Talk:First partner Pokémon

Normal Starters

Should Pikachu be considered a 'normal' starter? I mean, it isn't part of the Fire/Water/Grass triangle, and it can also be captured in the wild in many of the other games, something that no other starters have right now. It's also the starter only in one game (although, so have Colosseum Starters, XD Starter, and Ranger Starter). --PikamasterADV 12:01, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Well, why not? The fact it is not part of the triangle does not disqualify him as a starter Pokémon. If we had a Dark/Fighting/Psych triangle, wouldn't still they be starters? Also, the Fire/Grass/Water triangle is already broken is some cases, like the 4th generation starters having second types after they evolve. In any case, he is undoubtedly a starter in the ranks of Squirtle and Charmander. He is given out by a professor (and our very original professor Oak in his case), is given in one of the "main" games of the series, and is a basic Pokémon. --Andrelvis 15:53, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

Well, don't forget that also, pretty much every starter gets a second type through evolution. Only ones who don't are Squirtle, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Treecko. Hell, Bulbasaur has two types in its basic form.

And I think the division's more on the games that are defined as the main RPG series vs the side games. After all, Pichu makes Pikachu a stage 1 now, in all technicalities. But, of course, Yellow is just as much a main game as Red, Blue, and Green are, unlike Colosseum and XD compared to Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, even though all of them are RPGs. Tom Temprotran 01:02, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Exactly. And that's why we have the "special starters" section. They are starters, but not as much so as the "main game" ones. --Andrelvis 17:37, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

But they're not special per se. They're just... not mainstream. - 振霖_T 17:56, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

A little off-topic, but I heard a rumor that Game Freak was considering a Fighting/Psychic/Dark trio for the Gen IV starters, but they decided to switch back to the usual Grass/Fire/Water trio. Diachronos 16:15, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

To add to Trivia

I noticed this. Of the Grass starters up to and including Generation IV, all of the final forms have eight-letter English names. Venusaur, Meganium, Sceptile, and Torterra.

Hmmm. Well, it's interesting, but the trivia section's already huge! TTEchidna^G_SDS! 09:22, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

To Remove from Trivia

"Usually upon evolution, the starter Pokémon gain another type. However, Blastoise, the three Johto starters' final forms (Meganium, Typhlosion, and Feraligatr), and Sceptile do not have a second type." This quote is not very accurate. The trivia itself lists 5 out of the 12 final evolutions of the main series' starters that don't gain a new type (technically it should be 6 of 13 because of Pikachu; which while it can't evolve in Yellow still does in every other version). 5 out of 12 is about 42%; which means that "usually" is used to define an occurance rate barely over 50% and is like saying Pokemon split equally into both genders are "usually" one over the other. Additionally, only 6 of the 13 (about 46%) main series staters actually gain a new type out of evolution, as Bulbasaur starts with the Poison-type. I'm not sure if complete removal of this trivia is called for, but it definitely needs to be reworded. --ZellMurasame 05:15, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

That's an overinspective technicality... but sure, it should be reworded if that's statistically the case. Just make sure not to link species with square brackets, man. The {{p}} template is there for use, especially with the starters and their families... all of which have appeared owned by a main anime character... TTEchidna^G_SDS! 08:57, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Pikachu

Just saying buy uh.. You guys put every Pokemon's evolutions in the normal games. But not Pikachu's in Pokemon Yellow?

Pikachu can't evolve in Yellow. TTEchidna^G_SDS! 04:16, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Colosseum elemental starters

Even though you can get the remaining two at the end of the game, let's not forget that Bayleef, Quilava, and Croconaw are somewhat "starter" Pokémon in Pokémon Colosseum, since you need to snag one of them at the beginning of the adventure. Maybe they're like Eevee's evolutionary stones or shards in that their availability isn't immediate... However, one of the things that make them non-traditional starters is that the game doesn't explicitly ask you "you want this Pokémon, or this one, or this one?". --Johans 03:07, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

