First partner Pokémon: Difference between revisions

[[File:Unova starters anime.png|thumb|250px| [[Generation V]] starter Pokémon, as seen in the anime]]

[[File:Kalos starters XY anime.png|thumb|250px|Anime artwork of the [[Generation VI]] starter Pokémon]]

Once another Pokémon is {{pkmn2|caught}}, the starter Pokémon may be retired, but it is often with this Pokémon that Trainers learn [[friendship]] and trust. As such, even advanced Trainers may still use their starter Pokémon, and they will often be the most powerful Pokémon on their respective teams.

The player's friend [[Shauna]] will choose the Pokémon with a type disadvantage to the player's choice, while the player's other friend {{ga|Serena}}/{{ga|Calem}} will choose the one with a type advantage to the player's choice. The choice of starter Pokémon affects which Pokémon Shauna will [[In-game trade|trade]] with the player after the player enters in the [[Hall of Fame]]. Shauna will trade the unevolved form of her starter Pokémon, having received it as an {{pkmn|Egg}}. The choice of starter Pokémon also determines which of the [[Legendary birds]] will [[Roaming Pokémon|roam]] the [[Kalos]] region after defeating the [[Pokémon League]]—if the player chooses Chespin, {{p|Articuno}} will appear, {{p|Zapdos}} will appear to those who chose Fennekin, and {{p|Moltres}} will appear to those that went with Froakie.

====Other in-game starters====

* [[Wally]], with the help of the player and [[Norman| his or her father]], will catch a {{p|Ralts}}.

* The player character not chosen in {{game|HeartGold and SoulSilver|s}}, {{ga|Ethan}} or {{ga|Lyra}}, will have a {{p|Marill}}.

====Base stat comparison when fully evolved====

{| style="margin:auto; width:auto; text-align:center; background:#{{colo color dark}}; font-size:85%; {{roundy}}; border:5px solid #{{colo color}}"

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| style="background:#{{psychic color}}; {{roundybl|5px}}" | {{tcolor|Psychic|FFF}}

==In the anime==

Upon their tenth birthday, youths can register for a [[Pokédex]] and pick up a starter Pokémon from the local [[Pokémon Professor]] or [[Pokémon Center]] free of charge. Starter Pokémon are usually raised specifically to be easy to train.

* [[Xander]]'s (''[[AG142|Caterpie's Big Dilemma]]'') {{p|Caterpie}} was implied to be his starter Pokémon in the episode, as he mentioned that his Caterpie was his first Pokémon, albeit it was "not caught".

* {{OBP|Gilbert|SS014}} (''[[SS014|Journey to the Starting Line!]]'') started with a {{p|Bulbasaur}} whom he received from Professor Oak.

* {{an|Dawn}} started with a {{TP|Dawn|Piplup}} who she received from [[Professor Rowan]].

* [[Yuzo]] said that he started his [[Pokémon journey]] with a {{p|Starly}}.

* {{an|Serena}} started with a {{TP|Serena|Fennekin}} whom she received from [[Professor Sycamore]], which has since evolved into {{p|Braixen}}.

* [[Mairin]] started with a {{p|Chespin}} whom she received from Professor Sycamore. She nicknamed it Chespie.

* {{an|Tierno}} started with a {{p|Squirtle}} whom he received from Professor Sycamore and later evolved into {{p|Blastoise}}.

* {{an|Trevor}} started with a {{p|Charmander}} whom he received from Professor Sycamore, which evolved into {{p|Charmeleon}}.

Several characters have also caught Pokémon in the {{pkmn2|wild}} that are, in the games, only available as starter Pokémon.

* Ash caught a {{AP|Bulbasaur}}, a {{AP|Charmander}}, and a {{AP|Squirtle}} in quick succession in the [[Kanto]] region. Of the three, only Charmander evolved, becoming a {{p|Charmeleon}}, and later a {{AP|Charizard}}, both of which were ''very'' disobedient to Ash until [[EP105|an incident]] in the [[Orange Archipelago]], after which it served Ash as it had when it was a Charmander. Bulbasaur was also going to evolve, but decided itself against becoming an {{p|Ivysaur}} in ''[[EP051|Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden]]''.

