What team would you build to rep a generation?

For some reason or another, I found myself thinking about what team I'd build to rep each game/region/generation in Emerald's Battle Frontier, and then I remembered PBR's Rental Passes.

From Bulbapedia: Upon starting for the first time, players are allowed to choose one of the following two passes representing the first and fourth generations, respectively:
The PBR example, in particular, had reps for Gen 1 and Gen 4, namely:

Gen 1: Ivysaur, Charmeleon, Wartortle, Dragonair, Rhyhorn, Pidgeot. (All at Lv. 50)
Gen 4: Grotle, Monferno, Prinplup, Luxio, Gabite, Staravia. (Also at Lv. 50)

Of course, the PBR example is a bit weird because the first run in these games actually works on a Scaled Open Level with Lv. 30 as the base level, which explains why most of these mons are in their middle-stage evos.

With that said, what would your picks be for say, Gen 2 and Gen 3 in a situation like this? Why would you pick them?

You don't need to restrict yourselves to PBR specifically, the Stadium games, any of either Frontiers' facilities, or even in-game.
The idea of this thread is to spark some teambuilding ideas with that theme in mind. Just make it clear what you're building them for.
Cross-Gen evos go in their respective debut generations (e.g. Umbreon -> Gen 2)

So, using the example of the PBR Rental Pass...

Gen 2: Bayleef, Quilava, Croconaw, Flaaffy, Misdreavus, Togetic.
Similar power level and format to the rest of the passes, which is why I picked all three starters and why I didn't pick Miltank. I didn't pick Pupitar because it's aggressively mid and bland tbh. Togetic also reps happiness evos and babies, which were introduced in Gen 2.
 
So, question 1, do I want to use Starters or not. On the one hand, not picking Charizard feels wrong. On the other, if you include starters, it becomes very easy to just make the Ash team and call it a day, which is also not right. I'm going to ignore starters and Legendaries, just so it's more generic. I expect a lot of FWG cores, because that's sort of the standard, and I hate type overlap so that may force odd choices in some situations. Also, I'm just picking final evos(not worrying about PBR/Stadium/Etc), and worrying more about what's common for the gen than what's powerful. This will be mostly in-game options, since counting Houndoom as iconic to Gen II when it's not available for the average playthrough seems bad, but I will allow meta to influence me in some cases.
Honestly the hardest gen. There's a lot of type overlap and very few things to fill, say, the Fire slot. I really wanted Nidoking, for example, but just couldn't fit him in. And some stuff is very firm but also bugs me.

Arcanine (Hated using a version exclusive here, but there's no good fire-type options otherwise)
Vileplume
Lapras (I came extremely close to Gyarados)
Graveler
Kadabra
Pidgeot

Raichu or Jolteon are good alternatives for any of them, Nidoking deserves to be in but overlaps 2 types, and plenty of other Gen 1 mons are well-known enough that I'd call any of them iconic, but here's the team. Just 8 more to go.

Can't do a FWG core here, since all the F and G options are bad or impossible to find.

Azumarill (have to have Pikablu)
Crobat (the oddest option of these, but it felt weird to leave him out)
Ampharos
Espeon
Sudowoodo (forced encounter, also a good demonstration of the whole difficult deal gen II mons had going on)
Scizor

The weirdness of Gen II mons made this harder. Should I use Aipom when even the devs think it's unfinished? Why are all the waters available by the time you get surf but the fires are hidden like the Ark of the Covenant? Same with Darks, Murkrow hides like the mafioso he is.

I really should just have included Snorlax.

