So you get dropped into the Pokemon anime verse...

[Scowling Dragon]

Dog, cat, and turtle pokemon. I want things I can pet! Maybe a birdo of somekind as well.

[kjelfalconer]

Hmm, I have a few must haves - Starmie and Alakazam are non-negotiable here. Since most humanoid psychic types are telepathic, Alakazam could help act as an interpreter (though I imagine after enough time with a pokemon you get a feel for the gist of what they mean). After that, I'd want something I could ride in the sky, to which I'd choose Braviary, and water, despite my ridiculous mental image of surfing on a Starmie. I'd like to say Sharpedo, but I'd need some serious protective gear to get round that rough skin, so if that's out of the question, then perhaps Milotic instead.

For slot five, I have to be honest. I am stick thin and horrendously unfit, ill-suited for the kind of adventure the pokemon world would require. Thus, I need someone to whip *me* into shape. Machamp, or one of the Hitmons would be the obvious choice, but to be honest, they'd go all out from the start and crush me. Whereas Gallade I suspect would get the balance of pushing and pausing much better (and is probably also telepathic, which is really handy if he's going to be your personal trainer).

Six is a bit more flexible, but I'd want to diversify types a bit. Fire and poison have serious practicality issues, hayfever says no to grass, I'm not great with bugs and I hate the cold, pretty much every ground type is a disaster waiting to happen, with rock much the same, most dark types have serious attitude problems, so that leaves me Electric, Fairy or Dragon. And, honestly, after trawling those lists I keep looking at Altaria. Swablu's much more common than most dragons, and much more even tempered. Plus, I enjoy singing too, so bonding! Admittedly this does make the earlier inclusion of Braviary a little less required, but **** it I like Braviary.

And none of them are too taxing to look after, save Sharpedo(with that disposition)/Milotic(who would take a hell of a lot of grooming). Milotic probably would gel better with the rest of the group personality wise actually, especially since Gallade and Braviary would definitely be holding me to a code of conduct. So, yeah, go with Milotic, unless I managed to find a young, lone Carvanha and raise it pretty much from scratch.

I haven't put way too much thought into this, you shut up.

[Anteros]

Ahahahahahaha!

Sure, if you can deal with the kind of world it is. If Pokemon is one of the best fictional places to live, Dragon Ball is one of the worst. hope you can live with planet destroying jerks coming to kill you and everyone you love every few years, with no guarantees that righteousness will actually prevail, Goku remember isn't actually a good person, every technique has a downside, a saiyan will render all your human effort moot by getting beat up then recovering from that to come back stronger than ever even before super Saiyan is ever involved, assuming your in an era where Freeza isn't ruling you have to hope Beerus won't destroy your planet for not having tasty food when no one has the guts or the strength to stop him.

Best case scenario? Your Krillin. More likey? You'll be Yamcha. And the universe is just full of battle-crazy idiots seeking a good fight no matter the consequences. If your lucky. If your unlucky, your some timeline like Future Trunks timeline. Dragon Balls? Not a guarantee. you have to wonder how many alien planets died fighting in ki wars without knowing the Dragon Balls ever existed.

What makes you think I'd get involved in any of that junk? That's what protagonists are for. I'm not gonna go try to punch Mewtwo, or take down Team Rocket either if I get dropped into the Pokemon universe.

[Mikemical]

Realitically, stick to some Pokes that aren't high maintainance and that will help around the house to live a comfy life. Go nowhere near Ow the Edge Pokémon like Lucario, Blaziken or Scyther that require you to train with them like 80 hours a week so they might listen to you. I would probably stick to Pokémon that are closer to real-life pets, like Growlithe, or Meowth.

[Anteros]

Realitically, stick to some Pokes that aren't high maintainance and that will help around the house to live a comfy life. Go nowhere near Ow the Edge Pokémon like Lucario, Blaziken or Scyther that require you to train with them like 80 hours a week so they might listen to you. I would probably stick to Pokémon that are closer to real-life pets, like Growlithe, or Meowth.

Growlithe has to be my favorite Poke...but when I think about how derpy real life Golden Retrievers are...I'm not sure having one with fire powers in the house is a good idea.

