Do you plan your teams ahead of time?

Do you tend to plan your Pokémon team early, or catch and decide who to use in your party as you go? Or a mix depending on the scenario?

Usually I don't go in with a plan and instead just look up the encounter table of each route when I reach it, if it's a pokemon I want, I'll catch it.

But about a week ago, I decided on a team for my next playthrough of every reigon and I really like my choices. (If I can't catch a specific Pokemon before late game like Rotom being postgame exclusive in BDSP, I'll trade one over once I reach 4 badges or so.)

New gen of games: I wing it and just toss on my team what I like aesthetically, though prefer to avoid type overlaps.

Remakes: I focus on mons I've never used before, apart from the starter. I might plan or I'll just see what I can get when.
Like in BDSP I wasn't planning on using Aipom/Ambipom, but found one kind of early in a tree and put it on my team =D

I usually have a general idea of what Pokémon I want to use when it comes to new generations, though I don't always end up using them (I remember originally planning to use Chandelure and Mienshao on my Black Version team and not using either). If I'm playing a remake or replaying a game, I usually figure things out along the way.

I catch every single Pokémon and fully evolve them, so I can't say I really do? I have favorites for sure, but I'll train a Butterfree to the same level as my Hydreigon. I try not to miss training any Pokémon available in game and they all get a place on some team just by virtue of how the boxes are lined horizontally by six lol.

I love planning things in life, and that tends to seep into my party Pokemon in games. For new gens I research ahead the cool looking mons, disregard stats (bcs fr who cares about stats in story mode), and go about my day tryna catch them.

I tend to keep changing my team during each playthrough, replacing the Mons that I don't think are worth keeping on the team. Only thing I usually plan in advance is which starter I'm picking.

Fairy said:

I catch every single Pokémon and fully evolve them, so I can't say I really do? I have favorites for sure, but I'll train a Butterfree to the same level as my Hydreigon. I try not to miss training any Pokémon available in game and they all get a place on some team just by virtue of how the boxes are lined horizontally by six lol.

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Pretty much this. Well, not entirely "every single" one, but, like, I catch everything that moves and I feel whether it gives me good vibes. If it does, off to my large, super-extended team it goes. I usually end up a regular playthrough with 30 or so mons at level 50-60.

So the answer is no, my team composition is pure serendipity.

if i m replaying a game, then yes, otherwise, not at all. In the case of PLA I have seen piplup, so i want it in my team and i d like to try the new zoroark as well. For the rest, I ll choose them by playing the game.

I allways prefer to try Pokémon I didn't have in previous playthroughs' final teams, so I like to see what are my options beforehand and see what I can or should pick to avoid repetition (although from time to time I do repeat if it's a Pokémon I like a lot)

So yeah, essentially I have to plan my teams nowadays, because I like mixing Pokémon from different gens, look for good synergies and avoid type overlaps, while also trying to avoid repeating Pokémon I already had in past playthroughs, and that limits my options.

I try to do it, mostly in challenge runs.

In normal playthroughs I have a tendency to go more with the flow.

I never used to do so and have flip-flopped on whether or not I care about natures and stuff. But more recently, I've really let my obsessive side run with it. In my last saves when I was a student I planned the team, picked good natures, even bred a Munchlax for one save. Then in 2020 I got really obsessive part-way through HeartGold - after resetting for a good natured Typhlosion, not caring that Togetic's was only neutral because it had Serene Grace, then adding a Gastly and Machop to break my rules on using Pokémon in the game they're introduced because they had good natures, I ground my game to a halt to obliterate the Safari Zone so I could breed an Eevee (Vaporeon) and Marill with egg moves.
My Black save was part-planned, with natures and IVs steering me, but going back to Gen IV I bred my entire Platinum team - perfect IVs in relevant stats (so 2-3 stats), egg moves, natures, abilities etc. then EV-trained them using the Little Cup method so I could use them from the start, but only added them in when they're available in the wild. I didn't even evolve my Rhyperior into its final form until after I'd defeated the Pokémon League, despite having spare Protectors in other saves.
It actually made for a very rewarding save, as the disobedience up until badge 5 eroded all the advantages. Then, as the story ramped up and Team Galactic became more obviously dangerous, my now-harmonious team swatting aside all opponents seemed like my character focussing on what really matters and finding battling trainers inconvenient.

I kinda do a mix of both. I'll usually know 3 or 4 Pokemon that I want to use before starting a playthrough and then the last couple of spots on the team end up being filled with Pokemon that catch my attention during the playthrough. For example in Legends: Arceus I know I'll use Wyrdeer, Hisuian Arcanine and Samurott but the rest of the team will be picked during the playthrough based on how I'm feeling at the moment and what Pokemon catch my attention the most.

The only hard rule I (almost) always follow is to use at least 4 Pokemon I never used before so that way I get to experience more different Pokemon instead of always using the same ones over and over.

For older Pokémon games or rom hacks I always plan my team in advance so it's decently balanced. For new games I just go with whatever appeals to me and try to get as much type diversity as possible.

I plan my teams ahead of time... but not to make them competitive. Most of the time, I try and make a party fitting a specific theme, usually for a monotype challenge, and that limits the team I can use by a lot. I have to pre-plan where to catch each Pokemon to round out a full team with mons that fit my criteria.

Wingin a team is half the fun, unless the gen your playing has poor variety. So no i dont plan

I always plan my teams ahead of time. Typically, I plan a primary and secondary team for my playthroughs. After planning, I prefer to transfer such Pokémon from previous generations as freshly hatched Pokémon at low levels to use with my starter in the new game. Afterwards, for the post-game, I would plan some competitive teams for ranked battles. I haven't played Pokémon the "normal" way and planned a team as I go in years.

Haha aaa… I look at the Pokédex and end up struggling through the game using my favorites -which tend to be on the more adorable side - regardless of whether I shot myself in the foot with the type and diversity of my aforementioned team. If anything, I find this weird challenge to be very fulfilling. I get a sense of pride that I can destroy and demolish npcs with dragons with my team of unicorns and rainbows with the occasional nightmarish ghoul.