* Ash caught a {{AP|Treecko}} in [[Hoenn]], while Brock captured a {{TP|Brock|Mudkip}}. Treecko evolved twice, becoming {{AP|Sceptile}} before Ash left it at Professor Oak's lab, while Brock's Mudkip evolved into {{TP|Brock|Marshtomp}}. Along with May's {{TP|May|Torchic}}, the traveling trio had the three starter Pokémon of Hoenn.

* {{an|May}} caught a Bulbasaur midway through her journey in Hoenn, and was given a {{TP|May|Squirtle}} by Professor Oak when she journeyed to Kanto. Bulbasaur evolved all the way into {{TP|May|Venusaur}} and Squirtle evolved into {{TP|May|Wartortle}} during May's travels through Johto.

==In the manga==

===In the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga===

===In the Pokémon Adventures manga===

Most characters in the manga do not start out with one of the Pokédex-related starter Pokémon. Instead, they usually have a Pokémon they were given by their parents when they were infants that they use as their starter Pokémon. Occasionally, it is not directly stated which Pokémon were their starter Pokémon in the manga, but in profiles of their teams, their starter Pokémon is marked with a star and is among the highest level in the party, even if they acquired more than one Pokémon at first.

* {{adv|Silver}}'s first Pokémon was the [[Silver's Weavile|Sneasel]], now a {{p|Weavile}}, that Giovanni gave him as a child. He later stole his "starter Pokémon", a {{TP|Silver|Totodile}} from Professor Elm, as well as the first Pokédex of [[Johto]]. His starter Pokémon evolved twice into a '''{{p|Feraligatr}}'''.

* {{adv|Crystal}}'s first Pokémon is officially her {{p|Smoochum}}, although she acquired many wild Pokémon that lived as a family while she was in the wild. [[Megaree|Chikorita]] later ran away from Professor Elm to go with her, and became her "starter Pokémon" nicknamed "Megaree". It became a '''{{p|Meganium}}''' midway into their journey.

* {{adv|Pearl}}'s first was his [[Chatler|Chatot]], and later he received his "starter Pokémon", a [[Chimler|Chimchar]] from Platinum. The Chimchar has since evolved twice into an '''{{p|Infernape}}'''.

* {{adv|Platinum}}'s first Pokémon was her [[Platinum's Rapidash|Ponyta]], now a Rapidash, and later she received her "starter Pokémon", a [[Platinum's Empoleon|Piplup]] from Professor Rowan. It has since become an '''{{p|Empoleon}}''' under her care.

* [[Lack-Two]]'s first known Pokémon is a {{p|Dewott}}.

* [[Whi-Two]]'s first known Pokémon is a {{p|Foongus}}.

===In the Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys manga===

===In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga===

===In the Pokémon Zensho manga===

* In interviews with [[Junichi Masuda]] during 2009, he stated that starter Pokémon are the Pokémon from each game that the most work goes into, and usually take significantly more time than other Pokémon in each generation.

* Two of the three Unova starter Pokémon, {{p|Snivy}} and {{p|Tepig}}, share the position of the starter Pokémon or its evolutions with the shortest name.

===In the games===

* In the core series, when a starter Pokémon is first obtained, all are at level 5. Each knows one {{type|Normal}} [[physical move]] (either {{m|Tackle}}, {{m|Scratch}} or {{m|Pound}}) and a stat-altering [[status move]] at this level, except for {{p|Pikachu}}, which has {{m|Thunder Shock}} instead of a Normal-type move. This pattern is broken in {{pkmn|X and Y}} when the starter at level 5 have both of these moves and one of their type.

* All Grass-type starter Pokémon have the Ability {{a|Overgrow}}, the Fire-type starters have {{a|Blaze}}, and the Water-type starters have {{a|Torrent}}. Starter Pokémon may have differing Hidden Abilities.

* {{p|Fennekin}} is the only unevolved starter Pokémon with unique base stat totals.

* The Pikachu in Pokémon Yellow is the only starter Pokémon that cannot evolve in the game in which it is a starter Pokémon.

* {{p|Oshawott}} is the only Water-type starter Pokémon that is not a member of the {{egg3|Water 1}}.

* The Kalos starter Pokémon's secondary types in their final forms ({{t|Fighting}}, {{t|Psychic}}, and {{t|Dark}}) almost form another type-advantage triangle (where one type deals 2× damage to and receives ¹/₂× damage from another type), only being broken by the Dark type being completely immune to rather than resistant to the Psychic type.

===In the anime===