Pokemon! Gotta (not) catch 'em all!

[Ja'aran]

Yo! I wanna see everyone's favourite Pokemon, favourite region, any of that. Show me your teams. I'm a kid of the 90's, so I've been there since the original Red/Blue first came out. I have a bunch, but one of my favourites is Altaria. I love my cloud bird.

I think the best is Heartgold/Soulsilver, but X/Y is a great place to start if you're a beginner.

Here's the team I used in Scarlet:

• Palafin
• Gengar
• (Paldean) Tauros
• Armarouge
• Jolteon
• Meowscarada

[ElTipejoLoco]

I was a goofy kid who just essentially brute-forced Game Boy-era Red with just my starter Charmander, over-leveled into a Charizard that could solo everything- which unfortunately meant there were no real good sources of experience for the one-of-every-other-evolutionary-line I collected in the game afterwards.

Since then I haven't actually finished any other Pokémon game, just sort of gotten as far as I could whilst trying to level things evenly and stopping due to some imaginary fatigue of some kind.

Ironically I've been playing UNITE and the Trading Card Game Pocket (and also recently started replaying the Game Boy Color-era version of the TCG game) recently. I'm not actually sure I have a favorite beyond Charizard due to nostalgia, but I really enjoy playing as Gyarados in UNITE.

[Lolo De Puzlo]

Mostly played Red/Blue, but have also played Black and X. Probably should get more into these at some point. Maybe a stream project.

[Bridget Endeavor]

-Black/White 1&2 are my favorite games. It’s the first generation to really meaningfully roll out quality of life changes, has a story I vibe with, and forced me to find new favorites by locking all previous gen Pokémon to post-game content.

-Shuckle is my precious child and I will love them the most forever. Scraggy is my second favorite. I love my funny headbutt lizard who wears pants that don’t fit.

[Necrotext]

Delphox is still hands down my favorite 'mon by a shot so long its not even close. But! I do love a lot of the 'mons, they're all very cute.

Ironically enough I feel like I find gen 5 to be the strongest era of Pokémon. Taking a lot of braver choices in the design and new 'mons. But aside from not being super hot on gen 4, I kinda just like all of them at least a little. Basically just taking a new team each gen I play.

Notably though, if you like gen 1 a lot, Cramorant Edition is a really awesome hack that spruces up (what was) yellow version a lot. Final team when I beat it ending up: Cramorant, Sandslash, Nidoqueen, Flareon, Venosaur, and Wigglytuff. Surprisingly they all pulled weight too.

[mircatz]

oh gosh choosing a favorite is really hard xD if i reaaaally had to choose right now i'd say...

terapagos!


i've been an avid pokemon fan since rse so that gen has a special place in my heart <3 i spent a lot of time on serebii looking up stuff for all the games, really into the mystery dungeon spin offs as well <3 recently i've become a big shiny hunter and i have a collection of most my faves! a few years ago i went back and soft reset for a shiny lugia in ss (only took like 300!! her name is aphrodite )

for region i'd have to go with johto! the music is just so amazing and it feels so magical and ancient, the ruins of alph is one of my all time favorite spots (up there with sealed chamber and spear pillar)

[Ribbon]

We grew up with the GameBoy Pokemon games, we played Blue and Yellow but have so many more memories of Crystal and in spite of how flawed it is, still in love with that game and the gen II designs are still some of our favorites. (Mareep my beloved)

Despite having a GBA, we were unfortunately in that phase of life where "Eugh, Pokemon is for babies" was all around us. We *knew* about FR/LG but had no idea about R/S/E. We later rectified this after watching Twitch Plays Pokemon got us back into the series, we dove into Gen III as a good restarting point and I'm really glad we did, they are still very much comfort games that we can dive into for a random (sometimes literal) playthrough. Lots of great Pokemon from this gen with a lot of out there ideas that we love. (Tropius, Shedinja to name a couple)

We hopped back onto Pokemon briefly when we had a DS with Platinum. Had an alright time with it but felt underwhelmed, we totally missed out on HG/SS and B/W/B2/W2 and still need to rectify that. (For some reason, we keep starting playthroughs of HG and Black but fall off around the point we get half the badges.)

