Characterize Yourself As a Trainer

[Blastoise Fortooate]

As the title says, what quirks do you have as a pokémon trainer, breeder, coordinator, etc.? What makes your way of playing unique from some other person's? Do you nickname everything after your cousins? Do you only play with pokémon that have the suffix or prefix 'king'? Tell us!


As for me, I can't for the life of me stick to a team for any length of time. I can manage to get through the League without getting too sidetracked, but after that I just keep switching from 'water monotype!' to 'flying monotype' to 'I want a shuppet!' and on and on. I also nickname everything but my legendaries.

 

[mewtini]

As for me, I can't for the life of me stick to a team for any length of time. I can manage to get through the League without getting too sidetracked, but after that I just keep switching from 'water monotype!' to 'flying monotype' to 'I want a shuppet!' and on and on. I also nickname everything but my legendaries.

This. THIS.

except I only nickname *most* of my Pokemon.

 

[Arylett Charnoa]

I only nickname things I'm going to use, Legendaries (don't use them though in parties, I don't believe in that), and Pokémon I'm given in-game for free. The nicknames tend to be either relevant words from my madeup language, something from an RP/story I wrote, rarely something from a series/movie/whatever I like, or most likely, something I completely invented out of nowhere in five seconds and decided to apply it. Also, I have a very obsessive habit about having ALL of my Pokémon at EXACTLY the same level. When I train them, when one or more get one level above the others, I move it to the back and REFUSE to use it even if it hits super-effectively on the opponent's Pokémon until all the others have gotten to its level too. And yes, even if there's only one Pokémon left that's a level bellow the others, I must ONLY use that one until it catches up. When they're all at the same level, they are all usable again.

Oh and I have a mini-tradition of catching the first Pokémon I'm going to use after my starter in my party with a Premier Ball. And another tradition of always picking the Grass-starter regardless of whether I like the other starters better.

Lastly, my parties usually are composed of the following types: Fire, Psychic, Flying (ALWAYS have one of these for Fly), Water, Grass, Electric. I dislike using Fighting-types, Ground-types, Rock-types, and Steel-types because I find them boring even though I know these types do a lot of damage and are quite viable. I'll only use Pokémon from these types if I really like their appearance. In fact, I pick entire parties based mostly on if I like how a Pokémon looks, if I like its design. It could have the best stats in the world, but if I find it ugly, I am not using it at all. And vice-versa as well.

 

[RespectTheBlade]

I have a constant drive to train everything equally. When I play, I sometimes stop and look at the levels of my chosen six pokemon, and literally grind for days on end until they're all about the same level. I actually hoard rare candies until right before I get to the elite four, so I can distribute them as egually as possible among my party at the last moment. I also have spent weeks training on end just to secure myself that I /am/ strong enough to beat the elite four.

As for types, I usually catch in two categories: "awesome" or "practical" I catch whatever pokemon strikes me as being completely awesome. This is why I never caught a rapidash in platinum, or trained one of the monkeys in B/W, or trained any bird in really any series. They didn't strike me as worth catching, because of how common they were. I actually think I went out of the way to capture a Togekiss or Honchkrow in HG/SS so I could have a flying pokemon. I also train dragons, ice types, and fighting ttypes, but never the common fighting type you find at the beginning of each game. I think it's that I like to hunt out, capture and train rare pokemon. I also tend to use HM slaves if the pokemon I caught can't use an HM that I need, but I rarely use them otherwise. I also tend to have a surprising lack of fire, grass, and water types on my teams, strangely enough. I usually end up ditching my starter after a while. I rarely nickname pokemon, unless I get a really good idea.

Other quirks- I tend to ignore items I know need an HM until post-game, then end up going back to get them for them to only be a potion or something. I also detest he HMs cut, strength, and rock smash, and never use them unless absolutely neccesary. This is why Victory Road in every game except HG/SS and the Ilex Forest bug me so much.

 

[River]

Also, I have a very obsessive habit about having ALL of my Pokémon at EXACTLY the same level. When I train them, when one or more get one level above the others, I move it to the back and REFUSE to use it even if it hits super-effectively on the opponent's Pokémon until all the others have gotten to its level too. And yes, even if there's only one Pokémon left that's a level bellow the others, I must ONLY use that one until it catches up. When they're all at the same level, they are all usable again.

