Using Your Favorite Pokémon

[@chrispambo1539]

"You don't have to like the strongests nor do those you like have to be the strongests. There are always options that can lead you to victory as long as you put in enough effort." That's how I interpret this quote.

[@mysticpumpkin8520]

Imo I do agree. Seems like the correct way to look at it And personally, even if your favorite isnt competitively viable, there is still the story, contests, ribbon collecting, a lot of places where your fave can and will shine. Competitive is just one way, not the only way. Just dont close yourself to competitive either, maybe you will find a pokemon to call a favorite there too

[@TheMasterBlaze]

Favorite is very broad. You can have a favorite anything that runs deeper than the binary "good or bad". People even have a favorite choice to start with in Rock-Paper-Scissors for crying out loud.

[@garg4531]

That’s how it sounds to me “Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites” *That’s* what we were supposed to take from this

[@TheMasterBlaze]

@@garg4531 Imagine if Karen said "Strong Pokemon, Weak Pokemon. That is the ignorant perception of Trainers who cannot Focus their efforts. Truely Skilled Trainers work hard and win with their own style."

[@garg4531]

@@TheMasterBlaze Another great way of putting it

[@Hugelag]

I don't play competitively. I just pick the pokemon I like and if they happen to be good competitively, that's a bonus.

[@sandy_nes31]

True buddy

[@lawznwdsc]

Same

[@brandonhiatt2546]

True that

[@scarlettslone3636]

I've never played against anyone other then my friend and he and I either use strong pokemon or are favorite As someone who doesn't really play against people I just enjoy pokemon for what is it I'm probably the only pokemon player that's chilled with any changes that happen

[@easilyeasy]

My buggest annoyance when people ask "why don't you just use *insert pokemom that's better* like yeah sure, at that point why arent we all just using the objectively best mons all the time

[@Taijirai]

What I liked about the Pokemon anime, especially the earlier seasons, is that they would often dedicate an episode to meeting a specific Pokemon, and Ash and the gang would learn about it and get to appreciate it more. The first episode I ever saw was Bulbasaur's Secret Garden, when we saw how Bulbasaur would evolve and why Ash's didnt want to. While the games are fun, the mechanics can overshadow the personal side. Sometimes, it's not about catching them all. I just want my Houndoom ❤

[@roastymarsh6284]

I tried this with Servantes, My Snivy in Indigo. It was really hard even he can learn all the moveset of his competitive form. I evolved him after E4, before facing Keiran.

[@roastymarsh6284]

Contrary leaf storm. It would be easy in base game/Teal. Indigo was it was hardest

[@castform7]

Yeah, if there's one thing I love about the anime, it's how personal the Pokemon can feel since they get to feel more like living breathing creatures. Yes I know the reason some Pokemon don't evolve is purely marketing but I like that in this medium, evolution is treated as a spontaneous thing that a lot of the time isn't strived for but just happens or how weaker Pokemon can reasonably have the same footing. It's why I started playing Pokemon games with at least one Pokemon that was naturally just weaker stat wise or looked smaller than others. I just beat Pokemon Y and I had a Chespin on my team. I really appreciate the anime for influencing me this way.

[@Enja_Near]

With megas coming back in legends Z-A there's hope for your doggo :)

[@giasca]

That's why I saw Ash as some kind of role model as a kid (to clarify, the first Pokemon season I watched was Battle Dimension, so he wasn't that much of a jerk like in the OG) and I'm more of a casual player

[@NintendoSegaGuys]

For a franchise focused on training a team of monsters for battle competition is the least important part of the games for me, I just want to explore the regions and meet characters.

[@lawznwdsc]

That's how it is for me too, i just want to explore the region meet new pokemon and characters and learn about the lore.

[@mysticpumpkin8520]

Well, thats part of the charm of it. Thats why the game takes place in a new place every time

[@garg4531]

Agreed. I never cared about competitive, I just enjoy building different teams on different playthroughs and having different methods for doing so, exploring the region and coming up with my own stories for my character

[@alolanchampion]

I love competitive pokemon, but it's rly annoying seeing other competitive players rip Karen apart because of her dialogue. Like, chill man, she's cooking, calm down.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Yeah even as someone that as a teen would spend summers hopping on showdown first thing in the morning, i only set up teams with my actual favorites. If they were good or not, i have no clue, i just know that i would win some and lose some, and it was fun.

