Team Choices

[mkrosar]

Ok guys so I've just reached the end of ep.11 and I'm pretty satisfied about getting this far( Luna was the hardest opponent I've fought in any Pokemon game). I was at work today and I started thinking: why did I choose the Pokemon I have on my team? I mean they're plenty of other Pokemon I could have ground and bred but I chose these six. Why? Soon after it hit me. I subconsciously chose these Pokemon because each of them represent a part of me. Magnet represents this disconnection I have with the world and people, like I'm a tin man myself. Fyra represents my curiosity for the arcane( and my love for harry potter). Kori represents all of the bad choices I've made in my life and how they have poisoned my future,so to speak. Jack represents my connections with the dead and the respect I have for them. Rex represents my past and how even though it was rough, it made me as strong as I am today . And Sam represents my "Underdog" montra. Come on lets face it, of all the starters Swampert is one of the least talked about. In that respect, he's a bit of a social outcast among the starters. In the end, he comes out as one of the toughest and well balanced of them all. I've always connected to that idea because that was a big part of my life. So my question to you guys is this: why do you think you chose the Pokemon you did for your Reborn team? It could be anything, from strategy to personal connections. I'd just like to hear what other people think.

Edited April 22, 2014 by mkrosar

[Tacos]

That's actually really cool that you were able to find a connection with each member of your team. Now I feel the need to question my choices for my team ._.

[Anthalt]

First things first, EVERYBODY and I put it in all caps because I really mean everybody... Everybody loves mudkip. I've never met a single person who didn't.

Now as for my team... it's a weird story somewhere between favourites, real world stories, and trying to be the very best like no one ever was.

First... some honourable mentions. My starter was my favourite pokemon in the entire game (or rather, evolved into it), Sceptile! Something about a forest dragon just appeals to me sooo much. Unfortunately she was just too fragile and didn't pack a big enough punch to stay on the team (even with that massive special attack)... so she's been boxed, but for a large portion of the game she was my a cornerstone of my team in Reborn. Likewise, Mawile. Love the pokemon, had her on the team for a long time, but just slowly phased her out as new more powerful things (in this case a better steel type) came into rotation. Alakazam was on the team until very recently and is still in rotation sometimes, same with Cofagrigus, and Scrafty; all good, but not EV trained so I'm less inclined to include them.

The first enduring team member I found along the path was Clark, my Arcanine. One night with my friends we discussed the infamous question 'If you were a pokemon which one would you be?' For my best friend it was so clear that everyone in the room said it immediately; he's growlithe. So once I pried my best friend from the cold dead clutches of that police officer who fell down a hole... I set about creating my first true unstoppable god monster. A pokemon that goes toe to toe with Garchomps and Abras nearly double his level... and only loses because the recoil on his own attack has on occasion OHKOed him! He's one of my favourites and a great reminder of my best friend in real life. Sadly... his self destructive tendencies are causing trouble for my team... I need a pokemon that won't destroy itself while destroying opponents... and so Clark's days may be numbered.

Venusaur... or Dinsdale as I affectionately named him... will never leave my team. This is the pokemon Giovanni had in mind when he created Mewtwo; the world's strongest pokemon. It took a full two weeks to breed the correct venusaur, and another couple days to EV level him up. But once it was finished I had a pokemon with perfect EVs, IVs, Nature, Chlorophyll and the moves: growth, giga drain, sludge bomb, and sleep powder. Literally the perfect pokemon. When your grass type is 5 levels lower than the ice gym leader's weakest pokemon you do not expect to sweep. Venusaur swept. But more than just being the image of perfect, Dinsdale was the first pokemon I ever had. A bulbasaur from pokemon red. My dad named him for me because I was too indecisive to make a decision about such a major thing as nicknaming a pokemon.

Ninetails. Literally on the team to make venusaur function as he does. She doesn't even have a nickname yet. Nice pokemon though; pulled off some surprisingly impressive sweeps thanks to sunny day buffed flamethrowers and lucky type match ups.

