[DISCUSSION] Our Teams From Kanto! - with 0kamii

[0kamii]

Hey, everybody! It's 0kamii, and today for my Monday post I want to introduce a new series to you all!

The idea for this post, and subsequently the whole series, came from a recent trend I've been seeing on YouTube. I follow a number of PokéTubers, mostly the likes of TheJWittz, Truegreen7, HoodlumScrafty, and TheAuraGuardian. Lately, there's been an interesting trend going around and several of these users have posted videos called, "My Pokémon Team From Every Generation!". This got me thinking, there are probably a number of other users over on PokémonForever that remember some of their old teams fondly. So I figured, instead of throwing it all into one post, I'd break it down by generation so each and every team has their chance to shine! Today, as the pilot for this series, we're going way back to Gen 1, in Kanto!

Above is a ramshackle pic I made of the six mons that I used to go through Kanto. Keep in mind that I've never actually played Red and Blue, and the closest I've come to playing a true Gen 1 game were the remakes, FireRed and LeafGreen. However, I don't think that devalues my Kanto experience at all. I still adore this team, and there's actually a very interesting story that goes with it. Anyway, this team was from my most recent playthrough of FireRed in 2010 or 2011. I don't really remember which. What I do remember is that the six pokémon were:

 

 

I was an avid FanFiction writer then, still am. This was the team I thought would be the most cinematic for a story about a trainer traveling through Kanto for the first time. The trainer, named Blake Imakō, started with a Squirtle, which stayed a Wartortle for the majority of his journey. He then bought a Magikarp from the guy at the Mt. Moon PC, received an Eevee from a tournament he won in Celadon City, caught a childless Kangaskhan in the Safari Zone after saving her from poachers, won a Charmader egg in a raffle on Cinnabar Island, and then captured an Exeggcute while backtracking to battle Lt. Surge (yes, you can skip him in the Gen 1 remakes). Obviously, everyone evolved by the time of the Kanto Nationals, which served as the climax of the story against Blake's rival, Owen Criss. However, I wanted the team to feel real. And I decided I was going to actually play a Gen 1 game with these six pokémon.

To my delight, they preformed phenomenally! Every battle went by quite smoothly, thanks to the extensive coverage the team provided. Each gym was surmounted with flare, except Lt. Surge because I had two Water-Types, and the Elite Four crumbled like cornbread. I also documented actual events from my playthrough that I intended to use in the story. Unfortunately, I never got around to writing it, but I still think that it would've been as cinematic as I envisioned. But anyways, I'll never remember the first team I used in my original playthrough of LeafGreen back in 2004, but I still remember this team just as, if not more, fondly!

My MVP was probably Kangaskhan. There were times when her neutral STAB just obliterated everything, and Mega Punch has never been so fun to use as it was then. I loved Kangaskhan so much after that (I'd never used one before), and I was thrilled to see her get used so much in VGC back in 2015.

I'd love to hear from all of you on this matter! Please, tell me what team you remember from your playthrough of Kanto, be it your first or your best! And be sure to tell me what you think of this new series! Yay, or nay? As usual, I'll be asking some fellow users in the thread below for their opinions.

Thanks so much for reading everyone, and I'll see you on Wednesday with the long awaited, "How Accurate is Alolan Culture to Hawaiian?" post. I know there were quite a few people that wanted to see it. I look forward to all the weird and wondrous discussions we're bound to have! Battle onwards, friends!

- 0kamii