[Scowling Dragon]

Growlithe has to be my favorite Poke...but when I think about how derpy real life Golden Retrievers are...I'm not sure having one with fire powers in the house is a good idea.

Make sure to just have a goldeen in a bowl or something for the emergencies.

I would go with Eeevees. Got a cute foxlike quality, and come in any verietee you wish.

[Kantaki]

What team would I assemble if dropped in the Pokèmon verse?
Lets see...

Chikorita- one of my all-times favourite starters. (I would take a Snivy, but the attitude...)

(Mega*) Beedrill- wiping out Faulkner's Gym solo has earned it a special spot in my heart. (starting from a Weedle so there's less risk of it attacking me)

Gardevoir- someone who can actually talk with me would be good for my sanity when travelling.
I mean I could just find human companions, but lets face it, I would have a higher turn-over rate than Ash.

Alola-Vulpix- Vulpix is cute, Ninetails is beautiful. Ice is cool. Enough said.

Swablu- Cute little cloud-bird that turns into a dragon? Sign me up. Plus music. (If I hadn't picked Beedrill for my Mega it would be a great Anti-Dragon Dragon.)

Mimikyu- because it needs a hug. And I like both ghosts and fairies. (No selling that massively OP Z-Attack left a impression.)

The biggest problem would be not having a convenient lighter fire-mon, but some of the team can learn fire-moves, so I guess that's covered.
Or I have to carry a bit more equipment. Pokèmon aren't tools after all.

*Assuming I can get the hardware.

[Jayngfet]

Let's get real, nobody here is going to walk literal hundreds of miles on foot just to get a hyper specific animal to win a prize with no cash value that requires thousands of hours on top of that to get in order to beat ten year olds, the only demographic with that kind of time and poor judgement to pull it off.

Which means realistically we'd all have Rattattas, Pidgeys, Beedrills, and Tentacools. They'd evolve maybe once but never again because what takes literal days of work real time means months of sweat and literal blood.

[Friv]

What makes you think I'd get involved in any of that junk? That's what protagonists are for. I'm not gonna go try to punch Mewtwo, or take down Team Rocket either if I get dropped into the Pokemon universe.

I think the big difference is, in Pokemon if you don't want to punch Mewtwo you're fine, and your chances of running into Team Rocket are pretty slim.

In Dragon Ball Z, it is literally guaranteed that, simply by living on the planet Earth, you have been turned evil, killed at least twice, conquered by alien overlords on multiple occasions, and there's a real chance that you and everyone you know got killed by the latest monster to wander over to Earth and blow up a few cities. It is a rough world to be a bystander in.

[Forum Explorer]

Let's get real, nobody here is going to walk literal hundreds of miles on foot just to get a hyper specific animal to win a prize with no cash value that requires thousands of hours on top of that to get in order to beat ten year olds, the only demographic with that kind of time and poor judgement to pull it off.

Which means realistically we'd all have Rattattas, Pidgeys, Beedrills, and Tentacools. They'd evolve maybe once but never again because what takes literal days of work real time means months of sweat and literal blood.

Why not? People do crazier stuff to get animals they want in the real world. And those animals are both highly illegal, and don't have super-powers that make your life incredibly convenient.

Ditto with training animals, though the illegal part isn't true in that case. But animal trainers and breeders of all descriptions are incredibly plentiful for many different species.

[lunaticfringe]

Let's get real, nobody here is going to walk literal hundreds of miles on foot just to get a hyper specific animal to win a prize with no cash value that requires thousands of hours on top of that to get in order to beat ten year olds, the only demographic with that kind of time and poor judgement to pull it off.

Which means realistically we'd all have Rattattas, Pidgeys, Beedrills, and Tentacools. They'd evolve maybe once but never again because what takes literal days of work real time means months of sweat and literal blood.

Meh that's why you select Bulbasaur when you get there. The first 2 Gym Leaders can't handle Grass. Course then you miss out on Charizard who is a monster later, just kinda **** at the start. (I only played Red/Blue, never watched the show)

[Kitten Champion]

It should be pointed out that in the anime-verse has readily available transportation besides what a 10 year old would have access to - cars, trains, motorcycles, buses, airplanes, atvs, skyships, ships, submarines, and more. You don't actually have to walk unless you want to, though some Pokemon live in areas where it's best to go on foot.