Zoomy my Flygon! I've loved this pokemon since I got it in pokemon sapphire (I think a lot of my favourite pokemon were from 3rd gen)! Don't know why, but it's just everything I want in a pokemon! I EV leveled him up to perfection and was instantly impressed the moment I released him on the world (watching with a satisfied smile as earthquake after earthquake cut a bloody path of carnage through team meteor). He's a lot like Clark, not perfect, but close, and very important to me.

Bulwark, my wall, my Forretress. I like him... and he has his use as a spiker and rapid spinner... but he's hanging by a thread. Against the game's AI I just don't really have a need for a rapid spinner, and spikes while helpful don't make too much a difference when pokemon like Clark, Dinsdale, and Zoomy are already hitting full health bars with tons of room to spare.

And the final spot... still missing a locked down partner. One day I hope to find the pokemon that completes this puzzle... but I haven't found it yet, and in fact the team is still in enough flux that almost none of them are safe (except venusaur who is the prophesied bringer of the end times and as such will likely never leave my team until the day that pokemon Reborn is no longer hard enough to require unstoppable god monsters to beat gym battles... Also Zoomy has never once let me down... so he can probably stay too).

[Sheep]

Come on lets face it, of all the starters Swampert is one of the least talked about. In that respect, he's a bit of a social outcast among the starters.

For real? Not trying to hate on your creativity or anything but from my point of view mudkip (and by extension swampert) is one of the most talked about starters. If I had to pick a least talked about one it would be either meganium or samurott. They just kind of exist without being terribly popular to me.

Uh as for my first team?

Typhlosion has always been one of (if not) my favorite starters of all time and I've never really used him right the way up to eruption before but I really want to experience it first hand. I figured reborn would get me there without excessive grinding.

Roserade has again been a favorite of mine for a long time and when I found a budew in the grass near the start of the game (not really knowing where anything was yet) I was like "oh hell yes."

Ursaring was a bit more spur of the moment. I wasn't aware that I should be catching a full team as quickly as possible so was kind of leaning towards only using 6. So when I found a teddiursa I wasn't sure of whether I really wanted to use it or not. In the end I relented and quickly found that a teddiursa is a beastly early game pokemon and having an ursaring by Corey was very useful.

Staraptor is next on the list. By this point I'd found a location guide and was able to hunt down a starly 'cause that thing is pretty "powerful" when fully evolved. I had a staraptor by Corey as well (anticipating another level cap rise after the battle) and between him and a guts ursaring Corey just about fell down. Basically I picked him up 'cause I knew he'd do work.

Omastar joined the team mainly 'cause I knew in advance that a shell smash omastar can cause all kinds of carnage. Also he granted some much needed water type presence on my team. So he was mainly a tactical choice like staraptor.

The last pokemon on my main team is one I spent a whole day clearing logs and webs to get. Heracross is my favorite pokemon in the entire series so far (and will likely never be dethroned) and there was no way that I was playing through reborn without him. I started to play reborn for fun rather than trying out new pokemon and yeah, I wanted a heracross.

Edit: Pun about Corey falling down? Completely unintended. Still funny though.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Sheep93

[Red'sCharizard]

I picked everyone in my team just because of what they'd become in the end. My team really works well with the type coverage it has.

Although there's a reason everyone in rotation is ghost type (for now) that I can't seem to find.

[Nova]

Come on lets face it, of all the starters Swampert is one of the least talked about.

"So i herd u liek Mudkipz" thinks otherwise.

[Lost Lore]

Mudkip is rather well-known (I take it you know why, because that meme is everywhere...) so Swampert gets plenty of exposure because of that. I wouldn't call it one of the lesser-known starters.

That out of the way... let me try to put some real thought into this post. Apologies in advance if I ramble/this becomes a little too long. (Read: It'll be a lot too long.)