Torkoal (It's this or Camerupt, or we just formally acknowledge Magcargo as a Gen III mon)
Ludicolo (Pelipper wasn't a thing until later gens, and the other options for water and grass are both limited)
Gardevoir
Aggron
Manectric
Swellow (Ash mon, no other justification)

There's a handful I could include instead(Linoone, Exploud, or Slaking over Swellow, Hariyama/Shedinja/etc over Manectric or Aggron), but really, Gen III has the starters, a bunch of pseudo/legends, and Gardevoir. Everything else is a tier below in popularity, which makes teasing out the exact leaders more challenging

Not enough experience

Not enough experience

Clawitzer
GoGoat (Only gen it's available in)
Talonflame (Respect Smogbird)
Diggersby
Florges (The OG Fairy)
Aegislash

Normal is proving to be a very crowded type for these things. This gen in particular, I had to jump through hoops to avoid 2 normals. FWG was easier this time, since some of the options are very obvious and they're all readily available. Meowstic, Malamar, Hawlucha, and plenty of others were all possible, but type limits were very helpful in narrowing things down.

Toxapex (THE water type of this gen. In-game something else might be used, but Tox is the big boy of this gen. Non-negotiable imo)
Alolan Marowak (I needed a Fire-type, wanted at least 1 regional form, and this is the best fire-type option for various reasons)
Tsareena
Lycanroc
Mimikyu (Fan favorite of the gen bar none, have to have this)
Alolan Raichu

This feels too recent to really be sure which are iconic and which aren't. This and VI are also the ones where my "No starters" rule got tested hardest, since Inceneroar has gotten such a push. I went back and forth on whether to include a UB, but they really come too late IMO.

Drednaw (Maybe Barraskewda, but Dreadnaw feels so much more significant in-game to me)
Applin
Coalossal (This FWG is maybe the easiest I've ever had, there's 1 option for each. I have to repeat rock, but the only one swappable is this for Centiskorch, and not doing that)
Boltund (Could swap with Toxicitry, and if they'd given us voice acting this gen, I would have)
Corviknight
Dubwool

Again, it's hard to claim Iconic(Will Rapidash-G or Grimsnarl be what people remember this gen for in a decade? I picked Dubwool over either), but there's only a handful of mons that have been really pushed hard, so I like what I came up with.

Had to break the rules here and use starters, but I think this is fairly unimpeachable right now:

Sprigatito
Fuecoco
Quaxly
Pawmi
LeChonk
Fidough

Well, that took a bit. Thoughts?
 
Here's my stab at a Gen 5 team:

Serperior. It feels wrong not to have a Starter in there. Plus, I've already got ideas in mind for Water and Fire, and Serperior has gotten some push with Contrary as its hidden ability.

Volcarona. With the increased prominence Bug types received in this generation, not having one felt entirely wrong. And Volcarona was the ace of a champion.

Hydregion. It's the signature of Ghetsis and Iris has one on her champion team. I debated for a bit on whether or not the Dark type slot should go to Krookodile, but that's my bias speaking.

Emolga: Look, it might be a Pikaclone, but I wanted something not overwhelmingly powerful like the rest, and Emolga is one of the more memorable iterations.

Simipour: The monkeys had to be on here somewhere. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

One of Conkeldurr or Mienshao. With how good Fighting types are in this generation, one of them had to be on here. I didn't want to go with Sawk or Throh because they're (sort of) version exclusives, so that left Conk or Mienshao, and I couldn't decide between them.
 
Hard to do this not picking starters or legendaries but will try with those restrictions:

Gen 1: Hard to past Gen 1 rival's team with the starter swapped for the missing Pokemon.
Pidgeot, Alakazam, Gyarados, Rhydon, Arcanine and Exeggutor

Gen 2: Would need a Steel and Dark type to represent the new types. Do you go both new Eeveelutions or is that too easy? Toss up between Scizor and Steelix for the steel type and showing off a new evolution for an old Pokemon.
Scizor, Tyranitar, Kingdra, Togetic, Sudowoodo, Misdreavus

Gen 3: Much harder but this could be me being less familiar with the games
Salamence, Gardevoir, Absol, Sharpedo, Camerupt, Kecleon,
 
Gen 2: Would need a Steel and Dark type to represent the new types. Do you go both new Eeveelutions or is that too easy?
Not really, it all comes down to your preferences.

Tbh, if I'm building up a team to rep Gen 2, ain't no way I'm not picking both Skarmory and Blissey lmao. It all comes down to making a team that people look at and say "Oh yeah, that's definitely a Gen 2 team."

