Do you play for aesthetics or strong pokemon?

[Migit78]

Hey guys!

How do you guys create your party? Do you go for your favorite pokemon or do you find the strongest ones and make a balanced party? Or do you do mono typing?

It might sound naive, but I always wondered if it's possible to make it through the E4 with just any pokemon.

Basically, I guess my question is: do you guys believe you can make it through in game using any pokemon regardless of typing or stats? Or do you believe balance and strength is necessary?

Aesthetics or simplicity of game-play. My original play through of any game is always based on whats easiest for me.
I keep my starter, and most my other pokes end up being the first Fly capabale thing I caught, and the first Surf capable. Maybe something that can use Cut, or other HMS that are needed. Outside that I might go for 1 or 2 of my prefered pokes.

On return playthroughs, I generally breed an Ideal team for how I feel like playing.
Eg/ Eeveelutions, Monotype, or just a random 6 pack I want.

The main story line is beatable with any 6 pokemon, Hell if you raise one pokemon high enough you can beat the elite 4 with just one pokemon in most the games

 

[giradialkia]

On most teams I use, I gotta have a Meganium on my team, no matter what. It sucks competitively, but it's bulky at least. it can withstand weaker moves.

My Meganium (Lala) is so fun to use competitively, people freak out and don't know what it does. It's actually great for setting up Reflect/Light Screen, then Leech Seeding or Toxic-ing the foe. Then switch and let someone else do the hard work. :D

Anyway, I guess I like strong Pokémon but ultimately my first impression is based on appearance (Shallow? They're sprites. Ssssh). When it comes to my in-game team, though, more often than not I will have my 'permanent' team by the time I've got my 6th badge or so. Which is a shame, because in the likes of Platinum it'd be cool to have a Weavile in my team, but the other Pokémon in my team would just be too strong by the time I got there, and wouldn't be worth switching out.

Honestly though, I think it's totally possible to make it through using basically any Pokémon. Of course some people do the 'ridiculous Weedle sweep!' thing, and rack up 6 Dragon Dances and Baton Pass onto a weak Pokémon; I don't really think that counts, since it requires setup. But the fact that Monotype challenges exist shows that any given Pokémon can be used well.

 

[icycatelf]

Even if they aren't very good, I prefer using Pokémon that I like. What's the point of winning if you aren't using your favorites?

There are over 700 Pokémon out there, so you'd expect a lot of variation. Unfortunately, so many people restrict themselves to such a small percentage of those. Too often players limit their choices using sites like Smogon to find "the best of the best," which causes a lot of teams to be almost exact copies of each other. I don't know about you, but I'd like to see more personality in a player's selection rather than teams that scream "I will win no matter what it takes."

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against popular Pokémon. I just don't think it's right when something is using, let's say Garchomp, when they really don't care about it other than the fact that it's going to score them some KO's.

As for your final question, I think you can get through the main story of the games using virtually anything, though some severe level-grinding may be involved. However, with things like the Battle Frontier and Mansion... you pretty much have no choice but to use competitive Pokémon to clear those. Don't let this keep you from trying out your favorites, though!

 

[AquaMarine8]

I play for both aesthetics and strength. That's why I tend to pick Pokemon with a combination of strength, and looks that appeal to me. Some examples are Aggron, Swampert, and Dragonair.

 

[Limbo]

I think I play for both as well. More for aesthetics than strong Pokemon, but a lot of times I do leave out some Pokemon I would like to use because of their weakness. For example, I decided to skip out on using Ledian in my run-through of HeartGold because, while I thought it looked nice, it was way too weak to function on my team.

The reason I play more for aesthetics is because Pokemon is a pretty easy game, if you put enough time and training into it. Gen IV and lower are tougher, so in those games I pay more attention to the strength of the teams I use. But in Gen V and VI, it just gets easier, so I don't mind if my team is unbalanced or full of weak Pokemon. In fact, it adds a little to the challenge if they are.

 

[Charlie Brown]

I just use Pokemon I like, and that's often based on their aesthetics. The game can definitely be beaten with whatever Pokemon you want. Plus I often find it interesting when one of my random favourites ends up being a powerhouse on my team - it was Jumpluff in HG and so far Swalot has been amazing in OR. But at the end of the day, I choose my party based on whether or not I like the Pokemon first and foremost.

 

[DyingWillFlareon]

My teams are generally based on "I haven't used this Pokemon ever maybe I should catch it".
I like to just go through the game with my starter and catch pthers quickly as we go, with max of 6. Meaning if something isn't very strong for a while on the team, I just go back and rearrange it's moveset accordingly to it's stats(because sometimes I forget and have the wrong moves on one....). Like, in White 2 I had a Liepard named Pin. He was considerably the weakest member, even though I had caught him first. His moveset at the time hadn't gjven me much room either. Until the Plasma Frgate, then he started getting better moves. Now he's the "this little crud is faster than our team I need you to Fake Out kill him before anything else goes out". Or my Blissey in Daimond version. For some reason I tried giving her Rock Climb for the STAB hoping she'd be stronger like that. Until I looked at her stats, dear hppdness what was I thinking.

Anyhow though, I will usually pick based on looks but regardless of stats etc, if I catch it and nickname it it's on my team. The only ever exception was my first mystery event Pokemon Pumpkaboo at the beginning of Y. Level 50 with a different OT didn't seem well, so she got boxed. :T(same thing with Beldum but I should have used him....)

The one and only time I tried to plan out a team and deliberatly not catch anything else I missed out on Latias in AS. ;-;

 

[PumpJack]

I never much cared for competitive play- when people get wrapped up in the game of numbers, I find that ultimately, it can detract the game from being fun.

Which kinda defeats the purpose of a game.

So, yeah- I just use the 'Mons I like. You can use pretty much anybody to beat the in-game challenges.

 

[Colorado290]

Aesthetics all the way. I've never really been the kind of guy to build a "balanced" team on purpose. Sometimes I'll plan a team out before I get the game, but it never goes 100% exactly how I planned. In X and Y, I thought I would end up using Chesnaught, Blaziken, Blastoise, Noivern, Sylveon, and Yveltal, instead I got Chesnaught, Talonflame, Blastoise, Tyrantrum, Lucario, and Sylveon. I had originally planned to change so I wouldn't have two fighting types, but ended up having it anyway, but everyone worked so well together that I didn't care, I was able to accommodate for coverage.

It's for that reason that I don't use Mega Mawile, no matter how op it is, according to everyone telling me to use it. I just don't like the design, not the original or mega :/