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How do you decide which Pokemon to use?

SerenadeSP

My Loyal Feraligatr
Like the title says, of course besides canon characters using canon Pokemon, 'cause that's a different story.

In my current story, I gave one of the main characters a Spearow as his "starter". Spearow was the first Pokemon I ever caught by myself, my cousins always caught them for me until that point. (Sadly the next day I accidently released it because I thought 'Release' was the same thing as 'Deposit' >_< RIP Spearow)

Usually I pick Pokemon that I liked using/fighting against during the course of the games. But soon I found that the ones I used were limited as far as variety, which is why I take Scramble Challenges every so often. This way I get exposed to other Pokemon that I hadn't even considered before.

So how do you decide?
 

FlamingRuby

The magic of Pokemon
Pokemon I like or used in the games. This has lead often to a Pikachu named Lita showing up somewhere in the story.
 
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Giratina!

Backstreet's back
Well, most of the time, it really depends either on what I need that Pokémon for, whether it's an obscure reference or not, or whether it fits a theme. For example, one Trainer in Wings Have We has a lot of Electric-type or rodent Pokémon, due to the fact that... well, let's just say that Raichus were important in his life. Meanwhile, another one got one Pokémon as a reference to a previous incarnation of the fic, one Pokémon to serve a specific purpose in a battle, one because he needed a flying Pokémon to get around, etc. Or I might just pick random or unloved Pokémon. Who knows.
 

Umbreon Ruler

Swim for your life.
Usually whatever I feel like. -_-;

The Pokémon I have planned for characters to get can be any of these:

1. What I thought might be a good fit for the character.
2. A Pokémon that's in the area around them when they need one.
3. Whatever I think would be a cool choice.

None of the main characters have a preference as to what kind of Pokémon they capture so I have no theme to follow when planning their teams.
 

Charoshi

Charmander is best
At this point in time, I haven't really utilized a theme for my Pokemon. I have plans for future Pokemon, but they don't follow any sort of a theme for my characters that I have revealed so far. I do have plans for specialty characters in the future (bar gym leaders, :p) but other then that I don't really have any themes.

Chris-
Charmander
Snorunt
Chatot

Melanie-
Tangela
Sandshrew
Yanma

A mixture of under appreciated Pokemon, Pokemon I like, or Pokemon I can make an interesting Character with.
 

Diddy

Renegade
I like to use my "in vogue" pokémon.

As I play through the games, I pick pokémon to be in my team that I've never trained before (I'd rather not train the same team over and over as I play and replay the games, usually why I get rid of my starter)

For example, at the moment it's Gliscor and Yanmega (Tinted Lens FTW) There are some mainstay favourites like Chimecho, Marowak, Banette, Ninjask/Shedinja etc.

Although, in fics I like to give people pokémon that fit. I wrote a goth type person (well, less goth, a teensy bit more emo. That kind of person) Her starters were Cacnea and Spinarak as I thought a big scary Cactus and a huge spider would be her kind of thing, type coverage ftw. The other person in the fic has a Chingling and a Nincada, but she isn't really a trainer per say, so she just cares for them.

I just write them in and it usually feels right. I make sure they have a personality so they don't bore me and I regret writing them in. Stops me from giving them a grisly on screen death.
 

Mrs. Lovett

Rolling writer
I do it completely by random. Usually, I pick out pokemon that I myself like to use, or want to use but don't for whatever reason. The exception to this is if the species has some sort of significance to me or the character. In Cheater, for example, the pokemon the boy used were members of my actual Emerald team. Instead of making his team up from scratch, I decided to make it more real to myself and write about mine.

In Roots, my character chooses a starter at random, but the species (Turtwig) is very important to the plot. In this case, I chose a pokemon that fits the story rather than the character, because the character couldn't care less either way. So for me, really, it varies.
 

Timas

Wake Up
→ Sometimes I base it on my personal experiences with the games themselves. An old character of mine caught a Pikachu in the forest between Viridian City and Pewter City. I got that idea from playing Leafgreen. Feels much more natural than just deciding, 'yeah, he should have this or that Pokemon'.

→ If I can't think of my gaming history, sometimes I'll try to match my character with a Pokemon based on their personalities. Is my character a bit of a trickster? Would he be suited with a Meowth (who's best known for being mischievous)? It can become quite a fun exercise when I'm bored.

→ The third and last factor is a rare one I've only used twice. Is it necessary for the Pokemon to be in the story for the sake of progressing the plot?

And that's pretty much all I can think of right now.
 

FlameRose

Well-Known Member
It really depends on quite a few things.

1.) What pokemon are avaliable in said region?
2.) How experienced is said character?
3.) What type of pokemon does said character already have?
4.) Would said character want said pokemon?
 

Super_Nerd

Writer of Stuff
In general, I try to match characters with a team that would seem to fit them.

For the main OCs of my story, I give them... teams with Pokemon I like on it. :p I try to give them the ones with a bit more of a story and background then, 'ohey I'm gonna catch this wild one, it looks strong!' That's why I have the Magikarp salesman, Damien, the Super Nerd from Mt. Moon, etc., etc. having been the source of most of the Pokemon so far.
 

