Game Freak recently started experimenting with changing the starter formula after more than 20 years, I'm referring to PLA and likely PLZA. But what if they went further?
Some say the same usual trio of starters at the start of the game is getting stale, others love them. It's definitely iconic but what if they tried something fresh, even simply like they did in one of their first games, Yellow, you get what would normally be a random early route pokemon, pikachu and that's it. You can obtain the normal kanto starters later in other ways.
So I've been thinking, what would be some of the ways to change the pace? After all it's completely normal in the pokemon world to start with weaker basic 'mons, only few people actually get an overpowered beast to start their journey.
I've recently made a short vid about it taking into considerations the examples we have in the pkmn world and coming up with a few ideas, don't wanna spoil but one of them is what if we took a mystery dungeon style personality quiz to determine our best partner pokemon?
Here's is the link if you're interested: https://youtu.be/CnXvwo_Jva8 .
It's an interesting discussion.
Lots of people throw around the idea of having different types starters, which would be new, but there's not a lot of combinations to use that counter each other like fire/water/grass.
What do you think could be other ways to shake the old formula?
by IronicallyBundled
38 Comments
I think it would be cool to have a “sponsor” like in sword/shield where someone prominent sponsors a new trainer every year. They give them a pokeball and then you get the tutorial where you catch your first pokemon.
It would be nice if you could choose the person who would sponsor you and it would impact what your starter might be.
If we use sw/sh as an example: if you end up with nessa as your sponsor, she takes you to the dock, gives you a fishing rod and a pokeball and gives you the tutorial on how to catch pokemon. You get a water type starter from there.
Every Pokemon game is someone’s first Pokemon game
The starters are effectively a tutorial into the mess that is the franchise’s 18 element system.
For that reason, Fire/Water/Grass are always used because their relationship is incredibly obvious and these are fairly conventional video game elements
While alternate trios like Fighting/Psychic/Dark do exist, they are somewhat obtuse and non-obvious
It’s given me a free fire type for 9 gens. Without it I’d simply have to catch a fire for my team.
> don’t wanna spoil but one of them is what if we took a mystery dungeon style personality quiz to determine our best partner pokemon?
In Pokémon Horizons, this is kind of how students get their first Pokémon. They have an interview, and on their first day, they receive their assigned Pokémon. In fact, in Liko’s class, the other students receive Pokémon from all regions, like Oshawott, Bulbasaur, Litten, Fennekin, Tepig, Totodile, Chikorita, Chimchar, Piplup, Squirtle, Snivy, and Rowlet.
It would be interesting if they didn’t restrict the player from using the new starters and allowed us to pick any starter we want. I mean, this is something anyone can do through Pokémon Home.
I’d love to see you pick a town to start in. Open concept game. That town gives you two choices maybe three for starters Pokémon. Their typings are based on the gym in that town. So go to the gym leader and your options are of the same main type as the gym. Maybe only two stages and such. It would make replay ability better and offer many options of how to complete the game.
I wish in addition to the starters, at the beginning of the game the professor asks you what your favorite non-ledgendary Pokémon is out of the national dex. Whichever Pokémon you pick you get an egg, and at the end of the tutorial it hatches into the 1st stage of your selected Pokémon at lvl5
the starters serve a specific purpose. You would have to replace this function with something else, something better. Your idea would have to:
– serve as tutorial for the typing of pokemon
– serve as tutorial for the typing of moves
– be a pokemon the player can use throughout their game
– have a reoccuring enemy/frenemy/ally where they develop as you develop, marking your progress and serving as a potential gate to the next area
probably other functions the starter 3 perform, but those are the ones off the top of my head. it’s a really good system. expanding it would probably add confusion, but maybe two starters?
or here’s an idea. have some sort of longer intro, where you travel and battle to “earn” your starter.
let’s say, maybe have borrowed pokemon for the first bit, get narrative out of the way. traveling with a friend, you’ll battle and learn the ropes. and then you find the 3 starter pokemon, by accident or by purpose. narratively have something odd or unusual about them. And to add spice and stakes, maybe your friend stays your friend, or something happens and they choose a different path (think kingdom hearts).
I dunno, something.
Starter Pokémon will always exist.
How did Pokemon Legends Arceus switch up the starter Pokemon formula?
I think there are two other ‘perfect’ type triangles both of which contain one of the primary types;
Grass > Ground > Poison
Fire > Steel > Rock
And two semi-perfect type triangles:
Fighting > Rock > Flying
Fighting> Steel > Fairy
Give the trainer brass knuckles and pokeballs instead
Ill always happily start with Lucario
https://preview.redd.it/33awrjfqttde1.png?width=354&format=png&auto=webp&s=a1e6e1a890c29ff6bb57952ff0de7e789ba62f87
Your long-lost father (that will never change) left you an egg as a child, on the condition that it only be hatched upon your 10th birthday. When the day arrives, you find inside a young version of his cherished sidekick Pokemon, who went missing alongside your dad. The Pokemon is determined by the box art of the copy you pick 😉
It would be interesting if in that lame tutorial moment where you’re taught how to catch a pokemon if THAT was how you actually get your starter.
