To Catch, Or Not to Catch?

How do you guys decide which Pokemon to catch for your team? Do you plan it out beforehand or just decide during the game when a Pokemon takes your fancy?

Plan it out beforehand.

really just whichever ones strike my fancy in the moment, which is more or less random. I have a vague idea beforehand from looking at the regional dex but I've never fully planned out my team.

I like having a balanced team, so I tend to plan it out beforehand and then roll with it...I hate catching something, training it, and then deciding I don't want to use it after all. Generally I know what I'm going to use before I've even started the game.

I usually build my team so that it can hit all Pokemon in the game super effectively. Sometimes I take a handful of Pokemon that I really want to use, and build my team around them.

In my first playthrough, I just usually use whichever ones show up first to me in the wild--if I end up liking them, they stay in my team. If not, they get boxed, and I continue my organic search for Pokemon that I like. I typically play blind now, so I come into a new generation without knowing much about all the new Pokemon or the new forms that older Pokemon can take.

During my second playthrough, I plan my team out beforehand using only Pokemon available in the game (for example, I won't be using Mareep in a Sun playthrough), and since I have access to all the Pokemon from my first playthrough, I can easily trade them over as eggs and start my game that way. I always use my starter in both playthroughs, however, and I must always use a different starter each time.

I usually have a basic plan of my team beforehand. For S&M, I knew which island the Pokemon I wanted for my team were on, and I caught them as I went. During subsequent playthroughs, I usually IV breed and EV train all of my Pokemon so I can completely dominate.

MechaMoth said:

I usually have a basic plan of my team beforehand.

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This is how I usually play too, I tend to have a rough idea of my team and end up catching 3/4 of those original Pokemon, with some Pokemon I find during my playthrough ending up on my team.

Luna said:

This is how I usually play too, I tend to have a rough idea of my team and end up catching 3/4 of those original Pokemon, with some Pokemon I find during my playthrough ending up on my team.

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Yeah, I like a loose structure to run off on my first playthrough, just so I don't have any type overlaps or obvious weaknesses. I still add in some pokes on the way through if I like the feel of them.

i try not to plan it out, but i usually end up thinking up a team before playing a game. if it's a new generation, i try to go in as blind as possible and those teams usually turn out a lot less planned which i prefer.

I plan out my teams beforehand. I even waited until Sun and Moon leaked to see the pokemon so I could decide my team.

First playthrough is catching everything and figuring out who to keep on my team during the run. In following runs I plan out my team beforehand, usually ending up leaving one spot open or switching out one halfway.

First playthrough of a game I catch everything, but I generally have some idea of what I want to use. Any subsequent playthroughs though, I only catch what I want to use, and I normally have those teams entirely planned out, with the exception of the 6th Pokemon sometimes.

I don't usually plan it I'll usually pick an pokemon an trainer I had battled.

Any initial playthroughs of a Pokemon game I try to keep blind, so my teams are rarely planned out aside from one or two exceptions (last time I think I broke this rule was with Litleo in Y). If I'm playing through a game again though, pretty much everything is fair game, and I usually know what my team is going to be about 2 or 3 gyms in, even if I don't have everyone I want yet.

I usually tend to plan ahead, with designs I like being taken into account as well as usability factors like movepool, stats and abilities.

For my first play of a game I like to just wing it - I knew far too much about HgSs when they came out and my strict adherence to a plan just took a little of the magic out of it. Afterwards, it varies. In Gen III for some reason I seem to do the least planning - I think it's because i'm quite limited in my options due to having no trading, I can't bring in Eggs like I did with my Munchlax, Manaphy and Teddiursa last time I did Gen IV. In Kanto I'll often end up using 8-9 pok?mon for my run through (on my last one I had a Butterfree just for battling Brock and Misty, then phased out my Hitmonlee for Tyranitar before re-battling the Elite Four), and in Hoenn my best laid plans are usually waylaid by how many of the early game pok?mon I really like.

My last playthrough of Platinum had about half the team planned out, currently on HeartGold with the whole team planned out as otherwise I end up drowning in choice. I've never really gone into the Gen V game with much of a plan bar using Victini and Reshiram in my first ever play of Black, and getting Zangoose in Black 2 (the first game I've had where it was available). Not sure why I don't plan in that generation, but it just doesn't happen.

I usually use the first Pokemon I come across as my team with my starter, only changing it up slightly if there's a later Pokemon I encounter I like.

For my new playthroughs I decide that I want a really balanced team. I usually have a fire, water, and grass type on my team (this includes my starter). I usually have an electric type afterwards (Pikachu is one of my favorites to use) and then I choose two random mons to use afterwards. If it's a new region, I try to mainly stick to new Pokemon.