Forced to keep the Starter on the team at all times...?

[Greninjaman]

I was looking at a tv tropes page called "Can't drop the Hero". What it means is that there is a character that must always be there. Can't be removed from the party at all. Pokemon of course, does not do this. The stater is not required to be there.

So, my question is this: What if--for Gen 9--the Starter cannot be deposited into the PC? What would the fan reaction be? I can imagine there being an outcry.
What do you guys think?

 

[Daren]

There would be significant backlash. It would ruin a bunch of challenge types and would feel arbitrary unless they make your starter important to the story in some way.
The closest I could see is something similar to Let's Go having your partner with you even when they aren't in your party (at least I think Let's Go did that).

 

[Greninjaman]

There would be significant backlash. It would ruin a bunch of challenge types and would feel arbitrary unless they make your starter important to the story in some way.
The closest I could see is something similar to Let's Go having your partner with you even when they aren't in your party (at least I think Let's Go did that).

Yeah. That's what I figured. Let's Go did have the Starters appear on the character model of the player character.
I think the only way to work around that would be to give one Pokemon of each type as a starter...

 

[Emmy]

"Can't Drop the Hero" as a trope is anathema to the very nature of Pokémon methinks. I really can't see the fans taking a mainline game with this trope lying down.

Maybe a spin-off game that had a Digimon-esque story with a focus on a singular partner Pokémon could work though.

 

[Greninjaman]

"Can't Drop the Hero" as a trope is anathema to the very nature of Pokémon methinks. I really can't see the fans taking a mainline game with this trope lying down.

Maybe a spin-off game that had a Digimon-esque story with a focus on a singular partner Pokémon could work though.

Well, the Mystery Dungeon games did that, but then again, the team size were small, with two of those slots taken by the player and partner.

 

[Felly]

On one hand, I wouldn't be bothered too much by it, but on the other hand, I'd find it annoying. I usually use my starter through the main game anyways, but once I'm done with that, I prefer to box them and work with other Pokemon to get the dex or just experiment with other Pokemon in general.

 

[Greninjaman]

Yeah. Some will like it, some will hate it, and some will be on the fence about it.

 

[Phosphene]

I would absolutely hate it. It would worsen team building (and thus replayability) in my opinion and make everyone’s teams that much more cookie cutter.

 

[PinkIceFox]

I'm the kind of person who almost never boxes their starter, and even I would hate this idea.

 

[Chidamari Sketch]

Bleh, just bleh. Getting forced into using a Pokemon to play the game, and potentially a Pokemon that I won't even like? Hell no.

Well, the Mystery Dungeon games did that, but then again, the team size were small, with two of those slots taken by the player and partner.

Well.... you're not wrong regarding team size, but honestly, what REALLY necessitates that trope in the MD games in the first place is that those unremovable Pokemon are both you and your equally ancillary partner. The partner in particular is necessary since the protagonist is basically a vanilla, immersible character while the partner serves as a deuteragonist to both get you emotionally invested in the story and to act as a sort of anchor to keep you in track of progressing the game.

 

[prog rocker]

I wouldn't like it either, and this comes from someone that does mostly solo runs.

 

[colours]

yeah i've boxed my starter for a long time, now :x to be fair though, i've used it for a long time, too. i just prefer to give other pokemon the spotlight other than my own starter.

as for the fan backlash... it'd be like any other groaning every generation when Game Freak does something the fanbase isn't a fan of. not sure if it'd be better or worse, though.

 

[Poke Dragon]

I would 100% hate this idea because you know, many people's preferred partner Pokemon aren't starters in the first place and most of the popular Pokemon aren't starters either.

 

[Aulos]

This comes down to the same problem with Exp Share All being forced, it takes options away from players, forcing one way of play, which is just plain bad.

Also, if they made the games like Sword/Shield where you can't even turn off Exp Share All, then it'd be really bad, because you'd have a Pokemon that you couldn't box to prevent from overleveling. (It happened for me regardless, they need to let us turn it off, darn it!) So combined with Exp Share All this would really be forcing us to play in one way.

 

[Nicolas721]

If they didn't do this in LGPE they aren't doing it with any main series game, so there's zero reason to be afraid. And even if they changed their minds, you still have 5 Pokemon and 20 moves, that should give you enough variety to have an opportunity against most trainers.

 

[SlashKub]

I hate the idea, personally. I love my monotypes, and other assorted things of the like, and starters can really get stale after awhile. I hardly ever use them anymore past the initial playthrough.

 

[MoonlightUmbreon]

I don’t like the idea as it takes choice away from the player just as the forced always on exp share in SW/SH and this is coming from someone who very rarely and most of the time never boxes their starter.

 

[Fan of Jarrus]

The Starter is my ace.

 

[Leaf_Ranger]

I wouldn't like it but at the same time, hasn't GF been doing something like it with the starters at every game, villanous teams, Gyms and a Pkm Professor? The obligation to keep the starter would just be seen as another crazy and idiot idea from GF but at their current state, seens as something not so unexpected.

 

[Puddle]

The first Pokemon Ranger game gives you a partner Pokemon that can't be changed - Plusle or Minun depending on your gender. Guardian Signs also restricts you to having Ukulele Pichu as your partner for most of the game, I believe, but in Shadows of Almia there's a choice of 17 partners you can switch between.