This.

I also have a habit of catching a Zubat at the first chance, no matter what level, and it usually stays with me until I finish the main story line.

 

[Time Psyduck]

I use my pokémon in sequence - I level each one in turn, and once it levels up a new one comes in. The lead has to face anything it comes across, unless the odds are very much against it (higher level opponent that walls it and can deal super-effective hits back or similar, or if I'm switch-training), in which case something else that's due to level up goes in. I'm less strict with this post game, as my team usually collapses at this point, and I was rotating 12 pokémon in white, so some could gain 2 or more levels before I rotated them out.

Also, I always use the starter. Always. No Exceptions. Except one time on Ruby, but I was only playing through to get the other fossil/Clamperl evo, and at the point I dropped my starter I brought in some old starters anyway, so it's not so big of a deal. My starter is also the highest level pokémon I have, unless I caught something that's a higher level, but then that doesn't get used until the starter catches up.

For nicknames, I use either real names or mythological ones. Real names are usually something that is at least partly in the species name at at least one form or references some media or other. Mythological ones are selected based on some common factor between the pokémon and it's namesake. Usually - it gets tricky finding something for a pair of gears. Even then it's not consistent - Ruby and Diamond don't have nicknames (Diamond did at one point, but they were removed) Emerald used only real names, and only on non-legendaries, Platinum uses a mixture, and everything is nicknames, and White uses only mythology, only on non-legendary generation 5 Pokémon, apart from stuff off the GTS and so far one older pokémon with a 'real' name.

 

[Bombsii]

I would describe myself as a bug catcher or something along those lines, because of my obsession with catching and collecting them, as well as being a big bug fanboy.

When it comes to in-game, I try to make every save file I create a different style, to spice things up. In recent teams i've noticed a pattern though, I almost always get rid of the starter, I prefer to keep a team of 2-3 until up about the end of the game & I always give them friendly, cutesy nicknames. Like actual pets, I nicknamed my Osshawott, Washie and my Lilligant, Missy.

 

[Superbird]

Like a few other people I've seen, I basically just train one pokémon until it's a level higher, then train everyone else on my team until they're all that level. Then train them a little more. Like that. Postgame, this strategy sort of falls apart, but even then I keep everyone /around/ the same level.

As for nicknames, I almost NEVER nickname my Pokémon, mainly because I can't find any good ideas for nicknames. And when I do, they're not pet names or names of people I know in real life, but things like "Firestrike" or something. Or "Drillbud" for Ferroseed.

 

[Squornshellous Beta]

I train my starter. And only my starter.

Admittedly, early in the game, I might need to catch something to help out, like Sawk in Black, but I won't actively train them. This tends to mean that the starter ends up way overleveled, so it tends to work out.

And also I catch every new thing I come across.

And I never nickname them. Ever.

 

[Phantom]

I am basically the same as Squorn. I train my starter. Which usually by Elite Four time is a good twenty levels, at least higher than the rest of my team. And I never nickname. The rest of my pokemon are HM slaves and I don't care. I also am a yeller... I start screaming at my DS when I lose... or if I win for that matter. I tried to train them all at once one time and I lost patience and started over. Also I always chose the fire starter... a tradition since the original. I also only catch pokemon I like or are really high leveled or legendary. And I never use legendaries. Ever. That's cheap.

 

[sv_01]