I feel that I'm still searching for the team I want to have, but I'm not entirely sure what I want to use as a whole. It'll take time, I'd say, and I don't know if I'll ever set on one concrete one that I'm entirely happy with... I hope I will, but I can't say for sure...

My starter for Reborn was Tepig. There were very few starters I hadn't used recently- the only ones being Snivy, Tepig and Turtwig (this was in Episode 10, so Gen VI wasn't in yet), off the top of my head. Three very different Pokemon. My love for Fire as a type + a bit of the horrors I'd been hearing about Florinia's Cradily finally cemented the decision.

A decision I can't say I've regretted, per-say. While not a stand-out among my team members, by any means, Spiggy (quick warning: my nicknames are dorky and will only get dorkier from here on out) pulled his weight well, and if it was dealing damage I wanted, then it was dealing damage he would do. The biggest thing I can remember him doing is being the one to take down Spectral Kiki's Medicham so many times, in my quest for a shiny Gastly. He has finally been rotated off of the team, and I'm still seeking another Fire-type that can fill the hole he's left behind... I'm working on getting a Chandelure as I type this, and we'll see how that works out.

The rest of my team has rotated on and around, but... I have a few things that have stuck over time, and one new addition that hasn't had a proper test run yet, but I've already started to form a bond with. Because I'm dorky and form bonds with my pixels yes. But I'll get to that.

First, we have Blair, my Skuntank. I spent an extremely long time in the Underground Railnet hunting for a Stunky, since Skuntank is my favourite Poison-type, and I was quite eager to have one when I'd heard it was in the early game. My efforts paid off in the long run, because he has helped me in several key situations. Namely, he was my MVP against Shade, taking down four of his Pokemon (three on his own, one with help, I believe) and he is also the only reason I beat Luna on the first try. I don't know if he'll stick around until the very end, but he'll be staying for now... he's actually the only thing besides Spiggy that's remained consistent this long, I've just realized. Huh.

Picking up Sir Vale, my Gardevoir, as a Ralts in the early game was an impromptu decision, I'll admit. Back when I was still naive to the ways of Reborn (I am not now, at least, not as naive) he was the one who claimed victory against Julia with a really terrible Double Team strategy- one that was almost entirely luck. He's participated in a lot of important battles (the most noteworthy being against Corey's Crobat [before Episode 11 again, so he wasn't Fairy-type then] and Radomus' own Gardevoir) and he was temporarily rotated out in favour of a faster Psychic-type in my Espeon, but I've opted to take him back as of late.

Bayou the Swampert was a switch-in for my Azumarill- I wanted something that could take hits just a slight bit better than he could. He's definitely proved that he can do that, and dish out a good chunk of damage as well. As he's a relatively late addition, he's not gotten much use- the most noteworthy bouts he's had are against Radomus' Metagross and Luna's Tyranitar. I'm quite fond of him now, though, so I don't really see myself switching him off the team.

And, though he's still an extremely new addition, I'm already quite attached to Cantus, my Meowstic. I'd wanted something for more of a "support" role, and I'd been tossing the idea of using my preferred Meowstic form- the male one- as a dual screener around. Lo and behold, I went through with it, and with the little use I've gotten out of him as things are now, he's filling his role well.This is also my first use of Meowstic, so I was a bit worried... but he's living up to and beyond my expectations, as it is now. I suppose I should wait to see how he fares in an actual serious battle to determine whether or not he's really what my team needs...

There are other things I've used that I won't be going into detail on... because this post would be a bit too long if I did, but for one reason or another, I've decided to swap them for something else. Currently my sixth slot is taken by Echoes, my Noivern, but I don't feel that I'll be keeping him for good...

I used Persian (Grimmjow), Azumarill (Ruri), and Simisage (Cleanse) earlier on, took on the trifecta of Roserade, Gengar and Espeon (Fern, Shade and Radomus- can you guess why they're a "trifecta"?) for a short time after Episode 10s end, and I've used Dusclops (Chateau), Marowak (Vigil), and Ninetales (Kurama) for specific Gyms, but not much else.