[@delphoxhoopa7289]

Honestly, some of my favorite Pokemon ever are ones that are considered weak. Growing up, I liked Phione, but I always heard how weak it was compared to Manaphy. So during my original playthrough of Omega Ruby, I hatched one and got all the Contest Ribbons on it and eventually named it Jewel. I eventually got to use a Manaphy through the special quest in Legends Arceus, and I admit it was much more powerful. Not to mention I loved the relationship it had with May in its movie. Regardless, I still deeply cherish Jewel and I intend to transfer it to every game it's available in to collect more Ribbons together. Not every Pokemon has to be strong to be worthy of love.💎 ❤

[@300kyuubi]

Facts

[@tryorse8340]

If the overpowered pokemon are your favorite, then the quote definitely works😂

[@cerobathetalllady]

Karen's quote inspired me to finish Pokemon Black using only Liepard because it's my favorite Pokemon. And Liepard is suprising good, the only place he struggled is with Marshal and Burgh.

[@dontaco5317]

You're not even wrong, have you ever seen the purloin glitch in 5 gen competitive??? Crazy stuff

[@Aquageo555]

Speaking as a non competitive player. Use your favorites in a playthrough, but understand that the pokemon you might use in a playthrough may not transfer into competitive, it just depends.

[@CaptainObliviousV]

I’ve seen a good bit of talk about this quote recently, and an interpretation I’ve seen that I really like is *“It doesn’t matter what Pokémon you use, so long as you’re skilled and caring enough to bring out their full potential.”* A sentiment that validates both sides of the argument.

[@Dragmiredraws]

I actually had an interesting experience with this phrase, A million years ago, I made a comment on an app that no longer exists, but it basically said, “I love Espeon, but I must use Slowbro because it’s better competitively.” Someone responded with this sentiment, and I thought it was BS because you can like strong mons. This year, I was in an online doubles battle with both a Slowbro and Espeon on my side, and when my opponent sent out their last Pokemon, it was my Espeon that finished them off, and it was….it really felt like that post came full circle

[@TheHopelessThrumbo]

At least Smogon lets people build teams that allow weaker species to truly shine, due to their tiering. Both of my favourites are low-tiered (Absol and Decidueye), but you can make them work there just fine.

[@mysticpumpkin8520]

Well, VGC isnt exactly different on that regard, and I would argue its even better, since Smogon has the issue that if you want to use something, it has to be in a very specific way As long as you know what you are doing and suplement it with a good strategy (and your fave isnt say magikarp), in VGC you are likely to do will since there is a greater variety of strategies and also you can support more directly

[@liviquail]

Yeah I have a sun team on Showdown with a Sawsbuck and that boy puts in work. Outspeeds everything with Chlorophyll and not much can take a Choice Banded Double-Edge.

[@Chaoticus9]

I wish you could do more than just battling. I know it's the whole franchise's identity, but having different gameplay style could help less battle focused Pokémon to shine. Contests sadly didn't stick for long and the Pokeathlon was only in HGSS but giving Pokémon more purposes would help immensely.

[@GameFreakSucks]

Exactly. If they’re not going to bother bugging weaker pokemon then they should at least add more post game content to use said pokemon

[@PhonyLyzard]

There's always spinoffs for that.

[@roshanyuvaraj6771]

It's fun to remember that there are more tiers than just OU

[@njivwathomassilavwe2056]

It certainly helps that my favorite Pokemon is pretty strong (at least when it finally gets Contrary)

[@cerobathetalllady]

Serperior or Lurantis?

[@bomoose]

@@cerobathetalllady profile picture

[@SabeNo-rh7mb]

*What are your favorites?* Me: "Naganadel, Roaring Moon, Iron Hands--" Karen: "Did you even hear a word I just said?" Me: "What? Not my fault my favorites have the raw strength of legendaries." 😁😁😁

[@gumbitoicic9977]

​@SabeNo-rh7mb yeah i feel like a lot of people who say those things ignore the possibility that people like the strong pkmn and have fun using them on a team

[@SabeNo-rh7mb]

@@gumbitoicic9977 In fairness, Naganadel is one of my favorites. I just like its design especially when shiny where it has a yellow-jacket color scheme. Suicune is another of my favorites, but he's hardly what the meta considers 'strong'.