Well, I might be like a Cool/Ace trainer or a Beauty. My main intention is to complete the Pokédex, which makes me universal, but I also have some preferences (the Grass and Ice types, for example) I also don't like Pokémon that are hard to train (Wobbuffet), ugly(Pinsir/Muk) or just have never been supposed to know any Special moves (Fighting-types) (overlaps with the "ugly" ones as well). Sometimes I try to get the right ability and sometimes I try to get a female for no practical reason.
I always have an HM-based team with me, and those are my strongest Pokémon because I often use them. Like when I am training a weak Grass-type in Victory Road and encounter a Golbat.
When I am not desperately trying to defeat someone important, I try to train all my Pokémon to a particular level which is dividable by ten, leaving the higher ones as they are. That means that when I am training to level 40, I don't withdraw the ones that are level 40 and higher from the computer.
When a Pokémon evolves by a Stone or levelling up when holding an item, I evolve it when it knows all the moves I want it to know as the lower stage. When it learns good moves after evolving as well, I try to find the right level.
I sometimes go to the massagge salon, the Ribbon Syndicate and the Footprint man with a Pokémon even though it doesn't evolve by happiness (mostly with the Pokémon that don't like me by default), but when it does, I do so every day until I get a Footprint Ribbon. Then, I level it up.
I don't want to have duplicit Pokémon, so I sometimes release them. Yes, a bit like a female Pokédex-oriented Paul, but I have feelings towards my starter and some Pokémon that are special in certain ways. I even felt a bit guilty when I released my first Azumarill in Sapphire, and the reasons for having his son know the same moves were both practical and emotional.
I don't nickname my Pokémon in the main Pokémon games. I only do so in Explorers of Time. There, my main character has my real name and my secondary main character Chikorita's name is Margaret because Chikorita contains "Rita" and Meganium contains "Meg", of which both are versions of Margaret. Some of my other Pokémon have names composed of words that are associated with them. For example, Anorith is Shellblade and Glameow is KittyClaw. If I get a Skitty, I will probably name it KittyPaws. I am also planning to have some patterns in naming the legendaries. Like: Ice Gyaah, Elec Gyaah and Fire Gyaah for the Kanto Trio, Lord Gyaah for Ho-oh, Lady Gyaah for Lugia or Stone Reg, Frosty Reg, Metal Reg and Big Reg for the Regis.

 

[Mendatt]

I usually select a few pokemon I like when I start a game, and I refuse to catch or use any pokemon but them. Sometimes I even leave out my starter. I did that in the hoenn games, with Ralts, Nincada, Seedot, Feebas, and Skitty. And it doesn't matter how weak they are. Because I spend more time strategizing than I do playing.

 

[spaekle]

• Whenever I start a new game I try to use Pokemon I've never used before. I've found a lot of new favorites (Ninjask, Porygon-Z, Cradily) this way.
• I like having a varied team. Varied in terms of, well, everything - it bothers me to have too many Pokemon that are all the same color, too many males vs. females and vice-versa, too many physical attackers, etc etc.
• I always nickname the Pokemon I use.
• I never nickname legendaries. I rarely even use legendaries, though I've trained a Raikou before and I plan on training my Cobalion.
• I will not use a Pokemon if it has a bad nature. I also hate neutral natures (hardy, docile, serious, etc). I'll settle on a nature that's good but not the best if I'm tired of looking, but if the nature sucks ass I consider the Pokemon unusable.
• If I happen to catch a Pokemon with a good nature by coincidence I'll put it in my "to train" box. Though note that most of the Pokemon in my "to train" box end up sitting there indefinitely. :c
• I also can't disregard EV's. Even when I don't feel like keeping my notebook by my side while I play I'll still only train my Pokemon against Pokemon that give beneficial EV's. This CAN be an exception while I'm playing through the story since with all the unavoidable battles it's harder to do, but when postgame rolls around I'm likely to ditch my ingame party for EV trained pogeys. (Though EV trained or not my ingame party will always have good natures, so that in the event I get enough EV-reducing berries I can fix them :>)
• I never really do contests. They're kind of fun in RSE but I stopped caring after that. And even in RSE I'll only do them when I'm super bored, or to put my Pokemon with unusable natures to use somehow.
  
  Edit:
  
• On yelling at your game: I think I scared my roommate when I was raging at Ghetsis' Hydreigon. Haha.

 

[Chief Zackrai]

I train one pokemon up five levels, and then switch to the pokemon that is closest to leveling, and raise them five levels, and so on. As you might imagine, this gets annoying with six pokemon. Oh, and levels trump exp. points. Like, if I have a pokemon that's already level 26, and it's like 3000 exp. from level 27, it gets priority over the pokemon that has 3 exp. from level 26.