It also doesn't distribute Pokemon based on game logic. There are Pokemon everywhere in this universe, not just tall grass, caves, rivers, oceans, and deserts. Dozens of species can be found in and around towns and cities, including Starter Pokemon you'd never encounter in-game. Though if you want to capture a team laden with different region-specific Pokemon that are known for being reclusive and hard to catch for whatever reason, it's gonna take a while and likely a fair bit of money.

In truth it would be far more efficient to simply find local Pokemon than assemble some idealized meta-team, just in terms of the time-sink and the fact that Pokemon's strength isn't determined the same way as the games, as I said.

Admittedly the economics of Pokemon isn't considered by anyone. You could reason-out how it could be done logically, but most of these scenarios would be antithetical to the fantasy the universe is attempting to create.

[Lord Raziere]

Technically, the whole "searching for thousands of miles" thing is moot: ditto can breed with anything after all, and you can send pokemon through the internet instantaneously as a trade. so its perfectly possible to set up a breeding farm for a pokemon people like, breed it with a ditto, make a bunch of eggs then simply post up offers to trade it for the pokemon you want from other regions. there is probably entire markets and businesses for breeding and trading pokemon across regions like that.

heck, Team Rocket probably get all their pokemon from their own illegal underground pokemon breeding farms made to pump out pokemon to help them commit crimes, stealing a pokemon just to sell it is only profitable in the short term, the smart money is stealing a pokemon, breeding it then selling its offspring.

Basically, you can turn pokemon into a renewable commodity that you can buy sell and trade globally easily, and then who cares about catching them yourself?

I think the big difference is, in Pokemon if you don't want to punch Mewtwo you're fine, and your chances of running into Team Rocket are pretty slim.

In Dragon Ball Z, it is literally guaranteed that, simply by living on the planet Earth, you have been turned evil, killed at least twice, conquered by alien overlords on multiple occasions, and there's a real chance that you and everyone you know got killed by the latest monster to wander over to Earth and blow up a few cities. It is a rough world to be a bystander in.

And thats just Earth.

Imagine the state of all the planets that don't have literal magical reset artifacts to make everything better.

[Anteros]

I think the big difference is, in Pokemon if you don't want to punch Mewtwo you're fine, and your chances of running into Team Rocket are pretty slim.

In Dragon Ball Z, it is literally guaranteed that, simply by living on the planet Earth, you have been turned evil, killed at least twice, conquered by alien overlords on multiple occasions, and there's a real chance that you and everyone you know got killed by the latest monster to wander over to Earth and blow up a few cities. It is a rough world to be a bystander in.

Eh, you won't remember most of it anyway. They tend to wipe people's memories when they do the mass resurrect thing with the Dragonballs. Speaking of which, it should be pretty trivial to gather them and make a few wishes yourself if you wait until later in the timeline when the main cast isn't using them any more.

Really, it's not like living in the Pokemon universe would be a breeze either. There's always some sort of doomsday plot doing on, random gangsters trying to steal your pokemon every day, or some unstoppable pokemon going on a rampage...and I'm not gonna go hug those things into submission like Ash would.

[Drascin]

Thats a big upside to Tyranitar, Larvitar is way easier to find than other Pseudo-Legendaries. I mean you still have a rather cranky behemoth, but we've seen that trained pokemon tend to have rather different dispositions to wilds.

I did think this through . Also the basic forms of most of the pokemon I mentioned are at most a short trek away from a population center (assuming no mysterious bloackages for Gameplay Reasons, like how you can't catch a larvitar early not because they don't spawn fifty meters away from the second town, but because you can't go into the route because there's a dude in the middle and pokemon protagonists can't jump fences), it's just a matter of catching a couple trains.

The exception is Trapinch, which mostly spawns in deserts and which therefore could be a legitimate pain in the ass to get.

And yes, of course. Like, an important thesis of pokemon is that pokemon are, fundamentally, good if treated well. If you treat them well with love and care, they will love you back. Beedrill, a three foot monster wasp with ****ing drills for appendages, will be more than happy to be your friend if you show some chops and maybe share a few cookies with it.

