After a heated debate between some of The Hoya staffers over some of the answers in a Staffer of the Week post, I decided it was time to settle a major debate that has divided our society since 1996:
Which Pokémon starter is the best? [None of this Mudkip, Torchic, Treeko bullhonky]
- Squirtle
- Charmander
- Bulbasaur
Team Squirtle:
Jon Rabar – Publishing Division Consultant Squirtle is the best starter because his evolved form is literally a goddamn battleship
Victoria Edel – Managing Editor Squirtle is the best because he looks baller in sunglasses.
Nicole Jarvis – Deputy Guide Editor 1. Squirtle is adorable and I am admittedly superficial with regards to my Pokémon. 2. It attacks using bubbles 3. Squirrel + Turtle = Squirtle, and those are both adorable animals. Plus I’m partial to Water-Type Pokemon. Always.
Team Charmander:
Ryan Bacic – Senior Sports Editor As a certified Pokemon Master (I won my grade’s Red and Blue tournament in high school), I’m frankly embarrassed that this question is even being asked. Charizard is a powerhouse — give me that Flamethrower, Slash, Hyper Beam, Earthquake moveset all day, erry day. Boom, you’re dead. Get out.
Michelle Cassidy – Founder/Former Senior Editor of 4E JUST LOOK AT THIS FACE. HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO THIS FACE?
Team Bulbasaur:
Emily Manbeck – Deputy Guide Editor He’s adorable.
Steven Piccione – Former Managing Editor (Prepare yourself for what you’re about to read) It’s the beginning of the game. No time to waste. You need a starter who will carry you through the first two gyms, so you can level up your fellow team members and evolve your starter. Who do you choose? BULBASAUR. Why? Well here are some fun tips for the Charmander-obsessed (conformists) and the Squirtle-fixated (suckers for a cute baby water turtle).
These types are very weak against grass. If you choose Charmander, you run the risk of losing to Misty as your fire pokemon is weak to water. And as for Squirtle, you run the risk of losing to Lt. Surge due to the fact that water is weak against electric.
Bulbasaur outpaces both Charmander and Squirtle in base HP, Defense, Special Attack, and Special Defense.
But it doesn’t stop there. Of course, one could say Charmander’s evolved form Charizard is a “powerhouse,” but that’s nothing more than being a brute. You want a pokemon who can work with someone with enough brain cells to formulate a strategy:
Sleep powder, Poisonpowder, leechseed, and Growth. These moves are the ones that will keep a pokemon alive in battle. Sure fire is super effective versus grass, but life isn’t about hypotheticals. You need a starter who will be the one to finish the race, not sprint part of it. The archaic moves of both Charmander and Squirtle are cute and fancy at first, but what happens when the 5/5 PP runs out of Fire Blast or Hydro Pump? You’re going to settle with Bubble…or Fly? Hah. Have fun with that. Slowly but surely Leechseed will take you down, or that Poisonpowder will get to you first.
That’s right. You may get lucky with Charmander at first versus Bulbasaur, but this betch will get you from the grave. You’re poisoned, you just won the battle, but good luck getting to a PokéCenter before you die. Shit’s real and Bulbasaur will haunt you from the grave.
In conclusion, Hunter is wrong.
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So, what do YOU think? THIS DEBATE MUST BE SETTLED. VOTE OR PERISH.
[cardoza_wp_poll id=6]
Anonymous • Apr 28, 2013 at 11:19 pm
I think it’s wrong to say one starter is better than another. All the Kanto starters are equally amazing in looks, moveset, and statistics. They are all worthy and they would all make excellent companions.
Although it was argued, and rightly so, that charmander and squirtle are brutes; with the right strategy they can be strong and effective team members, especially with good supporting team mates. Just because they aren’t good ‘lone wolf’ pokemon doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy starters. In fact, I would argue that all pokémon are worthy, even those that don’t do well in battle. Although it’s great to build strong teams in the pokemon games, we need to remember what we have learned from the pokémon series. Everything pokémon has taught us about friendship, acceptance, cooperation, etc.
As for my favourite starter; I prefer bulbasaur due to its strengths in the early gyms in pokémon R/B/Y and its moveset. I especially like teaching toxic through TM and using it with leechseed. Sleep powder and recover are also excellent moves that charmander and squirtle do not possess. But I also love Ash’s bulbasaur in the anime. I love Bulbasaurs bravery, loyalty, stubborness, diplomacy, caring nature, etc. I know that Ash’s bulbasaur doesn’t represent all bulbasaur, but I look up to so much, and I always have.
Basically, what I am saying is that this debate shouldn’t exist. It is not a question of what starter is better, but of what starter you, personally, prefer. Whether you make your choice based on sentiment or statistics, it is a choice that only you can make, and only you can understand. And pokémon isn’t about which pokémon are better and which are worse, but istead it’s about what is good about the pokémon individually and what we can learn from pokémon.
I think in all the hating on the new generations and the old generations and the debates over which starter is better, which team is better, and which trainer is better, we’ve forgotten why pokémon is so important to us: Because pokémon taught us the lessons that no longer seem to apply in this world; Why be kind to one another? Why stand together and work together and live and grow together? Why live in hope and happiness? Why trive toward utopia? Because Pokémon…
Former Deputy Blog Editor/Deputy Blog Founder Martin Hussey • Mar 14, 2013 at 4:50 pm
Pokemon is stupid. I just wanted my two cents heard. (Can you hear two cents?)