"canon" teams per protagonist

[Mab]

I remember finding this an interesting question a while ago and making a thread that didn't take off at all, so let's see if things go differently this time. Basically, as Red has a "canon" team when battled in the World Tournament, Battle Tree, or on Mt. Silver, I wonder what the equivalent team for other main characters would be.

Red's team is based on three starters and event battle or gift Pokémon from Kanto (Snorlax, Lapras) as well as obviously Pikachu. We can try to follow this as a guideline for designing the others; give them the three starter final evolutions, and then try to pick event/gift or significant Pokémon from the storyline. Kris/Gold's team, according to this, could be something like the following:

Togetic comes from the Togepi egg, Sudowoodo is part of a roadblock event just like Red's Snorlax, and Gyarados is obtained from the lake. We didn't include legendaries, and Red doesn't have any either, but in my opinion later generational trainers created in this thread can be given them. I'd argue that neither Ho-Oh, Lugia or Mewtwo is really all that significant to their game's plot in the way that future legendaries are, so Gen 1-2 protagonists shouldn't have them, but that doesn't preclude May from using a Rayquaza.

Do you agree with the team I made? What would you create for other protagonists's teams?

 

[Ageha1304]

This is really interesting thought. I like the team you made for gen 2 but it is just that the Red Gyarados irks me a bit. I know its big part of the plot but there is Feraligatr, so another water type is not needed. Red had a balanced team I assume every protagonist should have one. How about Umbreon? Bill gives eevee as a gift, so how to better represent gen 2 that had a new type introduced than by pokemon of said type.

As for having legendaries... I personally don't like the idea of them having legendaries. It has always seemed so broken to me to use any kind of legendary (especially Rayquaza which somehow got banned for the ban list).

As for team for gen 3... There is not a lot to work with. There are the three starters, Beldum given by Steven, Wynaut (yeah no) and Castform. Honestly I don't know. Maybe a Kecleon since it is blocking players path? Or the fossil pokemon? I would probably make this the gen 3 team:

 

[Star Arcana]

Alright, so for Gen 4, I went with this:

Torterra, Infernape, Empoleon, Porygon-Z, Lucario, and Rotom

I think it works well in terms of being a tough and balanced team. Porygon is a gift in Plat, and since third versions tend to be canon, I went with that. The lack of Togekiss is simply because I can see the Togepi line going to the gen 2 protagonist.

 

[strangerhypno]

Only Red canonically got all 3 starters. I doubt the other protagonists got all three. Brendan got Treecko in the ORAS trailer, and Gold always has a Cyndaquil in other media so I think those are the most likely starters in their teams. Dunno about the rest.

 

[Janp]

I agree with strangerhypno about only Red having 3 starters. We saw how he got them (in Yellow) and it makes him somewhat special.

With that in mind, I made two teams for Hilbert. One with all the starters and one with only one starter:

There isn't much to say about this team. Volcarona is found in Relic Castle, Zoroark is kinda Lucario of this gen and as Zorua, you can get it as gift. And finally, I think Black's/White's protagonist are first who canonically caught legendary AND used it on their team. I went with Zekrom for Hilbert, because Reshiram is imho more feminine Pokemon, so I would put it on Hilda's team.

And about this team, only change was the starters. I kept Emboar, because it's showed with Hilbert in other media. Simisage is the elemental ape Hilbert would get with Emboar and Carracosta is fossil and Hilbert have it in Pokemon Special manga, so I don't see a problem with that. Last change is Musharna over Volcarona. I feel like first team is something that would come up as a legend. People would tell stories of Hilbert and would associated these Pokemon with him. It's full of somehow legendary or mysterious Pokemon, while the second one is team Hilbert would really use.

 

[Blue_Pigeon]

So I was thinking about a Kalos trainer's team, and these are the two variants I've got. I'm not including any of the 1st gen starters despite the trainer receiving one of them because I think that sort of defeats the purpose of the team representing its generation.

Team 1 (All 3 starters):

Team 2:

(Greninja is the only starter on Team 2 because, lets be honest, it was the darling of Gen 6 so most likely to be represented)


I also decided to try the same with Gen 7, which is a lot more difficult.

