MM: PokéTeams

I realize that these Monday Mons-Day posts are self-indulgent even for this extremely self-indulgent site, but its something I just like sharing with people and I like it when people share similar things with me.




So, lately I've been trying to condense Pokémon games, since I'm used to buying them all and yet I rarely have enough liked monsters to make up three full, different, balanced teams per generation. The games I own/have owned are as follows:

Red
Blue
Yellow
Gold (given away)
Silver (no longer saves due to bad battery)
Crystal (no longer saves due to bad battery and thrown out)
Ruby
Sapphire (bought used and never saved correctly and thus returned to store)
Emerald
FireRed
LeafGreen
Diamond
Pearl
Platinum
SoulSilver
Black

I'd like to eventually pare it down to two games per generation (not counting remakes). What does that mean to me? Well, I'll mention it as I go through my generational teams.

Here are my personal rules for Pokémon team-building:

1. I always have at least one starter (but no more than two) per team.
2. I try to have at least one legendary (but no more than two) per team. I usually make this the version mascot, but there are exceptions (even one projected teams with no legendaries). Psuedo-Legendaries don't count against this number.
3. This one is most important: Every team must be filled with Pokémon that have debuted in that particular generation. Conditionals:
       a. If a Pokémon has an evolution introduced in different generations, then the final evolution is allowed in the team of any relevant gen. I.E. Magmortar can be considered a Gen 1 (Magmar), a Gen 2 (Magby), or a Gen 4 (Magmortar), but not a 3 or a 5.
       b. In the case of Eevee, keep the specific Eeveelution to its specific Gen: Gen 1 = Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon; Gen 2 = Espeon, Umbreon; Gen 4 = Leafeon, Glaceon.
       c. As Mew was available in Gen 1 (albeit difficult to obtain) but not required until Gen 2, its allowed in both Gen teams.
4. No repeat team members (personal exception for Mewtwo and Mew being my favorites).

Without further ado, my personal Pokémon generations:

***
Generation 1

History
Bought Red and borrowed my grandmother's classic GameBoy to play it around 1999. After I got a GameBoy Color, I got Blue and eventually Yellow. When I got my Advance SP (around the time the DS was coming out), I picked up FireRed and LeafGreen.

The Future
I recently restarted Red and Blue for (hopefully) the final time, to model my teams after the balance I created in FireRed and LeafGreen. Red and Blue will be my primary Gen 1 games. I'll keep FireRed/LeafGreen to battle with Gen 3 games, and to level once my originals get to 100. Yellow I'll save for posterity, but I doubt I'll play it again.

RED/FIRERED
Trainer: Anakin (Red), Roxas (FireRed)
Rival: Vader (Red), Sora (FireRed)

Final Team:
"Axel" - Charizard (Fire/Flying)
"Palpatine - Raichu (Electric)
"Severus" - Arbok (Poison)
"Haeckel" - Mew (Psychic, Red)/"Sylar" - Mewtwo (Psychic, FireRed)
"Triton" - Vaporeon (Water)
"Grievous" - Marowak (Ground)

BLUE/LEAFGREEN
Trainer: Jekyll (Blue), Glenda (LeafGreen)
Rival: Hyde (Blue), Glen (LeafGreen)

Final Team:
"Leonardo" - Blastoise (Water)
"Sonic" - Sandslash (Ground)
"Toonces" (Blue)/"Fisk" (LeafGreen) - Persian (Normal)
"Mozilla" - Ninetales (Fire)
"Fell Beast" - Aerodactyl (Rock/Flying)
"Sylar" - Mewtwo (Psychic)

Gen 1 Honorable Mentions: Alakazam, Gyarados, Dodrio, Fearow.

***
Generation 2

History
Pre-Ordered Gold and Silver in 2000. Snatched up Crystal and SoulSilver shortly after their respective releases nearly ten years apart.

The Future
With my original games broken down (still chokes me up), my only hope for Gen 2 is their Gen IV remakes. However, that's fine since those remakes are the best game sin the series, in my opinion, for no other reason than the Walking Pokémon feature. I will get HeartGold as soon as I get some cash and treat it like a version of Crystal (i.e., try for Suicune rather than Ho-oh).

SOULSILVER
Trainer: Sylvan
Rival: Arthas

Final Team:
"Hook" - Feraligatr (Water)
"Gorignak" - Steelix (Steel/Ground)
"Gin" - Ampharos (Electric)
"Diabla" - Houndoom (Fire/Dark)
"Warhol" - Smeargle (Normal)
"Illidan" - Lugia (Psychic/Flying)

HEARTGOLD*
Trainer: ???
Rival: ???

