Starting Reborn for the second time...

[MuchoG]

So I played Reborn around the summer of 2017 and got to the end of the episode that ended with the fairy gym, I eventually lost my save file. Understandably, I lost interest after so much time playing and losing all my progress. But as I'm approaching 2 years after my first time and after so many nuzlockes (Storm Silver, Blaze Black, Blaze Black 2, Insurgence, Zeta, Sun) I miss the try-and-error style, dark story of Reborn, and I think enough time as passed so that I wont remember all of the story. I'm better prepared now, I'm aware of field effects and understand that you can't beat the game with one team, you need multiple pokemon to beat different opponents. I'm ready for losing the same battle multiple times (some I remember from my first time: the eletric gym, the chess gym, fairy gym, normal gym with that damn cincinno, Shade, etc), grind a lot and give a chance to pokemon I wouldn't normally use. Reborn is a very hard, complete, full of surprises, dark game, the best Pokemon game out there for adults. So as I start my adventure fot the second time, which starter should I choose? I went with turtwig the first time because torterra is one of my favorites and the first gym is eletric but I would like some input from more experienced players. Others I had in mind were mudkip (other of my favorites and one weakness) and froaky (never used greninja before) but I'm ready to use anyone, especially if it helps me in the beginning of the game. Sorry for the long post, if you have other advice I would love to hear it, wish me luck!

[Potatough]

Want an easy start to the game? Get a torchic with speed boost, and then a bidoof with moody. Those two wreck the first gyms like they're nothing.

 

Fire in general is good to start out with because most of the people you'll fight in game in the earlier parts will have a grass type (fern, florina, the pulses), and you'll have an amazing phys sweeper in blaziken later on if it can get its speed boosts going.

 

Water is a challenge in the earlier parts of the game because you'll face off against the 2 types they are weak against constantly (grass and electric). Mudkip is good to nullify the electric weakness immediately, and froakie's protean will work wonders for you, but they both kinda struggle mid-game during their 2nd evolutions. Poplio is good late game due to its final eveolutions typing, so if you want a water/fairy, grab her (or grab an azumarill. They're both good.)

 

Grass? I've only used Sceptile in one of my playthroughs, so I dont know much about starter grass pokemon. I've heard that contrary snivy is a monster though, so you can choose snivy if you want to.

 

Ehy but overall, you do you. Every starter is usable and you can just get a pokemon based on your preference or what you think is cool. Of course it impacts how difficult the game will be for you AT THE START, but its worth it knowing you got one of the pokemon you love in your team anyway. Good luck in the run! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[MuchoG]

Yeah Torchic seems like a very good first choice, and I haven't used a Blaziken in forever since I love Sceptile and Swampert. The thing with Reborn is that the opponents are so diverse that really any starter works long term, but I'm really feeling the Blaziken suggestion, thanks for the advice!

[Egzample]

And dont forget about Charmander, Dragon Rage makes early game easy af, including pulses. It drops off hard later on, mostly bcos of Flying Type, and by then you gain access to some better fire types.

[Azeria]

1 hour ago, Egzample said:

And dont forget about Charmander, Dragon Rage makes early game easy af, including pulses. It drops off hard later on, mostly bcos of Flying Type, and by then you gain access to some better fire types.

Disagree hard with this. Charizard is frankly one of the strongest starters you can get if you provide it with Sunny Day(which honestly is very easy to do between Ninetales or Meowstic-M). Ridiculous damage output and good coverage, as well as being great at EVERY stage of the game makes it amazing, speaking from my many experiences using it.

[Monochrome_Complex]

Charmander is fantastic, and early on OP. I used him flying run and we was decimating early game with dragon rage and as Charizard he's still quite strong, problem is that he can't get fire bonuses off fire fields due to his typing.  But with sunny day/solar power he's a something of a glass cannnon.

 

Chimchar of course is always reliable and quite good, though his fire movepool lacks field control you'll find in charizard's heat wave or typholsions' lava plume/eruption. How he's pretty fast, hits hard with close combat which he gets relatively early, and in every fangame i've played he's been legit. However certain fights will give him a hard time.

 

Cyndaquil is just kind of decent for early game, as his lacking movepool and poor defense is a bit of a hassle. However if you can teach it fire pledge early on(preferably before shelly) it'll be a lot stronger and due to flash fire his line can put out the highest damage on a burning field. Typhlosion is an absolute MONSTER on a fire field, as you probably remember from Charlotte. He also gets lava plume which can let him start said fires but I found lava plume pretty cumbersome in doubles as it hits your ally too, just make sure they're running protect or a nonphysical attacker who can resist it.

 

I never used torchic, but I hear he's one of the best. I never used tepig either, but I imagine he's not as good as his other fighter counterparts. That said I doubt he's bad.

 

fennekin is a lot of fun. Unlike the other fire starters she's not as offensively strong but her typing is good for the game and mystical fire gets a buff on misty field which let's her even take on shade's team. I find her underrated myself and she can do more than just damage..

 

litten is boss. Incineroar is slow as dirt but since a lot of leaders are gonna outspeed you anyway it's not that big a deal, as he takes hits better than most of the other fire starters and his typing is very useful. 

 

mudkip I used last playthrough, he's quite good. He does struggle with some gyms but so does everyone to be fair. But I've  found him useful entire game and he has a good typing.