Which starter did you choose?

[chuckles]

Yea if cyndaquil is an option you pick him, that's all there is to it. I ended up happy with my decision late-game as well because i find that it was very easy to get great water(gyarados with aqua tail SWEEPS EVERYTHING) and great grass(originally going for roserade but currently using Gallade's leaf blade) but not as much for great fire, unless i wasn't going to get the mareep, and if i wasn't trying to get the mareep to make an Ampharos(god) i may as well stop playing pokemon altogether Ampharos is probably all around the best pokemon ever. Well, non-uber at least.

i could've gone for a blaziken but despite the speed boost, i don't like it that much; the stats of blaziken seem confused and fucked up, it's too balanced and it ends up ridiculous. Infernape just doesn't have enough good moves. Charizard is great but it also has a similar problem, in fact i don't think it gets any good flying moves by levelup, plus the 4x weakness to rock is hard to deal with...i have it on my Yanmega but it's a yanmega, it can find ways around silly things like being attacked.

Basically, as of gen 5, if you're choosing a starter pokemon, go with either cyndaquil or totodile. Not because they look nice or have cool names, because they are literally more efficient in battle, having only 1 type and as such fewer weaknesses, great stat distribution, and good movesets with excellent learnable moves from various sources. I think if i had all the TMs i'd go with totodile because feraligatr can learn some pretty versatile stuff.

[DJ Mewdeon ft Dan Punk]

Alright, so clearly because I have nothing better to do in the morning than analyze starter choices I'm going to provide some counters to points you make here that I disagree with... and in doing so probably end up also analyzing other currently available starter choices. First things first though, let's see the points you make:

...if i wasn't trying to get the mareep to make an Ampharos(god) i may as well stop playing pokemon altogether Ampharos is probably all around the best pokemon ever.

This one I'm not going to touch because it's really a personal opinion thing for the most part. I have a few opinions on this but I'll leave it alone because we're doing a starter pokemon thing mostly. Maybe next time.

i find that it was very easy to get great water

I can actually concede to you on this particular point: besides Gyarados there are several other excellent non-starter water types (which makes sense seeing as water is the most abundant type -- 109 pokemon are water type, which is 16.8% of the current known pokemon) available in Reborn such as Politoed, Vaporeon, Gastrodon, Azumarill, Swanna, Crawdaunt, etc.

and great grass

Not as much on this end (grass is 4th most common type), but similarly to the water point there are a few solid grass type options currently available in Reborn such as Tangrowth, Breloom, Leafeon, Whimsicott, Lilligant, Shiftry, Roserade, etc.

but not as much for great fire

I don't know about this point though, especially with fantastic options like Magmortar, Arcanine, Ninetales, Camerupt, and Houndoom all available. I realize that there are definitely fewer fire pokemon than grass or water, but even without considering starters there are a decent set of options available to Reborn's trainers right now.

With that out of the way, lets do some starter pokemon chat. I'm going to try and be general about this and not base it entirely off competetive stuff, seeing as we're only discussing starters, but there's a few points where learnsets boosted by TMs and tutors that aren't in Reborn yet are noted. Starting with the pokemon that you brought up:

the stats of blaziken seem confused and fucked up, it's too balanced and it ends up ridiculous.

Ridiculous is an ambiguous word, but judging by context you're not using in a positive way. Quickly going over his stats though, we see that while he has 2 stats that are below the average for fully evolved pokemon (Def and SpD), one is average (HP) and three are above it (Atk, SpA, Spe). While Blaziken does have notably middling defenses, his offensive stats are very good - only about 50 or so pokemon have 120 or more attack and Speed Boost makes it such that it's base speed is insignificant. Additionally, even without TMs, tutors (or even breeding moves for that matter), Blaziken has a fantastic physically offensive movepool with options like Flare Blitz, Close Combat/Hi Jump Kick, Brave Bird, and a decent boosting move in Bulk Up until we get ourselves a Swords Dance TM. With this in mind, Blaziken is one of the best choices for a starter pokemon.

Infernape just doesn't have enough good moves.

I was completely taken by surprise by this remark. With mixed sets of Infernape being rather common due to it's 104/104 base offensive stats, it's available movepool is one of the largest of all the starters with TMs/Tutors considered. Even using only Reborn's available moves it still has solid options for moves, with access to Mach Punch, Thunderpunch, Fire Punch, Close Combat, Acrobatics, and Flare Blitz as good physical moves and moves like Grass Knot and Hidden Power from the special side until we have access to more TMs. All things considered, Infernape's movepool is not something holding it back and I find that it's one of the better starter choices.

Charizard is great but it also has a similar problem, in fact i don't think it gets any good flying moves by levelup, plus the 4x weakness to rock is hard to deal with

While it's true that Charizard's flying moves are indeed limited (in the official games it only gets Wing Attack and Air Slash naturally, with few other viable options aside from Air Slash. He does get Roost though, which is nice) and it's rock weakness is painful, that doesn't stop it from being a good choice for a starter. With Dragon Rage in it's early movepool and decent move scaling and stats, the Charmander line is a solid pick to enter the Reborn region with.

Basically, as of gen 5, if you're choosing a starter pokemon, go with either cyndaquil or totodile ... they are literally more efficient in battle having only 1 type and as such fewer weaknesses, great stat distribution, and good movesets with excellent learnable moves from various sources

Now here's the biggest statement you've made, so I'll go at it piece by piece, and judge 'efficient in battle' last.