Also around the time of TPP, after diving into the GBA games, we decided to get a 2DS to try out Y and Omega Ruby. Y was really enjoyable even if it relied heavily on Gen I, what new Pokemon it had were interesting. (Hawlucha my beloved.) Omega Ruby was... there. We stuck around for Gen VII and don't really remember much about Moon, might have to replay it one of these days.

Onto the Switch games, we very much enjoyed our time with both Sword and Shield, to the point where it is the only games in the series that we completed a living pokedex... until the DLCs which we bought but never really played much of. Again a lot of fun designs in this gen, Wooloo my beloved. We have mixed feelings on Violet, on one hand it has a ton of fun new Pokemon (Tinkaton my beloved) but I feel like this game really botched the open world concept when you compare it to Legends: Arceus and feels like it took a step back from SW/SH. Have yet to play the DLCs for this but not entirely sure if I'm interested honestly.

We'll definitely dive into Legends: ZA the next time we're itching to play a Pokemon game and as much as I'd like to say we'll never get a Switch 2, we'll probably cave around the time that Gen X news comes around. We've never been big on competitive battling so I can see us being able to hold out a little bit. - Phoebe (it/its)

[EdenCoven]

We love Pocket Monsters here, but dunno how much we want to play new ones? LOVED Scarvi a lot but they're all going to be a million dollars to buy now and we've found the old games don't appeal at all anymore so we're in a weird spot. Never did get around to playing Arceus though that'd be fun.

Trubbish is number 1 in our heart

[Ivy-IV]

For me Gold/Silver was the ideal, big fan of Johto and Gen 2 on GBC is just right for me in terms of aesthetic. As for favourite pokemon, I found this BEAST of a site a while back https://cajunavenger.github.io/

[erisvarjo]

i played yellow as a kid, never got very far though! my love for pokemon started as an adult, at the end of the last decade, when i decided on a whim to pick up an emulator and play emerald. and believe me, it stuck!

i'd have a hard time choosing a favorite gen, although gens 3 and 5 are in the running for sure.

i'm even more of a fan of the mystery dungeon games!

[DarkOverord]

I found this BEAST of a site a while back https://cajunavenger.github.io/

Yeah this thing is fantastic, and I'm still always surprised how consistently they kept it updated haha

The way I did it was trying to avoid repeats (E.g. Greninja could be Water and Dark, but instead I tried to split them apart which is why Pangoro is in the Dark slot for Gen 6)


Anyway I'm that Gen 5 guy (gender neutral) :B

[HakariSquish]

Aaaa! Yes! So happy we have a pokemon thread!
Been playing pokemon for 24 or so years now! Started with red version back in the day.

Been obsessed with playing through the older games over and over again doing solo runs.
I beat Alpha sapphire with just a sunkern, I have no idea how but it happened.
Here's my thingie:

[xwildwhirlx]

Number 1 will always be the Mareep line

But I also love Darkrai, Umbreon, Zoroark, Banette, and Mewtwo

I’ve been playing since gen 4, and I’ve got a bunch of games bc I’m rather addicted to “catching them all” LOL

[GnollandVoid]

Pokemon is one of the many things I follow, but don't actively participate in. I was 8 years old when Pokemon came out, so I was hooked for Gen 1 and 2 before it became uncool. I picked up HG in college to play with a girl, but otherwise, I haven't touched the games. I picked up the TCG boosters, with my second booster ever having Charizard. No one at school knew how to play, so we ended up just playing war. Right now, I mostly follow Then We Fight content, which is a series of Youtube channels that pick randomized pokemon, usually with some condition, and have battles.