Final Team (*Projected):
"Knuckles" - Typhlosion (Fire)
"Littlefoot" - Meganium (Grass)
"MEW" - Mew (Psychic)
"Deadpool" - Scizor (Bug/Steel)
"Barnabas" - Gliscor (Ground/Flying)
"Roadrunner" - Suicune (Water)

Gen 2 Honorable Mentions: Togetic, Crobat, Espeon, Umbreon

***
Generation 3

History
I had avolided Gen 3 for a while, simply because I saw Ruby and Sapphire as going back to the Red and Blue well. However, sometime after trying out FireRed and LeafGreen, I decided to give a used Emerald a try, and I loved it. I quickly got used versions of Ruby and Sapphire, though Sapphire was in poor condition and I had to return it.

The Future
While I considered restarting one or both of my remaining Gen 3 games, my lack of link cable and relative contentment with my teams prevent me. I'll simply level them up until 100 and catch what I can.

EMERALD
Trainer: Harry

Final Team:
"Goblin" - Sceptile (Grass)
"Shenzi" - Mightyena (Dark)
"Hedwig" - Guardivoir (Psychic)
"Raggedy" - Camerupt (Fire/Ground)
"Zoolander" - Milotic (Water)
"Odin" - Rayquaza (Dragon/Flying)

RUBY
Trainer: M.J.

Final Team:
"Hobgoblin" - Blaziken (Fire/Fighting)
"Gollum" - Sableye (Dark/Ghost)
"Cirrus" - Altaria (Dragon/Flying)
"Napoleon" - Grumpig (Psychic)
"Bruce" - Sharpedo (Water/Dark)
"Armadon" - Groudon (Ground)

Gen 3 Honorable Mentions: Armaldo, Mawhile, Tropius

***
Generation 4

History
I got Diamond before I was able to play it, since it was before the DS on my wish list. After that, it was a simple matter of picking up Pearl and Platinum.

The Future
While I got a lot of miles doing weird parties with Pearl, I think I'm going to retire it (I may just sell it, but I don't know). I recently restarted Platinum with a party change to reflect my new condensing.

DIAMOND
Trainer: Ripley
Rival: Veidt

Final Team:
"Cobblepot" - Empoleon (Water/Steel)
"Scar" - Luxray (Electric)
"Friar Tuck" - Rampardos (Rock)
"Poe" - Honchkrow (Dark/Flying)
"Dr. Zaius" - Infernape (Fire/Fighting)
"Xenomorph" - Dialga (Dragon/Steel)

PLATINUM
Trainer: Logan
Rival: Victor

Final Team:
"Rooter" - Torterra (Grass/Ground)
"Anubis" - Lucario (Fighting/Steel)
"Tails" - Floatzel (Water)
"Rorschach" - Garchomp (Dragon/Ground)
"Luna" - Cresselia (Psychic)
"Displacer" - Giratina (Ghost/Dragon)

Gen 4 Honorable Mentions: Bastiodon, Toxicroak, Skuntank

***
Generation 5

History
I bought Black as soon as it came out, but grew disappointed as my projected party didn't end up working out.

The Future
I intend to return Black and pick up White, and then eventually Black2. Now that I have a better sense of what teams I want, it's all coming together. Black2 will be the main team, with my faves of the generation, but I will probably pick up White first (it's also a matter of getting Victini and Celebi to White before I return Black). I'm still not sure what I'm going to name most of them.

BLACK2*
Trainer: Noir
Rival: ???

Final Team (*Projected):
"Malfoy" - Serperior (Grass)
??? - Hydreigon (Dark/Dragon)
"Batty Koda" - Swoobat (Psychic/Flying)
"Donatello" - Carracosta (Rock/Water)
"Murderfish" - Elektross (Electric)
"Doubtful" - Heatmor (Fire)

WHITE*
Trainer: Blanc

Final Team (*Projected):
??? - Samurott (Water)
"Ren Hoek" - Zoroark (Dark)
??? - Archeops (Rock/Flying)
??? - Haxxorus (Dragon)
"Visitor" - Beeheeyem (Psychic)
"Goliath" - Zekrom (Electric/Dragon)

Gen 5 Honorable Mentions: Leipard, Zebstrika, Scrafty, Mandibuzz