Do you pick your Pokemon on your team because of design, or battle prowess?

[Drayton]

For me, it's stats and move pool because I love cocktail of agony and trolling, sometimes brute force in order :P

_{I rarely go for design, but if that pokemom moveset or stats is indeed terrible.}

 

[Virtual Headache]

For me design always comes first, but I am far from a competitive battler. Of course if a Pokémon is said to be extremely terrible in battle, I will rethink my choice. After all, there are plenty of Pokémon with designs I like.

 

[Mesmerella]

Depends. In-game, I go for things with designs I like. Competitively, however, I'll go for whatever is necessary for my team to succeed, regardless of whether I like the design or not. I generally grow to love any Pokemon that I train, though, so I can't say I really dislike any Pokemon I've ever used.

 

[Aello]

I always go with Pokemon I like. When it comes to building a team, I do look at synergy and sometimes I will use one that I don't enjoy as much as others if its to the benefit of the whole team, but for the most part I can usually work with what I like. Out of 700-ish, there's always something I can find.

 

[Pendraflare]

For the most part I like those based on design. Sometimes i'll use stuff I really like, but if i'm trying to get through a game really fast i'll use really powerful Pokémon more often than not.

 

[Saphyre]

I pick Pokemon to fill roles in my team (physical Atk/Def, special Atk/Def, a wall, a sweeper, a Speed/Atk, and then a filler), but at the same time they're my favorite Pokemon from the game. So I guess my teams lean more towards a power-theme than a design-theme.

 

[Grey Wind]

Both. I generally pick by design but if a Pokemon sucks in battle then it's no fun to use.

 

[Austin]

As important as design is for me, I try to make sure that my Pokemon are at least passable in battle. For example, even thought I think Luvdic has a neat design, I'm probably not going to put it on my team because there are better options in terms of efficiency.

Like Valoo said, a Pokemon isn't much fun to use if it isn't good in a battle.

 

[Thief]

Completely design. I mean, come on, I use a Mightyena for my competitive team. If I don't like a Pokémon then I won't have any fun using it. It's actually more rewarding to have 'bad' Pokémon that you can make work in spite of its stats.

In terms of in-game, I don't even care to make my team competitive. I just grab ones I like and use them.

 

[DanZC]

For main-game, design takes a larger role than stats. If I like a Pokemon for its design, then I embed it into my team. Usually I go for what type of Pokemon I'm lacking and then balance it out.

For post-game, it's all stats. I look for strong Pokemon that I can use in the battling facilities.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

I usually pick a Pokemon based on its appearance. This leads me to getting a ton of flying, dark and steel types.

 

[eeveeandmew]

For me, there is not much difference. I LOVE legendaries' stats AND looks. Sooo... um... i also use HA Goodra and Greninja alot sooo... Battle prowess 67% design 33% for competitive and opposite for story?

 

[Dksoulstice]

In-game I just use whatever Pokemon I like, but for battling I pick prowess.

 

[Sabrewulf238]

I have an emphasis on design over prowess, but I do like having capable pokemon.

Generally in each generation there'll be one or two new pokemon I'll look at and fall completely in love with their design and I have to put them in my team regardless.

Then for the remaining spaces it's a combination of design and prowess (with a smidge of luck) that decides who I pick. (Also what types I need to cover my teams weaknesses can sway the last spaces)

 

[Gulpin]

I pick my entire in-game team based on design. Pretty much any Pokemon is viable for use in-game (except maybe Shedinja.. it can be frustrating to try to use), and I love playing through with each Pokemon to learn its strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes I even use a Pokemon that I don't immediately find appealing design-wise, and I usually end up loving to use them.

 

[Zorogami]

I would say Power a lot more than design, but actually for in-game teams my number one priority is types.
I want to have all by bases covered, so i try to not have any type twice. Power still plays a way bigger role than design though

 

[mangamusicfan]

My first playthrough is for the Design, Mine Second one is for pure Battle.

 

[RoreyG]

In-Game
Elite 4 Karen basically sums up my preference quite well.

"Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites."

Unless I'm doing some sort of challenge, I usually prefer to use Pokemon I like, regardless of design or prowess.


Competitive Battling
I'm part of the Pokemon Fanbase who could really care less about the metagame. I've only dipped my toe into the vast waters of WiFi battling. Out of sheer curiosity, I only ever trained one team for the modern metagame (a sun team in Pokemon Y if you're curious) and even then, I tried to use the Pokemon that I liked the best (of those that fit the basic structure of a well constructed team at least).

In short, it doesn't really matter to me; design or prowess. I usually just go with my favorites. :)

 

[Pryze]

For in game purposes, it really depends on what kind of game I'm playing. In a difficult ROM hack or something, I'll always use a Pokemon based off of how viable they are competitively. Should it just be a regular game, however, I'll decide based off of appearance and how much I like a certain mon.

Competitive wise, a Pokemon's design has little influence over whether or not I decide to use it. For example, I've always thought Flareon to be a rather cool looking Pokemon--in fact, it's one of my favorite Eeveelutions--but because it's just so utterly terrible competitively, not once have I even considered putting it on a team. I'd definitely use it in-game, however.

 

[alisaie]

I suppose I do a mix of the two. I won't use Pokemon that I won't use design wise but they don't have to necessarily be strong. I like plenty of Pokemon that have lackluster stats and use like Furret, Jumpluff, Azumarill, Bellossom, and so on and so forth. However I do like to have my team balanced so they, at the very least, need to be capable of helping that out.