The extra stuff is just to give people some inspiration to run through in-game content and stuff.
 
Hard to do this not picking starters or legendaries but will try with those restrictions:

Gen 1: Hard to past Gen 1 rival's team with the starter swapped for the missing Pokemon.
Pidgeot, Alakazam, Gyarados, Rhydon, Arcanine and Exeggutor

Gen 2: Would need a Steel and Dark type to represent the new types. Do you go both new Eeveelutions or is that too easy? Toss up between Scizor and Steelix for the steel type and showing off a new evolution for an old Pokemon.
Scizor, Tyranitar, Kingdra, Togetic, Sudowoodo, Misdreavus

Gen 3: Much harder but this could be me being less familiar with the games
Salamence, Gardevoir, Absol, Sharpedo, Camerupt, Kecleon,
To be clear, no starters or legends was my personal rule, but the challenge makes it more interesting IMO.
Gen 1: Yeah, the rival team is kind of right there. I went with mons that were easier to find in-game, but still ended up basically identical to it.
Gen 2: I like that we both went completely different ways and still ended up with Sudowoodo. I don't think anyone ever references that mon, but somehow it's just so quintessentially Gen II that you can't avoid it.
 
Gen 7: Decidueye, Incineroar, Primarina, Raichu-A, Oricorio-Pom-Pom, Lycanroc

The three starters, a regional form, Oricorio represents the four islands, and Lycanroc is the evolved form of Kukui’s signature ‘mon.
————
Gen 8: Rillaboom, Cinderace, Intelleon, Corviknight, Obstagoon, Toxtricity.

The three starters, the regional bird, and a Pokémon that’s given to you, all of which can potentially Gigantamax. And then, what better way to demonstrate the expansion of the regional forms than the first of such that you’re able to encounter?
 
To be clear, no starters or legends was my personal rule, but the challenge makes it more interesting IMO.
Gen 1: Yeah, the rival team is kind of right there. I went with mons that were easier to find in-game, but still ended up basically identical to it.
Gen 2: I like that we both went completely different ways and still ended up with Sudowoodo. I don't think anyone ever references that mon, but somehow it's just so quintessentially Gen II that you can't avoid it.
I always believed that forced encounters are important moments or Pokemon in a game. Snorlax in Gen 1, Sudowoodo in Gen 2, Keckleon in 3.
 

bdt2002

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs superfan
is a Pre-Contributor
I hope you guys like sprites and models, because this is going to be a long one, folks. A quick note that I'll be listing off my choices by region as opposed to generation, but at the end of the day that usually means the same thing. Let's do it.

Kanto: :rb/venusaur: :rb/charizard: :rb/blastoise: :rb/pikachu: :rb/eevee: :rb/mewtwo:

Johto: :gs/pichu: :gs/espeon: :gs/umbreon: :gs/togepi: :gs/ho-oh: :gs/celebi: (Also, all six would be Shiny since this is where they first appeared)

Hoenn: :rs/treecko: :rs/torchic: :rs/mudkip:, :rs/Milotic: (for Pokémon Contests), and:rs/latias: :rs/latios:

Sinnoh: Two :dp/gastrodon: (one for each form/side of the region), as well as :dp/lucario: :dp/leafeon: :dp/glaceon: :dp/manaphy:

Unova: :bw/snivy: :bw/tepig: :bw/oshawott::bw/zoroark: , and:bw/reshiram: :bw/zekrom:(either alone or fused, whatever you prefer)

Kalos: :xy/greninja: with Battle Bond,:xy/sylveon: :xy/talonflame: :xy/xerneas: :xy/yveltal: and also :xy/diancie: (Only Kalos mon with a Mega for... some reason)

Alola: :sm/decidueye: :sm/incineroar: :sm/primarina: :sm/lycanroc: :sm/mimikyu: :sm/kommo-o: (All six with their respective Z-Crystals, also Lycanroc would be Dusk form)

Galar: :ss/zacian: :ss/zamazenta: (Both Crowned), and four G-Max mons of your choice since there's no option for models on here