Manchee

extra toasty
I don't even know :x In my fic now, the one main character has the team I had in Sapphire since the fic is based on ideas I had while playing the game. The other character has Pokémon on her team that I normally wouldn't choose. I have a new fic planned though, and I really just randomly pick ones out that I think can be interesting or fun to have in the fic ^^
 

Starlight Aurate

Just a fallen star
I'll sometimes just choose a Pokemon that I'm in the mood for. I can get on-and-off obsessions with certain things, and if I really become in the mood for a certain Pokemon, I'll give it to a person. I then build up the character around that Pokemon to make them suitable for them.

Or, if I already have made a character, I'll choose a Pokemon that fits them. For a water trainer, I decided to give her something that could go on water and dry land, but had a general human shape, so I chose Golduck. I pretty much either select human or Pokemon and build one up around the other.
 

Araleon

Chill
Dude, picking Pokemon for teams might be my favorite part of creating a fic. Currently, I'm considering a fic, although I'm seriously considering waiting to make it till after B/W is in English so I can use Mijumaru, and one character has a certain personality that makes me know she needs to have a Fire Pokemon, but at the same time she's a bit dark so a Ghost type works well with her too.

So, I do by Pokemon I'm familiar with training, Pokemon that suit, or randomize.
 

Tekirai

heapz cool persin
I've never written Pokemon 'fic before that wasn't MD-based, but I can still answer this fairly well, having put characters from my original story into the Pokemon universe a few times.

I have a few ways of choosing them. Pokemon that I actually like or use regularly are usually considered earliest, because I know those ones the best. I never really believed in the "they are fiery a person therefore they should use fire-types" kind of ideas, and instead chose Pokemon that I felt went well with the person overall. I think choosing one or two Pokemon that don't suit the character at all also works fairly well, as it allows for a lot more character development between them, as well as how the trainer can handle a different variety of Pokemon. Pokemon that don't get along with the trainer at all are also interesting possiblities, I think.

Pokemon that suit what the trainer does the most are considered as well. For example, a Pokemon that can travel across a desert, like Flygon. Or maybe a Pokemon that helps eggs hatch faster for an avid breeder.
 

Swampert_trainer

Laughs at thunder
Picking a characters Pokemon is my favorite part of writing Pokemon fan fiction. I usually pick Pokemon that would work well with the battle style I've created for the character. If I was writing about a character who liked to use a lot of full body physical moves I'd give him Pokemon Like Snorlax or Hitmontop. If I'm writing about a character who likes to induce Status problems I'll give that character Pokemon like Arbok or Ninetales.

Sometimes I just pick a certain Pokemon, because I think it be interesting to have one in my story.
 
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Dawn_Hero

Written Insanity~
I always give my characters Pokemon based on their surroundings (for the most part. I mean, so far in my fic there's a bit of an exception) and their personality. Plus, I use Pokemon I enjoy. :3 I'm not gonna write about Pokemon I don't care much for, because then you could probably tell I don't care much for them in my writing.

For instance, one person in my story is obsessed with only having cute Pokemon. Therefore she started off with a Chikorita because she thought it was adorable. Going along in the story, it's safe to say that depending what route/town she's in, if there are cute Pokemon there she's more than likely to end up with one or two. I have another person who's more rebellious and dark. He'll end up with scarier, tougher-looking pokemon. It all really comes down to what I don't mind writing about and what fits their personality/surrounding.
 

IneptatNormal

Oddity at its best~
I think a lot of you are going about it the wrong way. The surronding shouldn't be selected based on the Pokemon the traner(s) want(s), the trainer's should select the Pokemon they want from their surroding. A volcano shouldn't suddenly appear just because a person has a 'firery' personality, nor should a dark scary forest with loads of dark Pokemon in it suddenly grow just because your trainer is goth.

It makes you're story seem unrealistic because it's like the world is fabricated around your character. What does that make them? A sue.

Of course, that's just my two cents. Do as you'd like with them.
 

SilentMemento

Lone Wolf
It really depends on what I want from a character, but I think that the best example comes from a fic that's in progress. For the sake of example, one of the characters in that fic is a bank robber, and he uses two different types of Pokemon. He has a team full of Ghost-types, mainly for unlocking vaults from the inside or immobilizing people so that they can't fight back, but he also has a fast, strong Flying-type that's used to flee the scene with the money.

Of course, how a person uses their Pokemon isn't the only reason why I give them certain ones. To be honest, the reasons are different for every character.
 

pepperedfox

who's this n00b??
Ooooh god xD Picking Pokemon is usually one of the hardest ones for me. Probably because I'm all nitpicky and exact about what it should exactly be, if it could be found near the character's place, what about its evolutions, moves, what about when it faces off with the villains' Pokemanz, etc. etc.

Generally, I try to pick Pokemon that fits the character's, well, character best. Sometimes I choose them out of nostalgia as well, but the general rule of thumb is that a) no Legendaries of any sort and b) it matches the character.
 

The Red Thunder

Backwards thinking?
At the risk of sounding cliche, I didn't really choose it. At the time, I was leveling my Zangoose in Heart Gold. The original main character was going to be the Feraligatr that opened the first chapter, but in the process of leveling the Zangoose, I just felt like she was a better candidate for the spot.

I'm glad I went with my gut, because so far, she's really turned out well.
 
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