Do you use your starter?

[esperance]

I always use my starter Pokémon. I've used them for so long that I just can't really consider not using them during the main story. Most of the time I don't ever remove them from my team.

 

[Sylphiel]

I usually end up keeping my starter in my party, only switching it out momentarily if I absolutely have to do so. Especially if it's a fire type like I tend to pick, it's easier for me to just keep the starter around instead of scrambling to find another pokemon of the same type.

 

[Ephemeryst]

I always choose fire starters, but in unova I hated the design for tepig after it evolved so I picked servine instead. I ended up not liking having a grass starter so I pretty much went through all of B/W and B2/W2 without a starter. So basically, I generally keep my starters for the whole game except for unova games.

 

[_Dud_]

I never find a Pokemon I like in the early game, due to the fact the grass consists of only Rattatas, Bidoofs, Zigzagoons, etc, so my starter usually becomes too over leveled to abandon. The only games which I haven't used my starter and "abandoned" it as soon as possible would be in Yellow and Silver. First of all, I hate training Pikachu because it's practically the face of Pokemon and is so overrated. Chikorita... well, it wasn't that strong. I sound like Silver here I know, but I found it really hard to advance in the game due to it's stats being low at the start of the game, though I left it in the daycare and it became a powerhouse when I got to mid/end game.

 

[illumine]

In Yellow? Yes, as it's a significant part of the game. Elsewhere, it depends. In G/S/C, the starters are generally good enough and interesting, so it's worth keeping them in the team. In R/S/E, generally speaking their quality has usually decreased - apart from Mudkip - and some decent Pokémon show up pre-gym: Poochyena, Wingull, Shroomish, Ralts, etc., and a Poochyena is somewhat suggested for your purpose, so it might be referred to as orthodox. In D/P, while the starter quality may be lower, the early Pokémon aren't really more inspiring. In any case, though, they might usually be of interest, although of course how people might relate to them from R/B to maybe R/S would be quite different from in the later games of the series.