Paldea: Currently Unreleased
 
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I think a good way to go about this would be to follow the same rationale that Red's team in both GSC and HGSS does: all starters, and guaranteed encounters that every player experiences. Looking at this a little more closely, we obviously have the three starters and Pikachu, representing all starters of the mainline titles of the generation. His other Pokemon across various games are Espeon (not obtainable in RBY, but represents the Eevee in Celadon), Snorlax (which you'll be encountering at least once to progress through the game), and Lapras (your reward for the mandatory Silph Co. plotline). These are all, for lack of a better word, safe choices that every player can identify with on some level. It also leads to some inherently boring teambuilding, especially with a constant and unchanging FWG core, but the fact of the matter is that starters are just too iconic to exclude. This may occasionally put us in a corner where we'll have to use past-gen Pokemon, but I don't think this is inherently a bad thing.

Just as a side-note, you could argue that Red having all three starters just represents the events in Yellow, especially with the unevolved Pikachu. Otherwise, though, the game tends to stick to RB's precedent, not Yellow's - Blue's team is identical to RB sans starter, for example - therefore, I think it makes the most sense to keep starters. With this criteria, I think the teams would be as follows:

GSC: Meganium, Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Togekiss, Steelix, Red Gyarados

Togepi hatches from an egg acquired from Mr. Pokemon, Steelix starts as an Onix from a trade in Violet City, and the Red Gyarados speaks for itself as a symbol of Shinies, a defining mechanic of Gen II. Togepi is the player's introduction to Eggs (and accordingly, breeding as a whole) and ends up starting your quest, so I think it's a natural inclusion. Steelix represents the brand new Steel type of Generation II. There's a bit of type overlap here with two Water types, but Red also does this in HGSS so I'm not too concerned about it. This unfortunately leaves the Dark type without representation, but I think this is a balanced team without that - though I should point out that Eevee from Bill can evolve into an Umbreon, covering that.

RSE: Sceptile, Blaziken, Swampert, Wobbuffet, Kecleon, Metagross

A Wynaut egg can be obtained in Lavaridge Town, several Kecleon can be found near the Fortree area (and at least two are encountered to progress through the story), and Beldum can be obtained from Steven in the post-game. While Wobbuffet is a Gen II Pokemon, it evolves from its Gen III younger relative, so I think it's a reasonable inclusion (especially with its defining ability, Shadow Tag - one of the greatest buffs in the series). Kecleon isn't particularly strong, but I think it's emblematic of Hoenn in many ways (a unique ability, an odd encounter method, and a complex color scheme); Castform could also replace it, but uh... no. Metagross represents the player character's friendship with Steven over the course of the game and rounds out the team with a powerful, iconic Pokemon.

DPP: Torterra, Infernape, Empoleon, Glaceon, Rotom, Chatot

Eevee can be acquired from Bebe in Platinum, Rotom can be found in the Old Chateau at night, and Chatot is an in-game trade in Eterna City. Glaceon and Leafeon are interchangeable here, but I don't see the need for two Grass types when we can represent Ice instead. Rotom is a highly memorable encounter with its unique setting and many forms, and Chatot has its fun microphone gimmick that harkens back to the DS era.

BW: Serperior, Emboar, Samurott, Volcarona, Emolga, Reshiram/Zekrom

Volcarona can represent either the Larvesta egg, or the Volcarona found in Relic Castle's deepest floor. Emolga is an in-game trade on Route 7, and while I've avoided legendary Pokemon up to this point, I think they become too central to the story starting in this game to ignore them. There's not a lot else to say here - these are fairly important and memorable Pokemon of the generation that all players will recall encountering on some level.

I think this team represents Generation V overall, but let's do B2W2 for funsies:

B2W2: Seperior, Emboar, Samurott, Zoroark, Gigalith, Reshiram/Zekrom

Whichever dragon the protagonist of BW didn't take, the B2W2 protagonist takes in return from N. Zoroark and Gigalith both represent B2W2's status as the first (and only) direct sequel games - Zoroark was formerly owned by N, and the Gigalith was the same Boldore that the player traded in BW for an Emolga.