You just have to beat Rosso, Verde, or Bluno. You don't have to snag their Shadow Pokémon. Gligar I am not removing this lengthy addition to my signature until all moves have been updated to Platinum standard. 00:11, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Obediance

I seem to recall that in the main series, a Starter Pokémon will always obey even if its level surpasses the mark of a required Gym Badge. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, should it be added to the article somewhere? ~$aturn¥oshi ^{THE VOICES} 19:37, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

All Pokémon caught by the trainer will, they wont obey if they have been received in a trade.Davidaipom 19:39, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

The page on Badges does not make that distinction. ~$aturn¥oshi ^{THE VOICES} 19:48, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

well that's how it works --lord mada 19:50, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

So what you're saying is that if a player was able to start a new game and somehow "catch" a Level 70 Pokémon right off the bat, it will obey? ~$aturn¥oshi ^{THE VOICES} 19:54, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

yeah I'm pretty sure --lord mada 19:55, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Interesting... Well then, disregard. ~$aturn¥oshi ^{THE VOICES} 19:57, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes but dont forget that's very unlikely in the main series. Ritchie

Start a new game, trade away a random caught Pokémon, get it back after a while at level 70 and it likely will obey. TTEchidna 18:54, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Unlikely, but possible. Especially with an Action Replay. ~$aturn¥oshi ^{THE VOICES} 17:53, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Trivia overload?

Don't get me wrong, I always love a lot of additions to the trivia section, but even now it seems like it's way too much. We might want to cut back on some more esoteric things, and group the move pattern observations together. ~Toastypk - ^Loom. 17:41, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Maybe it would be possible to encorporate some of the more anime-exclusive trivia into the anime section and likewise for game-exclusive, and only put overall trivia at the bottom. ^Moldy_Orange 17:45, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Something I noticed on the Trivia section is that one of the links is broken; specifically, the cross-Wiki link about Charmander being based of the mythical Salamander. --Mike | Contrib 03:00, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

This was a stupid error on my part; I fixed it just now. I had fixed the link before, but I put wp:Salamander (legendary creature) rather than wp|Salamander (legendary creature). This caused a broken link. It was very unprofessional of me, and I greatly apologize for the error. Satosuke 03:18, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

No editing?

Why cant I edit this? I found an error... --Mooites ^{Talk to me, baby!} 18:47, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

So did I. I don't know if it's the same as yours, but its at the end of the page. It's missing a period. --^Psychic_Rider^☮ 18:50, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

In the middle of something, didn't want an edit conflict. TTEchidna 18:54, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Gen IV type-trumping

I just noticed something about the Sinnoh starters' final forms. Each of them gains a a type advantage over the starter it is weak to in some way:

• Torterra gains the Ground-type, which is super-effective against Infernape.
• Infernape gains the Fighting-type, which is super-effective against Empoleon's Steel-type.
• Empoleon gains the Steel-type, which gives it a resistance to Torterra's Grass-type (although it does give a weakness to Torterra's Ground-type (maybe for balance issues); however, being a Water-type, Empoleon can learn Ice-type attacks to deal super-effective damage against both of Torterra's types).

Diachronos 16:26, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

However, the steel type also renders Empoleon without a resistance to either of Infernape's types, thus actually making it WEAK to Infernape (at least to it's fighting type, and the steel offbalances the water resistance to fire). Satosuke 11:40, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Including Empoleon's ability to learn Ice moves, all the starters have moves which are super effective against the other two starters. As in, the examples listed above and the normal type advantage circle (except Empoleon is weak to Ground not Grass)So, in a way, it means that none of them are superior to the others. Gastly's Mama

Gary's Starter

Is the statement "it caused many to hearken back to Pokémon Yellow, where the player starts with Pikachu, like Ash, and the rival starts with Eevee" the wrong way round because Pokemon Yellow was based on the anime and because Gary's true starter had not been revealed at the time, the makers made Eevee his starter, as the game required him to have a confirmed one? Therefore rather than people thinking this because that was his starter in Yellow, is it not much more likely that this was his starter in Yellow because people thought it was starter already? - unsigned comment from Gastlys mama (talk • contribs)