My favorite is Honchkrow, although my favorite overall gens are 1, 7, and 8. I have an appointment to get Magikarp and Porygon tattoos based off the old watercolor artwork.

And here is my chart:

[vurrsys]

I've been a big Pokemon fan my entire life, though lately I've fallen off of it due to feeling discontented with Nintendo-adjacent properties as a whole (yes, I know they're Game Freak, but they're adjacent). I more prefer the world and characters at this point rather than the actual games, though I'm not opposed to maybe re/playing one of the older titles.

It all started when I was born honestly, Indigo League would play on the TV and I was enamored with it. I went on all the fansites (marilland, serebii, ect) and loved learning more about my favorite series. I was finally allowed to own my own game in 2006 with Pokemon Pearl. Since then, I've played Soulsilver, B/W & B2/W2 (I don't remember which one), X, Ultra Sapphire, Sun, Ultra Sun, & Shield. I've also played many spinoff games, including the first and third in the Ranger series, Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, and Battle Revolution

Honestly, after everything I've played, I still prefer the world and feeling of Gen 1 and maybe a little bit of Gen 2. I like to joke that I'm a "genwunner", but I actually do appreciate the other Pokemon games. I just remember the times I watched the anime as a child and like reminiscing on when there were only 151 in the series. The Gen 1 games are a bit of a mess, but if anything it makes me appreciate them more, as it adds to the underdog story of Pokemon's creation



My favorites are Pikachu & Rattata!

Pikachu is pretty obviously the mascot, so that might be a stereotypical choice, but there's a reason it got picked as the mascot over Clefairy. Pikachu's shapes are so strong, it's cute and recognizable and lovable, and it's some sort of rodent, which means it's good by default. I have fond memories of watching Ash and his Pikachu bond and face the world together. Just an incredible Pokemon

I like Rattata a little less than Pikachu, but it is a little rat just like me, so I think you can see why I love it



These are the favorites (and species, actually) of various members of our system, but they're not really planning on posting on this forum as I'm really the one who holds the video game interest. I still wanted to include them, though, cause I love my headmates :]

[Draemus]

Favourite Region(s): Sinnoh, enjoyed Platinum as a teen and also enjoyed Legends Arceus. I like Kalos, so I am looking forward to Z-A even if it is just Lumiose.

Favourite Pokemon: Noibat line, Goomy line(both Goodra variants), Glaceon, Swoobat, Shaymin and Mawile(mostly the Mega Evo).

Whenever any of my favourites (excluding Shaymin because mythical)are accessible during story, I always grab them when I can to be on my team.

Been playing since Red and Blue but favourite Generations are 2, 4 and 6.

[rhubarb_nido]

Pokémon mentioned!!


Our household got a VHS in the mail about Pokemon before it came out in America and I was insta-hooked. Also, my Dad (or was it my uncle?) had gone on a business trip to Japan and brought back some trading cards and stickers which built hype.

Pokémon Red, Gold/Silver and Ruby are the Pokémon games I remember the most! My tenth birthday party was Pokémon themed! Though as an adult I've stopped playing the games so much. They are a little grindy for my tastes. I might be a Pokéfur boomer, because I've never played a Mystery Dungeon game. My Pokéfur awakening was more seeing Bill transformed into a Nidorino in Pokemon Red - which very much influenced me to want to be a Pokémon myself.



The nido evolution line is so underrated, I love them! Especially Nidorans, I think of them as little poison bunnies. Just as cute as Pikachu if you ask me!

[Mausu]

I've been playing it since almost as long as I can remember with Pokemon Snap and Hey You Pikachu, then got into the mainline games with Emerald. I've played all the mainline games up to Sun/Moon, and my favorite is HeartGold/SoulSilver. Though I'll always love the Mystery Dungeon games a bit more.

Some of my favorite Pokemon are Espeon, Absol, and Lopunny.

