Choosing a Starter Pokemon: The Unova Region
In the world of Pokemon every young boy or girl starts out more or less equal -- that is to say without a Pokemon and about to set out on their great adventure. The first step on that journey is the selection of their first -- or starter -- Pokemon.
The Starter Pokemon come in three basic types -- Fire, Water, and Grass Types -- and when the new trainer receives them they are already leveled to Level 5, having one damage-dealing move, and one stat-changing move.
The trainer is offered their choice of one of the three Poke Balls by the Professor -- no matter which one they choose though, their rival will choose the other that has a type advantage against it, which slightly increases their chance, should the player make a mistake in their first battle with their rival, of them claiming an early victory.
In the Unova Region after the player chooses their Starter and their rival (well, not really rival in this case, as you are setting out on your adventure in the differing company of two mates) picks the one with the type advantage versus it, and your other mate chooses the one that remains.The Starter is not simply your first Pokemon, but the Pokemon that will lead to collecting all of the other Pokemon that will eventually make up your team when you use it to capture your first wild one. So really everything begins with your Starter Pokemon.
In the Unova Region -- home to the games Pokemon Black and White and Black 2 and White 2 -- Professor Juniper offers the player a choice between the following three Started Pokemon:
Oshawott -- a Water Type whose evolutionary chain consists of Oshawott > Dewott . Samurott.
Snivy -- a Grass Type whose evolutionary chain consists of Snivy > Servine > Serperior.
Tepig -- a Fire Type whose evolutionary chain consists of Tepig > Pignite > Emboar.
Unlike previous games in the series there is a specific catch involved in the choosing of your Starter in the Unova Region -- that being the fact that your choice of Starter has a direct effect upon which Gym Leader you will face upon arriving in Striation City.
Choosing Snivy will result in your facing Gym Leader Chili, who is a Fire-Type specialist; choosing Tepig as your Starter pits you against Gym Leader Cress, who is a Water-Type specialist; finally should you choose Oshawott as your Starter you will face off against Gym Leader Cilan, who is a Grass-Type battler.
In addition to that and to further complicate the issue, the choice also impacts which of the special Pokemon that the player will receive in the Dreamyard. Snivy results in receiving a Panpour, Tepig gets a Pansage and Oshawott a Pansear.
Thus you are already faced with issues that complicate your choice even before you start to consider the relative merits for each of the three!
Which you choose will end up being an important matter not simply due to their abilities and the above effects in the game, but also due to the nature of the Starter Pokemon and its impact in your game and on your team, which we now cover...
The Enduring Starter
For the vast majority of trainers the Pokemon that they choose as their starter has far more significance and value to them than simply being the first Pokemon that they use to capture their next Pokemon!
In fact it is estimated that around 90% of the players who are fans of the game tend to retain their Starter and use and evolve them as their main Pokemon and Team Leader for the entire adventure.
As noted above though, that first Pokemon is the key to the long chain of additional Pokemon that the player will encounter, battle, capture, and collect.
While the vast majority of the Pokemon you capture in the wild will end up residing in a Pokemon Storage Box in the Pokemon Center Network -- at least until you have become the League Champion and finally turn to the lengthy and challenging task of evolving and training them in order to complete your Pokedex -- your starter is very likely to be your best friend and preferred go-to Pokemon for the more important battles, when their type suits!
Choosing Your Starter
The first thing you need to focus upon is the following fact: There is NO wrong choice.
Due to the complications of the various consequences for the Starter you choose, a lot is going to depend upon which of the Dreamyard Pokemon you actually prefer to obtain. With that in mind, the standard considerations do apply:
Oshawott is the balanced choice, having about equal levels for defense and attack, making it the middle-of-the-road Starter.
Tepig presents a weaker defensive play but as it has a fairly strong attack it is best suited for the more aggressive play style.
Snivy has good defensive capabilities which means it fits in well as the Starter for players who prefer to fight a longer and more defensive battle.
While many of the previous titles in the series offered a much clearer choice, sadly none of the choices in Unova provide that sort of clear weighing of benefits. In fact it might be said that the Starters for Unova are rather mediocre when it comes to that.
Fortunately that makes choosing your Starter quite a bit easier since you can simply rely upon picking the one that corresponds to the Pokemon you want most from the Dreamyard and then relying upon building a solid team to back them up.
Granted that means you will not have a strong and central focus for your battling -- but on the plus side it also means you will find it more strategically desirable to build a more complex A-Team for play in the game that allows you to rotate the stronger types in and out of the team, as needed.