1) 1 type -> fewer weaknesses
This isn't always the case in pokemon, and although mono-water typing is nice defensively, (4 resists, two of which are for common attacking types of fire/ice + 2 weaknesses in less common grass/electric moves) mono-fire typing is not (5 resists, two of which are for fire/ice but also resisting less common grass/steel types + 3 weaknesses in common offensive types ground/water/rock). Additionally, there are many examples of pokemon with two types with fewer weaknesses - the phenomenal water/ground typing of Swampert immediately comes to mind (grass is it's sole weakness).

2) great stat distribution
There's not much to be said here without significant time investment that I don't really have to put into this remark. I'll note that Feraligatr's speed could be a bit better and Typhlosion's defenses mean it can't take too many hits. I can't speak to much more than that so I'll simply say that their stat distributions are decent/average stopping only to mention that Typhlosion's stats are identical to that of Charizard's.

3) good movesets
I will admit Feraligatr has an amazing official movepool and even with what's available in Reborn it's still very good.
As much as I like Typhlosion though, it does not have such a great movepool and is rather limited in Reborn. Outside of great fire STAB coverage, (Eruption/Flamethrower plus Lava Plume for doubles) Typhlosion doesn't have many other good special moves - having no other notable moves in it's natural learnset, Extrasensory and Quick Attack (mentioned as it's his only priority move) through breeding and Hidden Power, Solarbeam and Focus Blast through TMs. Having to breed in Reborn to get a second type move for coverage is rather undesirable, and being limited to so few attacking options can really hinder it.

So, are the Cyndaquil and Totodile lines 'efficient in battle' by the above? Feraligatr doesn't suffer from many problems save speed trouble which can be remedied via Aqua Jet (though you'd have to breed it) or Dragon Dance (which isn't available yet), so I'd say that it can be considered efficient (though I feel like this isn't the right word to use here). Typhlosion on the other hand suffers from a limited movepool and mono-fire typing is not as good of an asset that it might seem, so despite the fact that I'm a fan of it I'd have to say no in its case.

4) Other starters!
I also find that you're overlooking other great starters when considering ones that are 'efficient' through to the 5th generation.
Swampert, Torterra, Empoleon, Venusaur, Blastoise and Serperior can all make for excellent starters in their own rights despite other options for water and grass pokemon being available. Torterra and Empoleon both have unique typings and can make for a powerful physical attacker/physical tank or a powerful special attacker/specially defensive support respectively. Swampert may struggle in Reborn due to not having some of its best moves available, but solid defenses, a powerful STAB earthquake, and decent coverage with what it has available more than make up for it. Blastoise is a big physical wall and Serperior has decent bulk and a fantastic speed stat that it can take advantage of in a supportive role or be a boosting sweeper. Venusaur can be a Chlorophyll physical, special or even mixed sweeper or in the next gen...

becoming a monster in the metagame with the ability to switch from a Chlorophyll sweeper to a huge Thick Fat tank at a moment's notice.

Finally, I think you should reconsider your assessment of Charizard, Blaziken and Infernape.



But in reality, picking your starter is a personal choice you make based on what pokemon you want to play with so who cares about all this noise anyway!
...I guess...

Edited September 21, 2013 by Blind Guardian

[Kalina]

Oshawott, because who wouldn't want a dual wielding sea swordsman on the team? ^^

[Kooper]

Piplup. Cuz Empoleon is beast.

[ShatteredSkys]

I don't know about this point though, especially with fantastic options like Magmortar, Arcanine, Ninetales, Camerupt, and Houndoom all available. I realize that there are definitely fewer fire pokemon than grass or water, but even without considering starters there are a decent set of options available to Reborn's trainers right now.

I thought we couldn't get magmortar?

Edited September 21, 2013 by ShatteredSkys

[DJ Mewdeon ft Dan Punk]

I don't know about this point though, especially with fantastic options like Magmortar, Arcanine, Ninetales, Camerupt, and Houndoom all available. I realize that there are definitely fewer fire pokemon than grass or water, but even without considering starters there are a decent set of options available to Reborn's trainers right now.

I thought we couldn't get magmortar?

Actually, you can get Magmortar the same way you can get Electivire -- there is a 5% chance that a Magby/Elekid will be holding a Magmarizer/Electrizer when caught respectively.

Fairly certain that this continues to be the case, but I'll double check and correct it if I find that it's not.

Edited September 21, 2013 by Blind Guardian

[Babylonian Queen]

Chimchar, who is now a infernape and he still has Iron fist!!!!!

[Red'sCharizard]

I picked Torchic, speed boost is awesome.

[Flux]

I chose Snivy because I've never played a gen 5 game and I wanted to try out something new. Snivy was my favorite of the Gen 5 starters, so that's what I picked.

[DarkLucario79]

Torchic cause it literally was my very first Pokemon. First game was Pokemon Sapphire and Torchic was my starter.

[Sapphire]

Torchic. Easy choice for me. I have a preference for fire types and speed boost Blaziken is slightly better than Iron Fist Infernape. Of course, if Reborn had Megas I'd have gone with Charizard...

[Jean mi]

Chimchar simply because it's the only starter I've never used.

[akaFila~]

Considering Chespin is yet to be an option, I went with my own #2 of the starters ~

Squirtle<3

[Deleted User]

Hadn't used a Mudkip in a while so I went with him. Probably would have gone with a grass type if I knew you could get mudkip later in the game.

[Qoseph]

I chose bulbasaur because I don't like any starters, but I dislike bulbasaur the least. Little did I know that he would become a solid member of my team.

[bocoom]

mine will always be totodile! I remember back in gold version i just trained him and powerd through everything with my overpowered gator!