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A while back, @Enzo made a thread about making changes to Ash's teams, which inspired me to make an offshoot regarding the teams of his regional companions. The topic is the same: if you could, would you make any changes to the companions' teams?
Personally, these are the changes I would make:
To start off, I wouldn’t repeat species in between companions because I feel it’s better for teams to be as varied as possible and because when a companion catches a Pokémon Ash has owned in the past, they inevitably get compared to their predecessors unfavorably, most notably the starters. The sole exceptions to this rule will be Pokémon with branched evolutions and regional variants since the former will end up as completely different Pokémon anyways and the latter I feel are distinct enough to stand out from each other due to having different designs and typings. And now with these parameters set, let’s get to the teams proper…
Misty
May
So, what about you guys? What changes would you make to the companions' teams?
Personally, these are the changes I would make:
To start off, I wouldn’t repeat species in between companions because I feel it’s better for teams to be as varied as possible and because when a companion catches a Pokémon Ash has owned in the past, they inevitably get compared to their predecessors unfavorably, most notably the starters. The sole exceptions to this rule will be Pokémon with branched evolutions and regional variants since the former will end up as completely different Pokémon anyways and the latter I feel are distinct enough to stand out from each other due to having different designs and typings. And now with these parameters set, let’s get to the teams proper…
Misty
- Staryu-->Starmie (I seriously never got why she had both of these, so I’m compositing them into a single character)
- Psyduck (Unlike in canon, Misty would actually make real efforts to train him, resulting in Psyduck eventually becoming a competent battler along the lines of what we saw in the SUMO episode where Misty and Brock returned, except… you know… much earlier)
- Togepi-->Togetic (Like with Psyduck, Misty would train Togepi so they learn actual moves besides Metronome, culminating in an evolution during early Johto. Also, unlike in canon, Misty would not release them, and they’d eventually become a Togekiss for Misty’s future comebacks)
- Poliwag-->Poliwhirl-->Politoed
- Corsola
- Magikarp-->Gyarados (instead of relegating it to a side special, Misty would bond with this guy in the series proper)
May
- Torchic-->Combusken-->Blaziken
- Wurmple-->Silcoon-->Beautifly
- Skitty
- Swablu-->Altaria (May would get to keep and train the injured Swablu she befriended in that one episode and eventually evolve it)
- Mudkip-->Marshtomp (…May would catch this instead. Would help give this stater line more proper screentime, and I honestly feel this fits her more than Ash)
- Egg-->Eevee (obtained earlier due to Squirtle’s absence. Just like in canon, Eevee would evolve into Glaceon for May’s return in Sinnoh)
- Ralts (as a sort of prelude to Bonnie’s Dedenne, May would catch this for Max and become his companion. Would be a big help on the character development department too, since it would be a neat opportunity for Max to learn that raising a Pokémon to become strong is not as easy as it looks, and this would hopefully mellow him out so he’s less arrogant and bratty towards Ash and May)
- Piplup
- Buneary-->Lopunny (I get that they didn’t let her evolve because of her crush on Pikachu, but I personally thought it was weird, since Buneary evolves via happiness and she and Dawn share a close enough bond, so why not? Besides, Lopunny being bigger imo wouldn't be that much of an impediment to a ship with Pikachu. If anything the female being the larger one is kinda neat)
- Pachirisu
- Swinub-->Piloswine-->Mammoswine
- Egg-->Growlithe (since I don’t want Dawn to have a Cyndaquil, this would be her Fire-type instead. I don’t know why, but for some reason Growlithe feels like it fits Dawn, and hey, it IS obtainable in HeartGold, so…)
- Girafarig (Originally I was okay with letting Dawn keep Togekiss, since I was going to keep Misty’s release of Togetic at first until I changed my mind at the last second, so I had to change it. Honestly, Girafarig is only here not just because of HGSS promotion, but because it’s a Pokémon I personally like a lot and would like to see it on the main cast, and I felt Dawn was the most apt person to catch it )
- Axew-->Fraxure-->Haxorus (evolving him fully because that was his and Iris’s goal. Axew would get more battles and realistic development rather than being constantly handed OP moves that he honestly didn’t earn)
- Excadrill
- Deino-->Zweilous (Iris should have really caught an actual Dragon-type early on rather than getting an eleventh hour Dragonite. It could even help with Axew’s growth, having a sort of Torchic/Beautifly situation where Iris using Deino more due to being more reliable gets Axew to finally put on his big boy pants and put some actual effort into improving himself)
- Archen-->Archeops (this thing can learn plenty of Dragon-type attacks and Iris has one in the games, so why not?)
- Gible (since Ash wouldn’t have one in my version of the anime, it’s safe to let Iris keep this)
- Pansage
- Dwebble-->Crustle
- Emolga (since Iris already had five Pokémon, I decided to give Emolga to Cilan, and she’d take Stunfisk’s place altogether. Emolga was quite gluttonous, so I think she’d like having a trainer who is a great cook and has food puns as his whole shtick)
- Fennekin-->Braixen
- Pancham
- Eevee-->Sylveon
- Egg-->Noibat-->Noivern (she’d get this instead of Ash because he’d get a Trevenant as his sixth Pokémon in my version and there’s really no harm in making Serena’s team a little bigger. I’d even add a subplot of Sylveon becoming a big sister figure to him so that she doesn’t just fade into the background after evolving. Ash’s Hawlucha would still be the actual mentor figure, though)
So, what about you guys? What changes would you make to the companions' teams?
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