Emboar not a bad pokemon but it is the 3rd fire fighting typing and got boring im not hating but oshawatt and snivy arent bad pokemon i recommend them than tepig no hating either of them but the typing could be better also the desing of emboar could be better
My team is: Samurott level 100, Emolga level 100, Black Kyurem Level 77, Infernape level 78, Ludicolo level 71, and the other spot is reserved for Pokemon in training
It is offensive to say Snivy is useless. Mine helped me a lot. My team is Serperior, Zebstrika, Unfezent, Carracosta, Haxorus, and Volcarona. This team helped me beat the game like it was a piece of cake.
Stop saying snivy is useless because mine is the thing that led to the capture of many legendaries
I think that Snivy is the best choice because it can learn super powerful attacks like dragon pulse and dragon claw.
Peeps emboar is emboss and he can learn thunder punch whith is super effective on water and grass which means it can ko the only types super effective on it my team is lv97 virision lv100 emboar lv98 cloyster lv100 darkrye lv99 hydreigon lv 100 zekrom
actually grass resists electric
I mean a a snivy is a good starter
I like reading your comments cow I'm getting white 2 soon and I want to get the best starter I can get and I'm probably a going for oshawot or many tepig but I do appreciate that sin you is a generally good starter with good speed and it is good to have the first move but tepig and its evolutions well I had a look and the offensive way is a good way and its my way but I would prefer the balanced oshawot
my team is emboar lv100 charazard lv100 rayquaza shiny lv100 pansage lv 34 gurdurr lv41 keldon s lv 1
why is everyone saying snivy is so useless and bad?!!!!!!!! that's offensive!
in fact, if you would actually bother studying snivy and evo more then you'd notice that he is actually
a very good pokemon! it can stand quite a few hits even from strong pokemon and hit very well too. my serperior example is not weak or useless at all! he is actually very powerful and helped destroy many hard opponents. also, serperior is able to learn dragon type moves, rock smash and even aerial ace! so there is a good variety of moves you can teach it which comes in handy. besides from looking just awesome, his speed is incredibly high! i swear, no matter how many string shots you use serperior would still zoom to the front in speed! you may not think speed is very valuable but in truth, getting the first hit can be very useful, especially if you knock them out just before they solar beam you out of the match. also being able to heal n' hit big at the same time, my opinion- i think snivy is pretty good!
Samerott is the best of the best !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i feel that oshowatt is best suited in black two, as it can receive weakness covering teamates early on, such as koffing, magby, growlithe, vulpix, and sewadle
my team is: Embaor lv 40 lampert lv 41 gallade lv 40 mandubizz lv 43
First - thanks for sharing mates - those are all good comments. And with respect to Embroar killing easily - remember we don't actually kill in the game, we incap.
This is my team(I win every time) Emboar Krookodile Carracosta Simisage Braviary Kyurem
I would vote to say that it really depends on the story you like to pull out. Such as Emboar being the friendly giant. I like to make teams that are diverse, so I can really enjoy the story. Some common traits associated with the starters from this gen are as follows: Emboar-Tough-Sweet/Kind-Lazy, Serpeior- Cool-Proud-Skillful, Samerot- smart-Brave-leader. My personal favorite is Emboar, because he is very easy to build a story line around, and Samerot I find tough to bring to life. Thanks!
I think you should choose emboar because at high levels it can kill easy.
Samurot is the best. Emboar has terrible defense and Serperior is just useless and is terrible except for speed. Samurot not only looks the best but is also a very well balanced pokemon which his only bad stat is speed.
Serperior isn't terrible so get yo facts straight.
His facts are straight. Serperior is a weak piece of horse turds.
I would recommend snivy because he/she evolves really quickly (L 17) and he/she is strong
I feel like water is the way to go because snivy is useless and tepig dies fast.
I would personally choose Samerott, because he's good against the Gym Leader in Driftveil City, Clay, and I always used to struggle when I chose Tepig. So there are my thought's.
Gotta go with Emboar cuz I nicknamed him Wilboar(Just finished reading Charlotte's Web when I made that nickname)!
personally I like samerot best tell me your awsome pokemon thouts at youtube type in vinsters and suscribe ;) p.s im starting a pokemon seires veeeeeeerrrrrrryyyyyy awsome so pesae
hold select while choosing and you will get shiny starter
I see starter choices as game mode settings: Tepig being EASY, Oshawott as NORMAL, and Snivy as HARD mode. Snivy is hard because he's pretty useless against the first three gyms and Chili's Pansear gets Incinerate which makes the Oran berries you get from Cheren useless.
Shame one you for saying that Snivy is useless. You can get a Panpour to beat Pansear.
hi n00b
Gym 1: Normal and Fire types
Gym 2: Normal types (Snivy can't learn Rock Smash)
Gym 3: Bug types
Snivy is really good endgame, but you'll have to rely on other Pokemon to get you off your feet for a while.
good i love these reviews
Is a very good analisis.