[Mikemical]

Eh, you won't remember most of it anyway. They tend to wipe people's memories when they do the mass resurrect thing with the Dragonballs. Speaking of which, it should be pretty trivial to gather them and make a few wishes yourself if you wait until later in the timeline when the main cast isn't using them any more.

Really, it's not like living in the Pokemon universe would be a breeze either. There's always some sort of doomsday plot doing on, random gangsters trying to steal your pokemon every day, or some unstoppable pokemon going on a rampage...and I'm not gonna go hug those things into submission like Ash would.

Y'all remember the anime episode with the giant Tentacruel?

Not to mention that some of the evil groups are beyond just "NYEH! I'M'ONNA STEAL YER POKIMON, KID!", Team Aqua and Team Magma are basically eco-terrorists. Also, there's still guns in the Pokémon world(if you remember the banned episode where it showed poachers pointing at Ash with a rifle), likely crime still occurs. Imagine how much more troublesome the real world would be if organizations like ISIS had access to Pokémon like Koffing, Voltorb, and Porygon.

[Merellis]

Mareep, Oddish, Shellder, Salandit, Snubble, Swablu.

Mainly because they either are my faves, or turn into my faves. :D

[Blackhawk748]

Let's get real, nobody here is going to walk literal hundreds of miles on foot just to get a hyper specific animal to win a prize with no cash value that requires thousands of hours on top of that to get in order to beat ten year olds, the only demographic with that kind of time and poor judgement to pull it off.

Which means realistically we'd all have Rattattas, Pidgeys, Beedrills, and Tentacools. They'd evolve maybe once but never again because what takes literal days of work real time means months of sweat and literal blood.

This sentiment is why my team is what it is. Those Pokemon are quite common. Plus as others have said, its really not that big of a deal and the Champ[ions clearly get something, cuz why would so many people do it otherwise?

[Traab]

I would get a bulbasaur from oak, then ask him, "Uh hey, where do you get the other starters from?" And that would be my first mission. Go out and get myself the full trio of the original starters. Once I get them I would probably work hard training them against each other so they can learn how to fight against type weaknesses. I want my fully evolved Charizard to go up against a blastoise and beat it into the ground, I want my Blastoise to go after a venusaur and show it the meaning of pain! We know from the anime that it IS possible for a powerful pokemon to defeat its type weakness in a straight up fight, I want to work with my pokemon until they all can do that. So when I throw out an onix, I dont want the other guy to sneer and throw down a staryu and be able to auto claim victory. I want my onix to know how to avoid all its attacks, tank any it cant dodge, and crush that purple starfish into paste.

[Blackhawk748]

I would get a bulbasaur from oak, then ask him, "Uh hey, where do you get the other starters from?" And that would be my first mission. Go out and get myself the full trio of the original starters. Once I get them I would probably work hard training them against each other so they can learn how to fight against type weaknesses. I want my fully evolved Charizard to go up against a blastoise and beat it into the ground, I want my Blastoise to go after a venusaur and show it the meaning of pain! We know from the anime that it IS possible for a powerful pokemon to defeat its type weakness in a straight up fight, I want to work with my pokemon until they all can do that. So when I throw out an onix, I dont want the other guy to sneer and throw down a staryu and be able to auto claim victory. I want my onix to know how to avoid all its attacks, tank any it cant dodge, and crush that purple starfish into paste.

Oak's starters are the offspring of his own Pokemon. But, the starters arent all that uncommon, i mean go hang out in a suitably large woods and you'll find a bulbasaur, go to the mountains and you'll find charmander, go to the ocean and find squitle.

[Red Fel]

I would go with Eeevees. Got a cute foxlike quality, and come in any verietee you wish.

I see what you did theeree.

That said, this is a pretty good point. Fact is, at least part of my team would be composed of "fun" or "cute" Pokemon, because yes, they are pets too. Admittedly, smarter than real-world-animal pets, to a large degree, but still, people legitimately keep them as pets, and I see no reason that I can't.