Platinum

It's different in Platinum. There are no Starly. He just give them out for some reason to the two and they battle each other. Someone who knows the reason should place it. _*Tc26_* 07:02, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Maybe it's to test out their newly received pokémon? that seems the most logical to me... Mijzelffan 15:40, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I think the question is why did Rowan give them to the character and Pearl. The Dark Fiddler - Nos hablamos? 15:45, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, that can wait until March... TTEchidna 03:25, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Its almost time for Platinum to come out in America, better get ready to fill that in!--^{X, PEACE TO}THE DRAGONS ANDTHE BEASTS 07:18, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Trivia Addition

I felt it would be interesting to note that all of the starter's first evolutions have the same base stat total of 405, whereas the base and final forms vary greatly.

Every middle evolution, you mean? Definitely something to say. But the final forms' variance needn't be mentioned; it's not like they're Butterfree vs Arceus in terms of BST difference. TTEchidna 04:50, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Second Trivia Addition

Wouldn't it be a good idea to post the fact that in the anime, the protagonist's starter Pokémon actually has a type advantage over the rival's starter Pokémon other than the other way around? (Ash obviously had Pikachu whereas Gary had Squirtle) Seems relevant --Blackstone Dresden 03:47, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

No. Basically what they did was say Gary had a MYSTERY OMGEEZ and then an EEVEE OMGEEZ YELOW and then BLASTOISE HAHA. And by that third point, in Johto, Ash's Charizard counted almost as much as Pikachu anyway, especially considering the battle the two had using those. TTEchidna 04:52, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Kanto starters in HGSS?

I just got all 16 badges, Oak gives me a HM08, but no starter. Do i have to do something beforehand? -->223david 01:19, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

This sounds kind of forum-y to me, but you might have to do the Copycat event first - I read somewhere that you have to do that in order to get a Hoenn starter from Steven, at least. 梅子^❀_✿ 01:23, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

All events done except for red. do i have to beat him firsT? -->223david 01:26, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

Yes. 梅子^❀_✿ 01:27, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

The mystical, amazing disappearing starter Pokemon!

I could have sworn I saw this discussed somewhere before, but for the life of me I can't find it now. Oh well.

Anyway, at some point in HGSS (not sure exactly when) the third starter Pokemon which wasn't chosen by the PC or the rival mysteriously vanishes from its place in Elm's lab. (The game text when the... whatever that machine is... is examined is something along the lines of, "Hey! The third Pokeball is gone! Was it given to someone?" though I can't be bothered to switch games in my DS to check for sure.) I figure that this is notable enough to go into the article, and I'd put it in there myself, but I quite honestly don't know if its disappearance is ever explained, and I figure that if it were explained that should go in the article too.

Thoughts?/Anyone know what in the world happened to it? 梅子^❀_✿ 00:29, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

If you're looking for a general discussion on this, head to the forums. Pedia-wise, the only thing we can really do is say that it vanishes and we don't know where to. —darklordtrom 00:35, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Nah, wasn't looking for a general discussion. I brought it up for the purpose of adding it into the article... And I haven't beaten the game yet, so I don't know if its disappearance is left unexplained, and that's why I didn't want to say that in the article (maybe it is explained, and I just haven't gotten that far yet!). I thought maybe someone else would have the answer so that it could be added to the article, definitively stating whether its disappearance was explained or not. 梅子^❀_✿ 00:40, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Can someone please put these up?

They're missing from the page. Pokabu's picture is the only one on there. --Dialgafan1 18:42, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

Was this ever confirmed?

On the article it said "In Pokémon Black and White, the regional professor, yet unnamed, will offer the player a choice of the Grass-type Tsutarja, the Fire-type Pokabu, or the Water-type Mijumaru. " It's very likely this is true, but this was never confirmed so should we edit it?--Eastern 18:07, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

It's been proven. There's even an official site of the game that confirms this. - 050294 23:40, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

I think what he means is, does the professor actually give it to the player, or is there a situation similar to DPPt, where they decide to take them and are allowed to keep them later, et cetera.—Ｌｏｖｅはドコ？ (talk • contribs) 09:24, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, that's what I mean.--Eastern 15:26, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Ranger "starters"?