I've also been replaying the series and am currently on Platinum. Thanks to Wiimmfi, I can use the GTS too. I never got to use it as a kid because my wifi wasn't compatible with the DS

[LilyLopears]

Crystal was my first game and I still have nostalgia for it, I missed out on Emerald as a kid and had to go back for it later, but Platinum is what really solidifed me as a lifetime fan. I love lore, and that's like Sinnoh's whole thing. I love side features that have depth in their own right, like Contests, Battle Frontiers and Secret Bases. Platinum is just a game I could play forever.

B2W2 is also up there in S-tier for me, though I'm just ambivalent on BW1, I like a lot of Unova mon designs, the weird wacky shit like Vanilluxe is exactly my kind of Pokemon actually. But the story feels like it's trying to look deeper than it is, Ghetsis is as Obviously Evil as Lysandre or Rose, and him Evil Planning everything ruins the alleged moral dilemma. The game is also extremely linear and railroady, something later games get way more crap for. B2W2 feels much better for exploration, side modes, and just general battling challenge (imagine having more than 3 Triple/Rotation Battles in the entire game, BW1 could never).

I will staunchly defend the 3DS era as well. Some cracks were certainly starting to show, especially in XY being so rushed (what Pokemon game *wasn't* rushed though, considering how much the leaks revealed left on the cutting room floor). ORAS, SM and USUM though, they all still have plenty of good things to offer, I still love them despite their flaws.

SwSh is where the series finally started losing me. And trying to sell BDSP to a Platinum fangirl is trying to sell salt to a snail, even infamously Battle-Frontier-less ORAS had more respect for Emerald in comparison. You would expect PLA to be my kind of game as a lore junkie, but I was rather upset that it *wasn't* actually taking place in the era of old myths, like it was initially seemingly advertised as. Combined with all these games just being rushed as always, the Switch era was a real killer for my interest...

Then Scarlet/Violet happened. The game was still rushed sadly, but the ambition was shining so brightly through despite it. It was challenging, the story was engaging, imo Tera was a great 'battle gimmick' despite people making fun of it. Then they took the year off to let Z-A and Gen 10 actually cook, which has been long overdue. And they've been taking the biggest strides to make competitive accessible, since adding online play in the first place, which Champions will undoubtedly continue.

It's very fitting that Scarlet/Violet's story is framed as a 'treasure hunt', that ultimately remains open-ended for the player to decide what their 'treasure' is. I think the 'treasure' I found, is hope. Hope that this franchise that was so formative for me, isn't totally dead or reduced to slop, after all. Hope that a Pokemon Renaissance is possible and beginning.

[beeps]

I'm An Old so I've been into Pokémon literally since it launched upon these shores. I still have a binder of cards from 1998 in my possession, and Pokémon has been the main reason I've even owned as many Nintendo consoles as I have.

Alas, I or my family didn't exactly have enough money to keep up with every generation so the games I have played tend to be fairly spread apart.

My favourites are Woobat/Swoobat (it's hard to pick between them). They're such fluffynice lil guys. I tend to lean towards flying-types and bat-like 'mons a lot, actually.

[LilyLopears]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my favorite Pokemon lol, I got so wrapped up in my experiences with the games themselves. Honestly it's a hard pick though, I love so many of them.

Rabbit and rabbit-shaped mons are self-explanatory, I be kinning the female Nidoran line, Azumarill, Umbreon, Minun, Buneary and Lopunny, Bunnelby, the Scorbunny line, etc.

I also especially love Psychic, Ghost and Dark types, a lot of them appeal to the edgy emo kid in me lol, and I love their playstyles like Trick Room and Perish Song. If I could be any Trainer class, it would probably be a Hex Maniac.

Aside from those, I also find Spheal and both Vulpixes to be the definition of adorable. But I also like many other cute mons, and the beautiful elegant ones, and the cool badass ones, and the funny weird ones...

It's impossible for me to really pick a favorite tbh.