, as well as my first (I started with Platinum) Chimchar I use frequently competitively (as Infernape, of course) and Turtwig's line is excellent, with Torterra being the best designed starter evolution I've seen, and for some reason I just find Grotle adorable.

I'm going to be all nostalgia and say that the Kanto Pokemon are the best (or at least my favorite). But coming in on a strong second is Hoenn. EDIT: However, I'm not sure which set of starters could be my least favorite.

Don't get me wrong, the R/B/Y and Fr/Lg are not my favorite games, as I like games like Emerald and Crystal better.

I'm actually pretty surprised to see Hoenn tying for first place! I went with Johto, personally; super cute designs and the evolutions are amazing to boot. Will always be my favorite. <3

I love all of the starters no matter what their designs are to be honest! Its quite hard choosing. As sappy as it sounds, I'll love any starter I use, no matter how ridiculous they look. They're your friend, the Pokemon you'll rely on to get your other team members, the Pokemon that's gonna change everything, the one that'll actually help you start your journey. Without it you'd just be an ordinary kid staying at home. Its an amazing Pokemon and all of the starters in my opinion, are really something. But for the purpose of this thread, its a tie between Johto and Hoenn!

My favourite starter would honestly have to be Cyndaquil. I've always found it really cute and while Infernape has brought me really good memories (being my first starter), I've always loved using it. I remember almost soloing the Johto games with it, its just so overpowered and unbelievably strong. Plus it evolves into a badass hedgehog-like thing with fire on its back! A really nice starter. And then there's Chikorita / Totodile. I honestly really liked all of them, they just stood out to me in particular. I've used every single one of them through a game completely and they all played huge roles in my team.

As for Hoenn, there designs are just so dcf;diogioriofg[! While I kinda disliked Sceptile, they were all still fun to use and I'd have no problem just soloing with them. Blaziken was a powerhouse to be honest. I just love them, they're one of my favourites to use!

It pains me to say Kanto since Typhlosion is my favourite pokémon of all time, but the other two lines in Johto drop the ball for me.

Time for a pointless rating system that no one will look at so I'll just spoiler it (bear in mind almost all of these ratings are on design over anything else).



So I guess from that best to worst is Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Hoenn and someway behind is Unova.

I like Hoenn starters the most. They are the only starter set where I love using all 3 Pokémon as my starter.

The others I do like, and the only set I really dislike are the Unova and Kalos set. They just bore me.

Kanto - plus, since it is the first place you start off (considering you started playing from the first gen games), there's a strong emotional attachment with those starters, at least with me

It would have to be a tie between Kanto and Sinnoh. Love those pokemon!

1a) Kanto - My favorite starter hands down would be Squirtle and it's evolution line. Pair that with Venasuar and Charizard who I think are all right and that's more than enough to be my favorite. Though I might be a little biased because they are the classics.

1b) Sinnoh - The first evolutions of all three pokemon are adorable and I like the animals that they stem off from. As they evolve I like the Grass/Ground and Water Steel combonations that change how you would have to fight them. Infernape has to be my favorite design wise but I'm not a huge fan of the repeated fire/fighting combo.

Since my first starter was Totodile I'm inclined to pick Johto. Plus Johto starters are the only set of starters to retain mono-typing. It's a matter of opinion, obviously.

This was probably the hardest poll I've answered since joining these forums.

Kanto
Pros: Nostalgia. All start out cute, yet all turn out to be badasses. Their evolutions are simplistic, and easy to follow.
Cons: They're all reptiles, more or less. They all shout the same exact personality, such that ultimately typing is the only reason to choose one over the other. Bulbasaur starting off as a grass/poison is a wrench to the pattern of all starters being monotyped.

Johto
Pros: They all have very distinct personalities: Chikorita being feminine, Cyndaquil being timid, and Totodile being aggressive. To this day, Meganium is the only fully evolve starter with a huge grin spread over its face.
Cons: Their evolutions all had boring types. When people are polled on which starter they'll choose, this trio has the biggest imbalance, with Chikorita usually only getting like 10%.

Hoenn
Pros: All evolve into badasses. First generation in which starters had (temporarily) signature moves. Very diverse in their battling tactics: Sp.Atker with amazing speed, Mixed Attacker with average speed, and Physical Tank.
Cons: Torchic's evolution was too drastic, al beit awesome in its own right. Lacked personality.

Sinnoh
Pros: All very distinct species--a reptile, mammal, and bird. All had fairly unique secondary typings that weren't forced. Referenced mythology (the earth is a tortoise), literature (Journey to the West), and history (Napoleon). Made use of the phys/special split to be even more unique in battle strategies.
Cons: All very drastic evolutions. Didn't have much personality in any of their appearances.

Unova
Pros: The most distinct personalities. Snivy was immediately dubbed "smug"leaf by the fandom, Oshawott has a frowning face, and Tepig has a jolly face. Snivy becoming royalty perfectly fit its personality; Emboar continues referencing Journey to the West; Oshawott being a samurai-in-training is cool. These all gave factors to choose from other than just what type you like most.
Cons: Tepig and Oshawott's evolutions were unnecessarily drastic for starters.Water and grass had the least number of dual-typed starters compared to fire as of GenIV, yet somehow fire managed to be the only type which got a secondary typing. Speaking of the fire starter's secondary typing....

Kalos
Pros: Very vibrant, and distinct species from one another (rodents, foxes, amphibians.) Chespin being mostly brown, and Fennekin being most yellow, is very refreshing when starters are almost always green/orange/blue.
Cons: We've already had 2 fire-type foxes: Ninetales and Flareon. We've already had 2 water-type frogs: Poliwag and Tympole. I would argue that these are the first starters with redundant species/type combinations.


Ultimately, I chose Kanto.

I'd go with Gen 2. All of the evolution lines are cute and then awesome. Except Maganium. It's just Ultra-Cute.

While I have used every starter Pokemon thus far, and found most of them enjoyable and lovable in their own unique way, Hoenn wins this hands down. All 3 starter Pokemon from this region were not only adorable, but so excellent at what they do. I have played Emerald over 30 times and I rotate my starter choice because I love them all so much. Of the 3, Torchic is my favorite and also my favorite starter of all time. This region is going to be hard to ever top with better starter Pokemon.

C'mon. It's in my name. Of course it's Hoenn and Mudkip.

I've always been a Sinnoh fanboy and the starters were no exception to this. Piplup is adorable and becomes a badass Penguin overlord; Chimchar is also adorable and become one of my all-time favourite competitive Pokémon; and Turtwig is a turtle - need I say more? I've used every starter to date and I've liked the majority of them, but most generations have had one that I've hated. I loved Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle but their evolutions were mostly let-downs (Venusaur gets away with this), I adore the whole Cyndaquil family and the Chikorita family is cool but I hate the Totodile line, I loved the Treecko line but wasn't a fan of the other two Hoenn starters, and I loved the Tepig line but that's it for Unova. Sinnoh's the only region so far in which I've loved all the starters so unless Kalos changes that, I'm sticking with Sinnoh.