I would say that the whole "only six Pokemon per trainer" thing is completely arbitrary, because while it may be enforced in the games, I honestly don't recall it being enforced in the anime. (I'm prepared to be corrected, of course.) That said, it's a convenient way to keep from going overboard. So my team would probably consist of:

• "Cute" Pokemon. Basically a living stuffed animal. Probably an Eevee or similar. Possibly one of the many cats, because who would I be without a cat to stroke ominously?
• "Buddy" Pokemon. The Pikachu to my Ash. Probably a Squirtle, because if any Pokemon would geek out with me over anime, I feel like Squirtle would. (Two words: Gurren Lagann.)
• "Transport" Pokemon. I wouldn't go so far as to use the term "HM Slave," but the fact is that having your own way to get around is pretty great. And I wouldn't abuse them or anything, obviously, but it would be nice to be able to just throw one out there to take me wherever. In terms of non-Dragon, non-Legendary options, Swanna seems a nice choice - graceful, elegant, and can learn both Fly and Surf.
• "Overlord" Pokemon. This is my heavy weapon, the terrifying beast I bring out to remind people exactly who I am. Probably a Dragon or other legendary, because duh. A Tyrantrum, Salamence, or Charizard (with Mega X option) would be great. Tyranitar, also awesome, since it's basically Pokezilla.
• Two "Combat" Pokemon. Obviously, self-defense is necessary in a world with terrorist organizations and groups trying to trigger a monster-induced apocalypse, but sometimes calling a literal Godzilla out of a tiny ball is overkill. So having two battle-ready minions at hand would be great. I'd prefer that one be a Fighting type, like perhaps a Lucario, Sawk, or Medicham, so they could help me improve my own fighting. The other would therefore need to have ranged abilities, probably Fire, because when you need destruction that isn't a Dragon, Fire. Psychic might be nice, but in anime apparently they mostly only answer to people who are Psychic, and me-in-anime is probably not that. I might go with a Grass type, like Meganium, to pull double-duty as spot-healer and ranged combatant - that seems like a good spread, frankly.

So, hmm. Eevee, Squirtle, Swanna, Tyranitar, Sawk, Meganium. Seems like a pretty solid team, good spread, I think.

[Blackhawk748]

It is enforced. Ash caught a Krabby and it popped off back to the PC

[Kantaki]

It is enforced. Ash caught a Krabby and it popped off back to the PC

Oak's Lab. I was sent to Oak's Lab.
But yeah, if you're travelling you can only take six team mates with you.
If you're „home”- as in the location where your reserve buddys stay -on the other hand...

[Red Fel]

Oak's Lab. I was sent to Oak's Lab.
But yeah, if you're travelling you can only take six team mates with you.
If you're „home”- as in the location where your reserve buddys stay -on the other hand...

But let's be honest. Unless you either (a) are a gym leader, (b) live in a city where stuff actually happens and have a boring, possibly non-Pokemon-related job, or (c) are absurdly wealthy, you're not going to want to stay in one place. You're going to want to travel, see the world, and possibly earn your fortune by beating up other people's pets with your own pets and then stealing their wallets.

Except that money thing doesn't happen in the anime nearly as much. Hm.

Then again, the anime rarely seems to address the issue of finances, so in theory you could pretty much do anything you wanted with your life until and unless you chose to settle down someplace. And again, unless you have reason to, why not travel and become feared, infamous, the very Scourge of God?

Or maybe I'm just old-fashioned.

[Celestia]

First and foremost, I'd get myself a Gardevoir. She is my absolute all time favorite, so I gotta have her. Plus, she's telepathic, so she can be a good travel buddy. Thus, she'll stay out of her ball and follow on foot.

Next, I gotta get a ghost type. Yes, I know that most of them are "evil" or what have you, but I just love the type too much to not have one. This is a hard choice because I do love so many of the ghosts, but if I have to pick one, I'll probably go with Golurk. I feel like it would have a much calmer temperament and would be much easier to train and keep disciplined. Also, ground is a nice type to have, and I don't like too many of them.

Third, I need a flyer, something big and strong enough to carry me. I'd, of course, spend most of my time on foot, but having a 'mon than can fly me to safety can be nice in an emergency. Crobat seems like a good choice. Great typing, and since it evolves through friendship, I'm assuming it'll have a nice personality, too.

