To Catch, Or Not to Catch?

Started by Lunar May 15th, 2017 1:31 PM
  • 2025 views
  • 21 replies

Lunar

Age 24
Male
England
Seen September 16th, 2020
Posted September 15th, 2020
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?

Flowerchild

> failure to launch

Age 24
She/Her
Hyperspace
Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted July 7th, 2022
8,699 posts
13 Years
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.
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Flan

has the bird flu.

Age 26
Female
NYC
Seen October 15th, 2017
Posted August 10th, 2017
340 posts
17.4 Years
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.

MechaMoth

Eloquent Speaker

Mountain Time
Seen August 1st, 2018
Posted March 1st, 2018
520 posts
6.2 Years
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.
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Lunar

Age 24
Male
England
Seen September 16th, 2020
Posted September 15th, 2020
I usually have a basic plan of my team beforehand.
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.

MechaMoth

Eloquent Speaker

Mountain Time
Seen August 1st, 2018
Posted March 1st, 2018
520 posts
6.2 Years
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.
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.
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blue

gucci

Male
United Kingdom
Seen September 26th, 2021
Posted August 7th, 2019
21,056 posts
15.4 Years
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.

ShyRayq

Unprofessional Unprofessional

Male
Seen 1 Day Ago
Posted March 2nd, 2023
1,855 posts
15.8 Years
I plan out my teams beforehand. I even waited until Sun and Moon leaked to see the pokemon so I could decide my team.
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EC

he/him
Seen July 1st, 2022
Posted February 26th, 2021
5,502 posts
7.2 Years
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.

Anastasia.R

Female
Boston, MA
Seen October 9th, 2017
Posted October 9th, 2017
1,541 posts
15.8 Years

I try to make a team as I play and fix it up later. I don't plan very much on my first playthrough, aha! Whatever has a good first impression on me, I get.

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Brendino

The Ruins of Alph
Seen 16 Hours Ago
Posted April 6th, 2023
8,567 posts
13.5 Years
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.

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
I usually tend to plan ahead, with designs I like being taken into account as well as usability factors like movepool, stats and abilities.
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Amore

Seen 18 Hours Ago
Posted 18 Hours Ago
5,243 posts
13.8 Years
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 pokmon 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 pokmon 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.
Female
Wherever I go, there I am.
Seen August 31st, 2017
Posted August 31st, 2017
38 posts
5.9 Years
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.
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Female
Seen February 7th, 2023
Posted February 26th, 2021
303 posts
7.7 Years
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.
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Imperator161

Seen February 5th, 2023
Posted July 31st, 2020
1,415 posts
14.7 Years
For the first game of a generation, I generally try everything out to figure out what Pokemon I like. With the new Exp. Share mechanics, I've been rotating far more than six Pokemon through my team, so I don't really feel like I have to plan it out to avoid using too many Pokemon.

That being said, I do tend to gravitate towards certain Pokemon before starting, and those ones usually end up on my team (along with some others that interested me along the way). I do try to balance my team somewhat.

For my secondary version game, I usually plan a team out in advance, and it usually either has a theme to it or simply contains Pokemon I really like. I'm also more likely to import freshly hatched Pokemon for those files.
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