I nickname every pokemon I catch, and am usually very picky. (except in nuzlockes). Before I start a game, I always have at least a general idea of my team. I often do mono-type runs and nuzlockes. Right now, I have three nuzlockes (Gold, Emerald, and Heartgold) and three monos running. (Grass in Sapphire, Fighting in Platinum, and Flying in Leafgreen)

In games that I decide to do just a random run-through, with no specific rules, my teams tend to be biased. Like, If I were to do a run in Platinum for no reason, my team would likely be Torterra, Houndoom, Crobat, Luxray, Girafarig/Vespiquen (if I had the ambition to get one), and Tentacruel/Gastrodon/Peliper (I'd actually go in and decide this first)

so yeah.

 

[BlackTitress]

I've noticed a pattern where normally the first six pokemon I get stay with me until the end of the storyline. Post Game, I try to evolve the pokemon that haven't evolved yet in my box. I also used to have the habit of teaching my Pokemon moves I thought were cool for them. (Ex. I taught my Platinum Rampardos Thunderbolt 'cause I thought it was cool for a rock dinosaur to shoot lightning.)

 

[Byrus]

Let's see...

- I always use my starter and I always choose my favourite regardless of its type, stats or movepool. In the first generation it was Bulbasaur, in the second it was Totodile, in the third it was Treecko, in the fourth it was Turtwig and in the fifth it was Snivy. (I'm mostly partial to the grass type starters I guess)

- I nickname all my Pokémon. Although I tend to run out of inspiration a lot, especially with ones I'm not interested in, so most of my nicknames are pretty silly. I mostly just use somewhat cool sounding gibberish or a combination of words when I can't think of anything. I only really put thought into the nicknames of my main team and assorted Pokémon that I like but have no room to use.

- I always add Houndoom to my team as soon as I can get it (dammit why didn't I get black...) and I always like to have at least one poison type when possible.

- I try to EV train when I can... but it's gets a little annoying sometimes. I also try to get a semi-decent nature for my main battlers. I never do competitive play anyway, so I guess I'm a little lax in those areas. I used to be really into it though, and kept a notepad of what effort points each Pokémon gave and stuff.

 

[I liek Squirtles]

I nickname my party, stick with them and ONLY them, and they are generally early-game ones. Plus, my nickname have a random root. (like Mariachi on my Pidgeot)

 

[Aethelstan]

I never, repeat NEVER give my Pokemon nicknames. Partly because I enjoy the original names of most of them anyway, but mostly because I'm afraid I'm going to give them a dorky name I'll regret (Name Rater is meaningless, it'll haunt me forever in my mind)

Like a few other people, I train around whoever is the highest level at the time. Which is usually my starter, because I have this awkward fear of my starter not being the highest level Pokemon I have at all times, even though I try to keep a balanced team.

Becuase of the above, I usually build a strategically effective team around my starter. I choose a Pokemon to cover my starter's type weaknesses, then choose another to cover that Pokemon's weaknesses, and so on and so forth until I have a team I'm satisfied with. This is the team I usually finish the game with, typically leaving my legendaries to starve in the PC.

As for other habits not related to my team, I carry at least 30 Pokeballs (yes, Pokeballs, not Great or Ultra Balls) around with me at all times to catch anything new. I, for whatever reason, have an aversion to the designs of the other balls, so I only use Pokeballs most of the time, unless the situation demands something better. But yeah, catching legendaries usually takes me forever, due to an obsessive compulsive thing that forces me to put all my Pokemon in the same kind of ball.

Man, this sure revealed a bunch of my strange fears and behaviors. I better get therapy or something.

 

[Tailsy]

I always have a preset team before I play, and I'll only catch and use those particular Pokémon. I always have a naming theme going on, too!

I train in fives - I get my starter to level 15, stop, train my second Pokémon to level 15, stop, train my starter to level 20... so on.

I usually don't use Legendaries, and I rarely use Flying-types because I just... don't. I WALK EVERYWHERE
WALKING IS HEALTHY

 

[Worst Username Ever]

I always make sure to include some or other Flying-type on my team by the time I get Fly, so I can easily... just fly everywhere.