XY: Chesnaught, Delphox, Greninja, Sylveon, Lucario, Xerneas/Yveltal

So to be straightforward about it - Sylveon is the first, and last, time I'll be breaking my pre-established rules. I simply think that Sylveon is a fantastic representative of the Fairy type, which is by far Gen VI's most significant new mechanic for the series. There are no guaranteed encounter Fairies besides Xerneas, who is only on the team 50% of the time. Lucario is the player's introduction to the Mega Evolution mechanic, another of Gen VI's primary traits. Xerneas and Yveltal are crucial to the story's resolution and are mandated captures, like Reshiram and Zekrom before them.

SM: Decidueye, Incineroar, Primarina, A-Golem, Zygarde, Solgaleo/Lunala

A-Golem can be acquired from a trade in Tapu Village, and represents Gen VII's introduction of regional variants very nicely. The Zygarde Cells were one of SM's and USUM's most notable sidequests, so despite being a legendary from a past generation, Zygarde makes for a natural inclusion onto this team. Solgaleo and Lunala, or should I say Nebby, are practically one of the main characters of SM's narrative, and so it only makes sense that they find their way onto this team.

SWSH: Rillaboom, Cinderace, Inteleon, Zacian/Zamazenta, Urshifu-SS/RS, Calyrex-IR/SR

So uh... Copperajah in the room (or lack thereof), lots of legendaries! Half a team's worth, in fact. I was conflicted on this, but really I just think this team makes the most sense, all things considered. The starters have unique Gigantamaxes with DLC, so I think they represent that mechanic on their own very well. Zacian/Zamazenta are like the version mascot legendaries before them, little need for explanation. Urshifu and Calyrex embody the two DLC areas added to Galar, and are very impactful on the narratives of these areas (Kubfu's trials to evolve into Urshifu, and Calyrex practically being the protagonist of the Crown Tundra). G!Slowbro or Slowking can respect Urshifu or Calyrex respectively if you have a distaste for so many Legendaries, but I think this team does the best job of encapsulating Gen VIII.
 

bdt2002

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs superfan
is a Pre-Contributor
Challenged myself to design some more teams, but with no Starters, no Eeveelutions, and no Legendaries. Maybe I'll go back through later and add models, but I'm good with just text for now. This version includes spinoff regions now, too (no restrictions for these due to limited representation of the regions and no unique new Pokémon)

Kanto: Alakazam, Gengar, Machamp, Golem, Snorlax, Lapras

Johto: Crobat, Ampharos, Jumpluff, Tyranitar, Kingdra, Blissey

Hoenn: Salamence, Metagross, Milotic, Shedinja & Ninjask, Gardevoir

Orre: Espeon, Umbreon, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Lugia (Shadow)

Fiore: Plusle, Minun, Kingdra, Flygon, Salamence, Charizard

Sinnoh: Shellos/Gastrodon x2 (one of each form), Rampardos, Bastiodon (they represent the Underground), Staraptor, Luxray

Almia: Munchlax, Pachirisu, Starly, Lucario, Heatran, Cresselia

Oblivia: Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Latias, Latios, Ho-Oh

Unova: Deerling/Sawsbuck, Zoroark, Haxorus (Shiny), Crustle, Mincinno/Cincinno, Volcarona

Kalos: Talonflame, Vivillon, Florges, Aegislash x2 (let's assume one of each stance), Goodra

Alola: Lycanroc, Mimikyu, Kommo-o, Alolan Raichu, Alolan Exeggutor, Alolan Marowak