I would like starters of a different type. I know it’s meant to be a tutorial for type combinations, and that’s why it’s Fire/Water/Grass, but surely after 9 generations and dozens of games, we can have at least have *one* game that isn’t designed to be an onboarding experience for new fans.
Wait am I stupid cos I swear PLA had starters
Could be an Eevee type of Pokémon. Everyone gets the same normal type starter, and at level 12 the game forces you back to the professor to make you evolve it into fire/water/grass.
Could be free choice to the trainer or based on how you have used them for the first 12 levels.
I think, if at the beginning of the game and they ask you if you want a starter, we should he able to make an odd request, such as asking for a common Pokemon to be your partner. Actually give us a choice. Like it could be a 4th option,l that’s says “Actually…” when choosing
I do think this is more evidence for difficulty levels.
People in this thread talking about it being a tutorial and some kids first games – very true, its perfectly reasonable. But for a lot of customers it’s also not.
Imo there should be a difficulty with the basic 3 starters, and a higher difficulty for people who have played before and spice up the starter selection like OP suggests (in addition to other changes).
I think going to a safari zone to get a starter would be neat. You get what you can catch.
What if the game starts and you have to find a pokeball, and you have to go find and catch a pokemon all on your own, and the starting area has lots of low level pokemon of almost every type?
Any alternative to a traditional starter would need to be of equivalent strength, otherwise you risk making the start of the game too hard. Maybe instead of choosing one of three at the start you choose between branching evolutions like with Eevee?
IMO better systems would be
1) more starter options, such as 1 starter per all types
2) choose a Pokémon from any wild Pokémon in the starter region
3) choose any non legendary/pseudo legendary
There’s a ROM hack called Crystal Clear and I think it has a perfect way to also pick a starter Pokémon. Basically they have the traditional starters and then others like Pikachu, Psyduck, Growlithe, Ditto, etc. and some of them are advertised as different difficulties. It’s obviously not an official game but I do like their “choose your own adventure” style when it comes to your first Pokémon.
I’ve always thought especially for Legends they could have a single starter that’s central to the story, that you come across in the early story, similar to the Rathalos in MHStories
It would be cool if the catching tutorial was just “Parent/sibling/rival taking you to the nearby forest to get yourself a mon and the Pokemon you run into is one of three otherwise really rare spawns in the area”
Something like that paired with an open world where you can start in any town would be real cool.
I’ve been saying for a while they need to change the starter types.
Maybe something different like:
Dark, Psychic, Fighting
Or
Fight, Rock, Flying
Or
Elec, Flying, Ground
I think you all get the point.
>”What if starter Pokémon didn’t exist?”
Then basically no 10-year old is safe beyond the woods
#
There was a romhack I played that let you catch your starter. Ultra Violet. It was just a FireRed hack but you had the option to choose a Kanto starter OR catch your own. You get sent to a Safari Zone lab area that has like 10 or so options to pick from.
Go full Capumon and give the player a Rhydon.
Or go back to the randomized game instead of two versions. Starter mon is always guaranteed to be a first stage Pokémon, but based on your generated trainer ID could be any non-legendary Pokémon.
There’s a mod, Pokemon ultra violet, that has about a dozen starters. The Gen 1 plus pichu, Dratini, Larvitar, ralts, gastly, machop, and some others I can’t remember. Pretty much 1 of each type. If I remember you get taken to a small grassy area and can just look around for whatever is in the grass. Has a better “feel” to how you get your first pokemon. I think it has the first 4 gens of Pokemon in it with the ability to catch all of them or evolve them. Some work arounds for Pokemon with special evolution requirements like trading so that you can have a completely solo run.
I haven’t used starters since gen 5. I just drop them in a box once I catch a decent early route pokemon. It’s fun and makes teams more dynamic.
I like an idea that you start out with 5 poke balls in a generic early area and have to catch one random one without battling like PLA catching
I’ve played runs where I’ve done this. Box the starter after I catch my first Pokemon and just go from there
I say they quietly change the starters for the next game to three different kakunas that only know harden and play it off like nothing out of the ordinary happened.
They should just make it completely (or almost completely) random for once. After 10 generations this should be an easy thing to switch things up a tiny bit.
I could see a Bug/Normal/Dragon starter trio working. Instead of explaining the elements, have it be explained about evolution.
The Bug starter will fully evolve by level 20. Maximizing the stats for an easy early game, but less moves to pick from. You may even consider replacing it by the end of your journey due to lower stats.
The Normal starter will evolve after the 2nd gym, typically, and fully evolve by the 6th gym. Decent move pool. Moderate stats.
The Dragon starter won’t evolve until the 3rd gym, and fully evolve around gym 7 or 8. It has all the elemental fangs, some Fighting moves, and highest stats.
I want a game where they give you pokeballs and you just bave to try to catch a pokemon lol. Some pokes are caught especiallu early game without need to fight them. Also forces you to start with like a route 1 bird lol.
But they won’t do this cause the primary demographic is children.
Also further follow up. I wouldn’t mind games boxing out really good pokemon farther into the game. Like say you have to beat 3 gyms before you encounter like decent pokes. But then again this might force players to drop early game pokes for bettet pokes later on. This could also be solved by just makint the gamws harder lol.