Alolan Team with all 3 Starters:

Out of all the pokemon which is from gen 7, Lycanrock Dusk, Mimikyu and Kommo-o are the poster pokemon with the starters. This team doesn't include any Alolan forms, but all the significant ones clash with the starters' types (or Mimikyu's). Mimikyu's ghost and fairy typing do clash with 2 of the starters, but there was no way I was leaving out Mimikyu.

 

[Damien.aspiring.fandev]

I made teams themed after the first two Ranger games
(yes, I know you can have up to 8 pokémon, but you can't have more than 6
on core games and regular showdown ladder matches)

Solana/Lunick

Plusle/minun -Partner.

Blaziken -Fire assist, one of the best in-game, easily accessible in the post-game.

Gardevoir -Psychic assist, one of the best in-game, fairly easy to capture(once you get to them, that is). Very handy when facing the Go-Rock Squad's leader or trying to capture Rayquaza.

Raichu -Provides the most powerful styler recharge in-game, easy to capture.

Machamp -Fighting assist, doubling each drawn loop, key role when facing Billy of the Go-Rock Quads.

Gengar -Ghost assist, one of the best in-game, very handy when facing the Go-Rock Squad's leader or trying to capture Rayquaza.

Due to blaziken being on a high tier, you might wish to replace them for the sake of
avoiding teams of legendaries. An alternative is typhlosion, found in the deep Lyra forest.

Kellyn/Kate

Pachirisu -The most suggestable first partner to pick, and one of the best in-game.

Doduo -Provides transportation on land.

Staraptor -Aerial transportation.

Magneton -Provides the most powerful styler recharge in-game.

Skuntank -Mostly due to a SoA gag : skuntank gases are deployed a couple times against Team Dim Sun.

Hippowdon -Ground assist, one of the best in-game. If captured, they won't cause any storms in the Haruba desert.

Interestingly, you can ride a doduo but not a dodrio in SoA, yet Kellyn is seen riding one in
the anime(aside the fact dodrio can be very hard to capture). Furthermore, the Fall city
Ranger leader has one as partner and rides on them. You might consider replacing the
doduo with a dodrio also because of doduo's overall low statistics.

 

[Star Arcana]

@strangerhypno: Good point, I'll make alternates to keep the "one starter" thing in consideration

I like to keep the female protag in the loop, so I'll make versions, one for each gender:

Dawn:
Empoleon, Leafeon, Porygon-Z, Lucario, Togekiss, Rotom

I went with the manga to determine starters, so Dawn ended up with the Piplup line. Eevee is a gift, and Leafeon fits this team better then it does for Lucas, so I give it to Dawn. Porygon is another gift, as is Lucario and Togekiss. Rotom is considered to be a special event Pokémon, and it provides this team with a unique, fun, and shocking member.

Lucas
Torterra, Glaceon, Porygon-Z, Lucario, Togekiss, Rotom

Very similar in logic to Dawn's team. Glaceon is present as to avoid a type duplication, which is why it was chosen over Leafeon.

So, yeah. I'm pretty happy with how these turned out ^^

 

[Nah]

In the case of the Kalos and Hoenn protags, they sorta kinda have "canon" teams already, given that the one that the player didn't choose becomes their primary rival character and so has a team

does that count

 

[Mab]

In the case of the Kalos and Hoenn protags, they sorta kinda have "canon" teams already, given that the one that the player didn't choose becomes their primary rival character and so has a team

does that count

mfw i totally forgot about that

 

[strangerhypno]

In the case of the Kalos and Hoenn protags, they sorta kinda have "canon" teams already, given that the one that the player didn't choose becomes their primary rival character and so has a team

does that count

those are the rival characters teams, it wouldn't make sense if the protagonist got that.

 

[LusoTrainer]

Made a thread on this exact same topic some years ago. You might find it interesting: https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=327005

If I were to pick Gold's team:

Meganium, Typhlosion and Feraligatr (the starters), Togetic (received as an egg by Elm), Sudowoodo (found on Route 36), Shuckle (received on Cianwood City, stays with Gold if it has high friendship, which one could assume it does due to how Red had an Espeon once).