Galar: Corviknight, Orbeetle, Coalossal, Grimmsnarl, Hatterene, Dragapult

Paldea: currently unreleased
 

churine

lunatic+
is a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
seems this thread has turned into a build a team for the main player character of each region to use like red on mt silver. think its more interesting not to do that personally

rby: big three starmie eggy rhydon
rby: :raichu: :poliwrath: :rapidash: :exeggutor: :tauros: :dragonite:
wanted to avoid using red team and tried to think of mons that stand out from gen 1. poliwhirl is notable for being tajiris favorite mon, exeggutor is ishiharas favorite, and rapidash is that pokemon fan club guy favorite. youll notice i put a pseudo for each game

gsc: :gyarados: :crobat: :ampharos: :steelix: :hitmontop: :tyranitar:
fwg core in johto is not optimal, red gyarados is too iconic with johto but replace with something like quagsire if you want. crobat is happiness evo, everyone puts ampharos on their team, steelix and ttar are new types in johto. but could also replace gyarados ampharos hitmontop with starters lol

rse: :swellow: :breloom: :aggron: :flygon: :milotic: :metagross:
yeah these are just the most standout mons from gen 3 to me lol. milotic and metagross are champion mons, flygon aggron are three stagers kind of cool, swellow is good bird. replace milotic breloom aggron with starters if you want.

orre: :sudowoodo: :espeon: :umbreon: :ursaring: :hariyama: :salamence:
did this for fun, espeon umbreon starters, ursaring hariyama are first mons you snag, sudowoodo cause mirorb in colo and bonsly in xd and salamence cause its technically the first mon you use in xd in the simulation mode

dpp: :bibarel: :roserade: :gastrodon: :spiritomb: :garchomp: :lucario:
i wanted to avoid staraptor luxray and starters cause literally everyone uses them, really it only makes sense to put those then have garchomp but yea lol, also bibarel cause hm god lol. somehow this turned into cynthias team lmfao but i mean what can i say. roserade is new evo, gastrodon has two forms, spiritomb is annoying to get thats why its memorable also no weaknesses, then chomper and luke are popular lol.

bw: :musharna: :zoroark: :jellicent: :ferrothorn: :hydreigon: :volcarona:
finally we can have a fwg core that makes somewhat of sense here. zoroark is prerelease thing, dream world was big in gen 5 so musharna gets spot, wanted to put crustle on here cause of roadblock in bw2 but yea, jellicent has two forms and idk i put ferro cause comp bias lmfao, either it or amoonguss. ghetsis and alder use hydrei and volc so yeah

xy: :talonflame: :gogoat: :aegislash: :barbaracle: :goodra: :avalugg:
dont sleep on barbaracle but idk what other water to put that isnt version exclusive. would put sylveon over table but i bias and despite it lol

sm: :exeggutor-alola: :vikavolt: :lycanroc: :toxapex: :mudsdale: :kommo-o:
eggy was first alolan form shown to us, and the rest of the mons are mons that immediately come to my mind tbh.

ss: :corviknight: :toxtricity: :obstagoon: :copperajah: :dracovish: :dragapult:
corviknight should be on its way to being one of the most goated mons of all time i stg

hisui: make it the ride mons or anything new, braviaryh, goodrah, wyrdeer, basculegion, sneasler, overqwil

edit: now doing sv because i dont feel like making new post
sv: pawmot, glimmora, dondozo, clodsire, baxcalibur, gholdengo
 
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Coronis

Impressively round
is a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
So trying no starters and no legends (mostly) these were the most iconic mons for me thinking back on each Generation. They’ve all got varying reasons ranging from my ingame experiences, marketing, anime, manga, my competitive experiences, memes etc so this list is quite biased. (also they aren’t necessarily in any order)

Gen 1: Snorlax, Dragonite, Gyarados, Rhydon, Nidoking, Lapras

Gen 2: Sudowoodo, Togepi, Ampharos, Octillery, Unown, Miltank

Gen 3: Flygon, Kecleon, Milotic, Gardevoir, Tropius, Ludicolo

Gen 4: Staraptor, Lucario, Garchomp, Rotom, Luxray, Floatzel

Gen 5: Volcarona, Excadrill, Hydreigon, Zoroark, Darmanitan, Haxorus

Gen 6: Aegislash, Diggersby, Talonflame, Vivillon, Noivern, Sylveon (technically a starter evo but yeah, can’t not think of it)

Gen 7: Mimikyu, Rockruff, Golisopod, Vikavolt, Salazzle, Cosmog (legendary but if you don’t think of Nebby when you think about Gen 7 you have issues)