I just now noticed that the Ranger partner Pokemon weren't included in the page (but I remember them being on there before). But can they be considered starter Pokemon? They probably weren't the first Pokemon the player captured (except in the first ranger game), but they are the first Pokemon they get to keep for themselves. So can they still be considered starters?

Cheren & Bel Starters

Example: I choose Pokabu, Cheren will Choose Mijumaru and Belle will chose Tsutarja. But this is

not confirmmed---User:Franztrovao July 24, 2010 - 18:10 (UTC)

It IS confirmed (Ataro 18:15, 24 July 2010 (UTC))

Trivia

Since I want no part in the edit war, I'm going to explain the trivia piece here:

As of Generation IV, every starter-type in the main series (with the exception of Pikachu) has have one Pokémon in its final-stage of evolution to have a double weakness; Charizard is doubly weak to Rock-type, Swampert is doubly weak to Grass-type and Torterra is doubly weak to Ice-type.

It doesn't say by generation. It says by starter type. That means Fire, Water, and Grass. Charizard, Torterra, and Swampert are members of these respective types and have double weaknesses. The trivia, meaning-wise, is fine. (Unless one were to count Bulbasaur's Poison typing...)

So yeah, if you're going to remove it, remove it for a different reason plz and thanks.--Cold (talk) 23:33, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Should Mystery Dungeon initial Pokémon be considered starters?

I've looked through Mystery Dungeon: Blue's manual, Bulbapedia's pages on all three sets of games, and the official Explorers of Sky webpage and have seen no mention of the initial Pokémon from MD as "starters", just "Hero Pokémon" (for the player) and "Partner Pokémon" (for the partner). They seem to lack the basic criteria for being starters (the initial Pokémon owned by a trainer), even more so than the Ranger's Partner Pokémon which were already deemed not to be starters. Now I'll admit I never even played through Blue fully (and never played the others), so there may be something in-game, but I think we should separate them into their own Hero and Partner Pokémon page or something, as they don't seem to belong here. Memo³²⁶ 02:48, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

Completely agree. I've fixed this page, but the navigation template needs to be modified still. --SnorlaxMonster 15:34, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Pokémon Yellow Evolution

The article says that the rival's Eevee evolves into Jolteon, Flareon or Vaporeon depending on the outcomes of battles between the player and the rival. Specifically, which battles are important, and how do the results affect the evolution? It seems like this would be a useful thing to add to the article. I believe that if the player loses the first battle in Pallet Town, the Eevee will evolve into a Vaporeon, but this should probably be double-checked. Tk3141 20:52, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

Ive heard that if you win both battles, lose both battles, or lose one and win one, the outcome will be different. But im not that far in the game so I don't know the specific outcomes. --Supermon 21:07, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

It's explained in more detail here. Basically the results of the first two possible battles are summed. Two wins = Jolteon. One win and one loss/skip = Flareon. Two losses/One loss one skip = Vaporeon. Werdnae (talk) 03:54, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

Lyra/Khoury

Is it confirmed that Lyra and Khoury received their starters from Professor Elm or is it speculation? |) u |( e ® 16:06, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

Mystery Dungeon and Ranger starters

I think we need to move the starters of Mystery Dungeon to Player character, because thats basically what they are, people you can play as. Also, the Ranger Pokemon should be removed because we already have the Partner Pokemon page, which contains the same information. Iml908 (talk) 20:37, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

I agree with both. |) u |( e ® 21:24, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

I think that they should still be linked with {{main}}. Also, Rumble is in the same situation as PMD. --SnorlaxMonster 05:10, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

New Trivia (yeah, I know it's a little big already)

(First time, forgive me if I screw this up horribly)

Since Pikachu knows Thundershock, Yellow is the only main series game in which the player's starter pokemon begins play with a STAB move. Incidentally, the Rival's starter also has a STAB move, as Eevee knows tackle and is of the normal-type.