For my fourth spot, I'd like a water type that can take me across rivers and lakes. Can't let that damn nature stand in my way. I feel like choosing Lapras. It may be slow on land, but it's bulky enough that I'd probably train it in a defensive style, anyways. If Ash can get a Chikorita that knows Vine Whip, I'm sure I can teach Lapras Aqua Ring.

My fifth spot goes to Pangoro. Fighting is a nice type to have access to, and I love the fuzzy wuzzy panda bear. Yeah, Pangoro is a dark type and most are probably nasty, but I'll get the one that is a real sweetheart deep down and just acts aloof to look tough.

Finally, my last team member will be Ferrothorn. I gotta have a steel type on my team, and I feel like in an anime style battle, the whole impenetrable defense thing is a lot more viable. Ferrothorn will Also be the heavy hitter of the team, the secret weapon when even Gardevoir gets beaten back. Between Leech Seed, Curse, and Gyro Ball, Ferrothorn will literally crush the competition as my last resort.


Now, there were a lot of other choices. I have so many favorites that I could probably make twelve other teams with no repeats (except Gardevoir who would be on every single one), but this is the team I feel like using at this moment. In all reality, though, I'd probably be one of those trainers who has a team of, like thirty, and just rotates them around every so often.

[Traab]

You know, it occurs to me that you dont have to be a pokemon battle trainer. So maybe instead work with the whole symbiosis angle and find a field of labor you want to be a part of, and have your pokemon revolve around that. As an example, you could be a delivery man with a solid set of mon that can fly and swim. Like how ash used a lapras to travel between orange islands, or a flying type to go wherever you need to. We see construction workers paired off with machamps and machokes, the pokecenters have chanceys, etc etc etc. Being a deliveryman wouldnt be a bad life. Get paid to travel the world and transport packages between towns and such. No reason you cant do random battles every now and then as well. It would be a lot like being a ash style pokemon trainer in that you get to see the world. You make money from doing delivery jobs, so you can afford whatever you need, heck, you could probably turn it into a stay at home delivery system if you ever get tired of traveling. Get yourself a flock of butterfree, train them to go to various towns, then send them off with a package for a fee.

[Celestia]

You know, it occurs to me that you dont have to be a pokemon battle trainer. So maybe instead work with the whole symbiosis angle and find a field of labor you want to be a part of, and have your pokemon revolve around that. As an example, you could be a delivery man with a solid set of mon that can fly and swim. Like how ash used a lapras to travel between orange islands, or a flying type to go wherever you need to. We see construction workers paired off with machamps and machokes, the pokecenters have chanceys, etc etc etc. Being a deliveryman wouldnt be a bad life. Get paid to travel the world and transport packages between towns and such. No reason you cant do random battles every now and then as well. It would be a lot like being a ash style pokemon trainer in that you get to see the world. You make money from doing delivery jobs, so you can afford whatever you need, heck, you could probably turn it into a stay at home delivery system if you ever get tired of traveling. Get yourself a flock of butterfree, train them to go to various towns, then send them off with a package for a fee.

I can only imagine what horrors would be unleashed by disgruntled postal workers in a world where people carry dragons in their pockets.

[Traab]

I can only imagine what horrors would be unleashed by disgruntled postal workers in a world where people carry dragons in their pockets.

Is it wrong the first thing that popped into my head was, "The only way to stop a bad guy with a dragon in his pocket is with a good guy that has a dragon in his pocket."?

[Lord Raziere]

Is it wrong the first thing that popped into my head was, "The only way to stop a bad guy with a dragon in his pocket is with a good guy that has a dragon in his pocket."?

Or y'know, just use a Fairy, they're immune to Dragons so they're a safer bet. like, Dragons are a risky pokemon to use to fight Dragons, Dragons are a pokemon best to fight against EVERYONE ELSE.

[Celestia]

Is it wrong the first thing that popped into my head was, "The only way to stop a bad guy with a dragon in his pocket is with a good guy that has a dragon in his pocket."?

I lol'd for real on that one. I wish there was a like button.