Gen 8: Toxtricity, Corviknight, Orbeetle, Wooloo, Grapploct, Wyrdeer
 
:Garchomp: :Mawile-Mega: :Gardevoir: :Gyarados: :Hoopa-Unbound: :Zygarde:
While playing through Pokemon Unbound, I had the idea to build a team around mid/late Gen 6 to fit with the fact that Hoopa Unbound was the boxart Legendary. I guess I could have fitted an ORAS mega like Steelix or Swampert, but Mega Mawile carried hard. I swapped Zygarde for Primarina before the league, but I'll never forget how it felt to be this close to a hypothetical Pokemon Z when playing.
 
So, question 1, do I want to use Starters or not. On the one hand, not picking Charizard feels wrong. On the other, if you include starters, it becomes very easy to just make the Ash team and call it a day, which is also not right. I'm going to ignore starters and Legendaries, just so it's more generic. I expect a lot of FWG cores, because that's sort of the standard, and I hate type overlap so that may force odd choices in some situations. Also, I'm just picking final evos(not worrying about PBR/Stadium/Etc), and worrying more about what's common for the gen than what's powerful. This will be mostly in-game options, since counting Houndoom as iconic to Gen II when it's not available for the average playthrough seems bad, but I will allow meta to influence me in some cases.
Had to break the rules here and use starters, but I think this is fairly unimpeachable right now:

Sprigatito
Fuecoco
Quaxly
Pawmi
LeChonk
Fidough

Well, that took a bit. Thoughts?
Now that this gen is out and we've had a chance to think about it:
Garganacl
Tinkaton
Pawmot
Clodsire
Mabosstiff
Cyclizar
So, fun fact. It is very difficult to do a FWG core with only Gen 9 mons, no version exclusives, nothing that's late-game locked. Water types are mostly locked behind surf, the fires are almost all version exclusive, and the grasses aren't memorable in any way. I considered using paradoxes, but I wanted to stick to what a generic in-game team could look like. Wugtrio+Scovillain is not exactly iconic Gen 9, and that was about the best possible.

Gholdengo, the other 2 dog families, and Maushold all felt like reasonable inclusions, but space was limited. Type overlaps helped narrow things down a lot, as did the fact that fandom has already picked some favorites. Cyclizar is mostly there to represent the Paradox ride mount, I'm not in love with that slot.
 

QuentinQuonce

formerly green_typhlosion
For Gen VII, I've always thought that the six Pokemon used by Elio on the Rainbow Rocket "movie poster" sum up Alola quite well.

1678058653064.png


We've got:

Incineroar: Starter, obvs. Why specifically Incineroar is curious though - Primarina gets associated with Hau a lot, but Decidueye makes more logical sense as the "canon" starter for Elio/Selene as Incineroar has more obvious association with Kukui, being a wrestler mon (and this setup preserves the triangle we get in-game, with Kukui having the starter strong against yours and Hau the starter weak against yours).

Ultimately I suspect it was picked because there aren't a lot of other Fire-types to work with in Alola: Salazzle is associated with Plumeria and Team Skull, while Turtonator isn't particularly popular. Though if Decidueye were here instead of Incineroar I'd boot Tsareena for Turtonator.
Toucannon: Regional bird, duh.
Lycanroc-Dusk: Not just the iconic mon of Alola but the iconic mon of USUM. Pretty much guaranteed a spot here. If this were advertising SM as opposed to USUM, it'd probably be Lycanroc-Day as Lycanroc-Night is strongly associated with Gladion (and too evil-looking in general to be a protagonist's squad member).
Tsareena: One of the earliest (and best) Grass-types you'll encounter, especially since SM features an early trade for a Bounsweet. Another iconic Alola mon that's instantly recognisable and associated with its home region. Also balances out the party/image by being the token "girl" of the group.
Alolan Ninetales: It's an iconic regional mon (am I right in thinking A-Vulpix was the first regional mon revealed?). Ice-types tend to be late-game so don't always look like species suited for beginner trainers, but Ninetales has a satisfying air of familiarity and friendliness; it's a mammalian species, so more relatable and personable.
Alolan Raichu: the most iconic of all the regional forms - the hero always has to have a Pikachu, after all. No-brainer.