There's probably a better way of wording this. but I thought it was neat. 22:26, 20 November 2012 (UTC)HH

Definition of starter Pokémon

I've always thought of starter Pokémon as meaning the sets of three Pokémon that are given by the professor, not merely a Trainer's first Pokémon. I don't mind including Pikachu and Eevee, that much (although I'm still uncertain about them), adding Marill and Ralts, and calling things like Growlie "starter Pokémon" just seems wrong to me. If people really want to list Trainer's first Pokémon, then I think that page should be at first Pokémon; however, IMO starter Pokémon should refer only to Bulbasaur, Charmander, Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip, Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, and maybe Pikachu and Eevee if you really want. --SnorlaxMonster 08:42, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

Personally, I feel it's the Pokémon someone starts with. ^★Jo the Marten^★ ಠ_ಠ♥ 08:54, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

I agree with Jo, even though the ones listed by SnorlaxMonster are treated completely different from the other "first Pokémon" from other media. Since this page is huge, maybe splitting into "Starter Pokémon (main series)", "Starter Pokémon (spin-off)", "Starter Pokémon (anime)" and "Starter Pokémon (Adventures)" could be taken into account but is not the best option. |) u |( e ® 10:50, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

Splitting like that completely ignores the point. The idea is that the Pokémon I listed are a group of Pokémon, while this page just lists the first Pokémon of a bunch of Trainers. If we want to redefine starter Pokémon as "the first Pokémon a Trainer owns" rather than the traditional "the three Pokémon that Trainers can choose from to start their journey" and give the traditional grouping their own name, then while I wouldn't prefer it, it would be better than what we have now. What I'm saying is that we have a distinct group of Pokémon that the fandom have always called "starter Pokémon", and this page seems to have merged that group with everyone's first Pokémon. So regardless of what you want to call "starter Pokémon", the traditional starter Pokémon need a separate page from people's first Pokémon. --SnorlaxMonster 06:14, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I would define the starter pokemon as the sets of three plus Pikachu and Eevee. We categorize pokemon beyond their obvious classification by their secondary characteristics. Legendary Pokemon, other than those explicitly called out as such, are typically unique pokemon within the games that may or may not have a defining role in the story- even beginning trainers have a pretty good idea what you're talking about when you say "legendary". Pseudo-Legendaries bear some explanation, but fall within obviously recognizable parameters- 600 base stats, typically a double weakness to something, general badassedness, etc. The "starters" of the main series of games are typically in line in terms of stats and evolutions without significant variation- It would not surprise me if next generation we had to call out Charizard and Typhlosion as the exceptions to the "Fire/Fighting Rule". Spinoff series games should at best get their own page and at worst be merely mentioned on their own page. "Games" that are effectively pokedexes shouldn't be listed at all outside the article affirming their existence, as there is no meaningful way to interact with them. Eevee and Pikachu get to be the exceptions because they are the exceptions- the only main series game not to play by their own rules. You might not even list Eevee, as it's not technically an option for the trainer- It's not a "starter" pokemon, it's a "rival" pokemon.TheHateHat (talk) 04:36, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

Eevee in Yellow

It seems strange to me that Eevee should be included as a starter Pokemon in Yellow on the bit at the bottom of pages about specific starter Pokemon. (Sorry don't know the correct technical term.) The player cannot start with Eevee. If the starter Pokemon of NPCs qualify for this definition of starter Pokemon then surely every known starter Pokemon for NPCs should be added to both of these sections in order to be logically consistent? If it is just because Blue is the rival of this game that his starter is notable why aren't the starters of Wally and Ethan/Lyra as NPCs? I understand their inclusion in the article but I don't understand how Blue's Eevee is any more notable than the starters of those two trainers, particularly not to the degree that it gets a mention at the bottom of the page when the others don't. Gastly's Mama (talk) 17:55, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

Eevee was supposed to be player's starter, but Blue snatched it. Marked +-+-+ (talk) 18:46, 14 January 2013 (UTC)