...I mean, I know you didn't ask for my entire team history, but... I feel the need to give credit where credit is due. I've used a bunch of Pokemon- people recommend rotation here, to combat the level cap, but I've never actually hit that, regardless of whether I rotated things or not. I just can't rotate forever... I need to be prepared for the Elite Four way down the line and have a proper team put together for that, plus I'd like to just have that one team and be able to say "Hey, I conquered the game with these guys, they're awesome" but that won't happen anytime soon.

...I think I got a little too emotional about this post. Going back to breeding Snubbull now. OTL

[mkrosar]

Lol well I'm glad to see I was wrong about swampert. That's cool to see that alot of you guys connect to your pokemon similarly to how I do. It gives testimony to how profound and important pokemon has become to our generation.

[gutten_tag]

first of all, i used to think that i shouldn;t comment on this topic when i first read it. because i don't think i'm a type of person like all you guys. but the truth is in this world, there are so many players like me, and i think i may represent to all of them and say this:

the only thing i care about my team is FAST or PAINFUL.

hit hard, hit fast, and hit super effective for sweeper. status, heal, hazard for tanker. for trainers around roads, use sweeper -team. and for gym- leader: tanker team. and see his/her pkm die slowly in pain. and ALL MY POKEMON MUST BE LOWER LEVEL THAN GYM LEADER OR ELITE FOUR'S LEVEL. it makes me happy.this is the reason i kill garchomp lv 75 and arceus 80 without any problem- bcz i got used to it.

basically, i only use powerful pokemon. and the only thing i need is good strategy.

breed it to get moveset and IV, train EV, change nature and ability, and they destroy everything in sight. it's the only reason i choose them.

I don't even remember what is my first pkm, but i know what is my first POWERFUL pkm i got. it's Salamence.

and of course i NEVER EVER get them nicknames. just their real names- it's the perfect sign for my opponent that u will be destroyed, FAST or PAINFUL.

that's the way i see with pokemon world.

but the fact is, reading you guys comment makes me a little bit jealous. i don't have any memories for pokemon at all. i just remember how i destroy things with 5 to 10 level more than mine, and enjoy it. seeing you talking about a family in-game..... it really makes me confused......

[Vinny]

I picked 6 pokemons and was like: "ADVENTURE TIME!"

[Magus]

This thread is too deep for me, I was like "erhm mer gerd, let's ger on der adventure already". I picked Cyndaquil as my starter just because of how awesome he was back in the day.

Edited April 22, 2014 by Magus

[Notus]

HOW DARE YOU?! SWAMPERT IS LIFE!

(only joking, not really mad )

Ok, without any jokes I love that bulky mudfish, it's been my favourite starter on my favourite main game (Emerald), and it's my favourite pokémon overall. On topic, I picked it for my Reborn team because of that, it's a pokémon that never left me down on any game to the day, and I trust it like a real friend.

Venussaur was the starter I picked when I finished a pokémon game for the first time (Blue), and also it's a MONSTER, so here it is again.

The rest of my team I picked because of power or strategy, but in the end I've become attached with them, for all of them have played key roles to bring me were I am at the game now. Reborn's imersive atmosphere does that to me.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Notus

[gabyy3]

Swampert is my 2nd favorite started so he gets a lot of love from me <3 .

As for my Reborn team I can say that my Blaze-kun(I know, not that creative of a nickname) the Blaiziken was my first ever starter, this guy had pulled me out from a lot of tough situations in this game, and I kind of bonded with him , even tough I bound with every Blaiziken I use, hes speed boost made my childhood full of life, because I was so streset with Stevens Metagross that I grinded my Blaiziken up to lv 100 just for that reason, and now he is my trustworthy companion ever, I had wanted to box him one time because of dat Cradilly(you know of what Cradilly I talk <.<) but he sealed the deal with a well placed Double Kick.

The rest of my team was like based on strategy and tactics, plus some of my favorite pokemons.