If everyone got a starter...

If everyone in the Pokemon world had to choose a starter Pokemon when they turned 11, how come so many of them don't actually have those starters anymore or simply don't use them. I'm basing this observation solely on the show, as most trainers Ash has come across have not had any from of a starter from that region.

I was just wondering why? Do all kids HAVE to choose a starter or can they simply catch their first Pokemon if they want to? Also, I would have figured your first Pokemon would be your most special, but for some reason most of the people either no longer have or no longer use their starters.

It might be in different towns and cities, different starters are given. Also, it might be because some pokemon are caught in other towns and cities than other pokemon.

Maybe they do get real starters, it's just that those said trainers don't want to use them/want to use their own mons so they don't use the starter in battle.

What if they chose the wrong starter pokemon and didn't want to use it

"Starter" or "starter Pokemon" is more a fan given designation and a staple of the gameplay rather than an actual concept in the whole Pokemon world. It comes from the fact that in the games the player character is always somehow acquainted with the regional Pokemon professor, who always lets them choose one of a fire/water/grass trio of rare Pokemon. Cuz, y'know, we're the protagonists and so get special treatment becuz reasons lol.

The offer likely doesn't extend to literally everyone. I doubt that professors have stocks of these Pokemon lying around and just wait around all day, every day for kids to walk by and get them, as their actual jobs are to do Pokemon-related research.

Also should mention how in the Hoenn games, Wally's very first Pokemon is a Ralts, which isn't one of the "starter Pokemon", and he gets it through the help of the player and their father, rather than via Birch.

I'm sure not everyone gets a starter (I think most go out to find their own first Pok?mon), but if they did, I think it's dependent on the city/town you come from. I think the professors hand out rarer Pok?mon to the trainers of their town because they know where to find them. They are essentially more privileged than others because of that.

I'm pretty sure it's just a select few trainers that get the opportunity to get one of the rare 'starter' Pokemon, in exchange for filling out the Pokedex for their local professor. Like a few others have said, circumstance definitely comes into play in order to receive one, but there are other ways to encounter them, too (Ash and May in the anime, for example).

For everyone else, I guess they start with whatever's available to them, whether it be a Pokemon their parents provided, or just something they managed to catch near home.

I think Brendino's explanation is the best, some trainers do have the rare starter Pokemon and they have probably had some special opportunity to obtain them. For most though, they were probably given or helped receive a Pokemon from their parents or someone.

I think not all kids need to get a 'starter' Pokemon from the regions professor. To be an official trainer and enter the gym challenges they have to register and may choose a starter as they and their evolved forms are good in battle. Everyone else has Pokemon companions they have found or caught in some way or other.

The anime sure make it sound as if everybody chooses between one of the region's three starters. But yeah, that's anime-logic and certainly doesn't hold up in most other iterations of the pokémon universe. Or even within the anime one, haha.