Whether or not the logic I used was the same as Game Freak's, these are all great choices and add up to a well-balanced and representative party.



Going on a different tangent, I've always felt like Brendan's anime appearances featured a good selection of Hoenn mons and think that from what we see of him he represents his home region well. Brendan isn't a character in the anime, but he's made cameos a few times in the movies. In the sixth movie he's shown to have an Aggron and Shiftry while in the ninth movie he's shown to have a Swampert. (He's also shown to have a Rhyperior in the eleventh, but as I'm focusing on Hoenn I'll ignore that.)

So, looking at the three Hoenn mons he does have, let's look at what else he might conceivably round out his squad with.

Swampert: His starter. It was, of course, at the time the only fully-evolved Hoenn starter not to be part of the main cast - Ash's Treecko and May's Torchic evolved all the way, but Brock's Mudkip never made it to its final stage. So this was a bit of extra rep for Swampert while also feeling like a natural pick for him. Overall I'd say Swampert is probably the most popular Hoenn starter and it definitely feels the most suited to Brendan's design.
Shiftry: Classic choice. It's one of the best Grass-types in Hoenn and exactly the sort of solid early-game pick a lot of people would make.
Aggron: An interesting pick but again, a solid relatively early-game option and the sort of Pokemon a lot of people probably used.
Manectric: I definitely feel like Brendan would have a Manectric. His team vibe so far has been tough, and Manectric gives off that feeling while also complementing his other squad members type-wise. Manectric is a very cool mon and incredibly underrated despite being Hoenn's best Electric-type.
Glalie: Yeah. Again, going the tough vibe - an unconventional selection perhaps, but a mon I think reps Hoenn incredibly well: the first fully-evolved pure Ice-type in the series, and one with some unexpected versatility.
Medicham: And our final squad member is a powerful Psychic/Fighting bruiser. Why this? Because this mon represents Hoenn like few others - Meditite is EVERYWHERE in RSE. Ironically since it's unavailable in Emerald. But it's used by so many NPCs (and in multiple gyms, weirdly enough) that it's always felt synonymous with Hoenn to me. And it seems like the sort of doughty, stolid Pokemon that fits on this team.

I debated Salamence in place of Medicham, but ultimately I think Medicham fits better. All of his mons are fairly common but tough once evolved, not flashy but weighty and dependable. From the little we see of him, Brendan definitely seems like someone who'd raise Pokemon well.
 
I will offer a slightly different take on this concept. Instead of creating teams that represent Generations or Regions, I have assembled team that represent sub-regions where the concept is present.

I followed three rules when creating teams for each of Kalos' Pokedexes. First, I religiously avoid type overlap when planning my in-game teams. Second, I exclusively use Pokémon introduced in the region that the game takes place in, except for the sake of using important mechanics, such as Mega Evolution and Regional Variants. For example, I use Generation VI Pokémon in Pokémon X, in addition to Venusaur, which can Mega Evolve, and in Pokémon Omega Ruby, I use Generation III Pokémon.

Central
:Diggersby: :Talonflame: :Florges: :Gogoat: :Meowstic: :Lucario:

Coastal
:Malamar: :Dragalge: :Clawitzer: :Heliolisk: :Sylveon: :Aerodactyl:

Mountain
:Goodra: :Klefki: :Avalugg: :Noivern: :Gengar:

In Alola, I only added Pokémon that appear in exactly one Island Pokedex. I also relaxed the idea of only using Generation VII Pokémon.

Melemele
:Decidueye: :Incineroar: :Primarina: :Raichu_Alola: :Snorlax: :Delibird:

Akala
:Lurantis: :Salazzle: :Comfey: :Oranguru: :Passimian: :Palossand:

Ula'Ula
:Garbodor: :Minior: :Komala: :Togedemaru: :Mimikyu: :Bruxish:

Poni
:Granbull: :Gastrodon: :Dhelmise: :Kommo-o: :Emolga: :Scizor:
 

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