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5th Gen Is anyone ditching their starter?

9,535
Posts
12
Years
  • Age 29
  • Seen May 11, 2023
Usually in most generations I ditch my starter at the first opportunity I get since I just don't tend to find them interesting to use, but for some reason in this play through I stuck with using Snivy and I'm actually loving it. It's really cool to look at in battle, it's surprisingly strong, and it complements my current team well. I can't fight Poison or Steel types very well at the moment due to my main two being a Koffing and a Servine, but I think they work really well together against most other types so I think I'll keep those two as partners. So yeah, keeping my starter on my team for once. :D
 

Aura Vitae

Down, Sword Hand!
352
Posts
12
Years
  • Age 31
  • Seen Dec 23, 2019
Usually I never ditch my starter because I never felt the urge to but in my playthrough of White 2 I ditched my Servine before Castelia City's Gym in favor of a Leavanny.
 

TwilightBlade

All dreams are but another reality.
7,236
Posts
16
Years
Yup, I ditched my starter in White and again in White 2. I felt really bad the first time I ditched my starter, Pignite. Second time, I didn't miss using Servine.

In every previous generation, no matter how many times I restarted RBY, GSC, and so on, I used the starter. The starter Pokemon really was one of the best available Pokemon. Now with wi-fi trading and 600+ Pokemon and unimpressive Unova starters, I can forgo the starters and build a more interesting in-game team. Funny enough, I am using Infernape on my White 2 team. I had asked members to give me Pokemon to use along the way.
 

CourageHound

Trust & Courage. Nothing More
823
Posts
11
Years
UUhhh nope. I stuck with my starter, Emboar both regions. That's how much i love em. And even if I wanted to substitute Emboar, which i don't, the other unova fire types besides darmanitan don't really appeal to me.
 

LassLaura

Pikachu Ga Gotoku
156
Posts
13
Years
I was very tempted to ditch my Emboar in White (especially since Darmanitan exists) but I stuck with it. It's a really mediocre pokemon compared to its other fire/fighting starter brethren though (Blaziken forever).

The only starter I really care for this gen is Oshawott. Snivy is alright but it's not as powerful or versatile as I'd like. As evidenced by Hugh's Servine using Leaf Tornado on the Zubats in Castelia's sewers...

But no, aside from being sorely tempted, I've never ditched a starter, even in gen 2 which I think has the worst starters of all.
 
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curiousnathan

Starry-eyed
7,753
Posts
14
Years
In my White version I ditched my Emboar and my Dewott in the next runthrough. But for some reason I really like Samurott, and so it became a crucial member of my team in Black 2. So the answer to your question, no. :P
 

Killjoy

"He was a laser fish."
584
Posts
12
Years
Yes, more often that not I tend to swap my starters for something else, unless I'm playing HG. Not to mention that I'm not fond of the Gen5 starters anymore

I'd much rather be the random trainer using unique Pokémon than the 1 in 1000 'Ash-like' trainer who's gifted with the "Starter Pokémon"
 

Synerjee

[font=Itim]Atra du evarinya ono varda.[/font]
2,901
Posts
11
Years
I've never ditched my starter in any game I've played. I've always used it till the end, or until I restart my game. It didn't feel right not using my starter. But upon seeing all the posts..I might actually start training a Staryu and see how well it matches up with my Samurott. But it's kind of a waste right now, seeing as my Samurott is around level 93 at this point in the game..
 

Perico

Ripper
221
Posts
11
Years
  • Age 28
  • Seen Jun 12, 2022
I kind of feel bad if I ditch my starter so... I won't be ditching it. On Black I started with Snivy cause I liked it a lot, but I have to say I couldn't fight almost any Pokemon type, so I ended up ditching it (as a level-51 Serperior). But in White 2, I started with Oshawott and I find it very useful and it's very strong so there's no reason why I'd ditch Burbuno (my Oshawott's nickname, which is now a Samurott).

Let's keep our starters!

(Plus, I don't know why, fire-type starters always make the game easier, so those who started with Tepig have one more reason to keep the pig)
 

PlatinumDude

Nyeh?
12,964
Posts
13
Years
I never ditched my starters in all my playthroughs, so it's unlikely at all that I'll ever ditch mine at this time.
 

Arkyron

One Very Cracked Egg
9
Posts
11
Years
  • Age 33
  • IL
  • Seen Nov 30, 2014
I ditched my Serperior for N's Ferroseed. I didn't want to, really, but my Serperior just wasn't doing well at all.
 

TheUnown

Super Lurker
72
Posts
13
Years
  • Seen Jul 1, 2015
No, I always tend to keep my starter no matter what region. So for White2 I actually have and use all 3 Unova starters. I know there are better alternatives, but I just kind of like playing with the "native" Pokemon of that region. And also because I like having "fresh faces" and not using the same team/Pokemon like in the previous IV games (with the exception of Lucario).
 

Nes-One

Another Person Into Pokemon
37
Posts
11
Years
Yeah, this is the first time I ever ditched a starter, my Servine after the clearing Clay's gym, after that I had no real use for him anymore except training here and there and for Humilau City's gym even though trained him, he was still kind of useless so I kept him out of my team after that point and only went with 5 pokemon.
 

Melinda

[b][i][color=#fff]#teamsonia[/color][/i][/b]
2,269
Posts
15
Years
  • Age 33
  • Seen Sep 18, 2022
I thought I would be ditching my starter as soon as possible, but I actually kept it in my party until I finished the main story line.
 

CourageHound

Trust & Courage. Nothing More
823
Posts
11
Years
Why would you want to ditch your starter. It's your starter after all.

This. But I think most people would want to switch out their starter because they have better options for pokemon. But if that was the case...why dont you just keep your starter through the story and raise a pokemon for battle afterwards. Kinda pointless to try and raise a serious battle ready pokemon through the main story since they'll get all the wrong EVs.

Other than that they just might not like the starter. But tbh there hasnt been a single gen where I dont like at least one of the starters.
 
4
Posts
11
Years
Normally I don't, but I already used Snivy and Oshawott, and I don't really like Tepig family...so, I ended up ditching it at level 20 for a Growlithe~ :D
 

EQUALSGAMER

Proud user of Garbodor
61
Posts
11
Years
I ditched my starter in white 2 but i noticed in ever other pokemon game i played except for gene five i kept the starter the entire game.
 

Atomic Pirate

I always win.
930
Posts
12
Years
Oh hell yes. The 5th gen starters were all very underwhelming, and it was definitely nice to have a stable of older Pokemon to choose from. So yes, I ditched my starter (which was a Snivy, by the way) as soon as possible.
 
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