[@SabeNo-rh7mb]

Karen: "Use only your favorites." Me: "Okay.... *Go Get Her, LUGIA!"*

[@excalibur493]

Me after purifying Lugia

[@MyNaymIsSnek1526]

Sssending a Psssychic type againssst Dark-typesss? Wow, you have true faith in your favourite!

[@SabeNo-rh7mb]

@@MyNaymIsSnek1526 Of course! Don't we all over-level the hell out of our favorites and then use them to beat the tar out everything they're weak to? 😁😁 *But yeah, you got me there.* 🤣🤣 The joke and point I was trying to make was, she says to use our favorites, but what if high-tier Legendaries are some of our favorites? Her argument did not factor that in. But.... you're still not wrong in your first guess. If I ever am in the mood to use Lugia (which is often) and my opponent is a dark-type,..... *And there is a SIZABLE gap between their levels, well,......* You do the math. 😈👺👹

[@marcoasturias8520]

​@@MyNaymIsSnek1526 Umbreon is weak and Hoondoom is fire. Lugia can handle them

[@MyNaymIsSnek1526]

@@marcoasturias8520 “Houndoom isss fire” The gamefreak employee who made Lugia Psssychic/Flying dessspite it having a huge connection to water: (._. ) ( ._.)

[@pangoldie]

One of my favorite pokémon is Urshifu lol, it's really fun to see the absolute menace he is on the competitive side, but I don't play competitive so for me he's just my favorite bud

[@matthewroberts198]

Same here. I find its partly cause I like Bears (my current favorite Pokemon is Ursaluna). Also Urshifu looks like a great workout partner if I were in the anime😊

[@NoxinPistol]

The Pachirisu & Articuno argument doesn't hold up when you realize that those Pokemon were chosen for their specific niche that coincidentally worked in their favor during their respective meta. People keep forgetting how that one VGC player chose Pachirisu not because it's his favorite monster, but it's because he told in an interview that it had the move-pool and typing that he needed against a specific team. Articuno on the other hand won a tournament because the meta didn't favor other weather setters at the time, as well as the buff that changed Hail into Snow. (In fact, a mirror match happened with another player that also used an Articuno) There's no such thing as a "non-meta Pokemon used by a skilled player" because I can assure you that someone out there could make Spidops win a tournament, but it just needs the right time to appear for something like that to happen. It's the same reason why you don't see Ditto and Smeargle appear outside of the restricted format, but it's hard to argue on whether or not they're "non-meta" Pokemon. And you know what's the funniest part? I don't even follow the VGC and I know all of this. I just really hate it when people keep bringing up this discourse when it comes to competitive Pokemon. You might as well argue if Tic-Tac-Toe is a competitive game.

[@Brianycus]

I play these games with some level of competitive play, but it's really from an RPG mindset. Like, who CARES about stats when the whole point of playing Pokemon was always about building a team to go on a journey with. That's what I remember and the reason I love the games so much.

[@robthoelz]

finally, a decent take on this quote

[@WowLouieNiceJob]

Keeping a delibird in my party in all Pokemon mediums is the equivalent of breaking my own legs before a race, but I’m never gonna stop

[@yourbootyholeisyourbeautyhole]

i support you 💯

[@MagillanicaLouM]

The thing with the argument around the quote is i doubt whoever wrote it in 1998 had the future meta game (or even the metagame at the time, if there was one to begin with) in mind. So it's weird seeing folks fuss over. It's clearly just meant to apply in universe.

[@grim855]

I refuse to use a good competitive pokemon if I don’t like them

[@GameFreakSucks]

Same here, I hate dracovish with a burning passion and I will never use an ugly pokemon that’s in constant pain, it’s also an absolute eyesore

[@PhoenixDavis-m4g]

Agreed

[@iloveiceberglettuce]

No one forcing you,if your favorite for example is feraligatr,just play NU

[@mysticpumpkin8520]

I mean.....is ok really. You may be limiting yourself somewhat, but as long as you know what you are doing you will be fine😂 Be VGC or Smogon, thats how it is. We have like 1008 mons for a reason

[@sarahgomez1976]

Same, I can’t stand using competitive pkmn either. There not bad, it’s just something I’m not used to create in a team; I rather make my own team by scratch. Just an honest opinion.

[@smackjack78]

Using your favorites is my specialty. I have a story in regard to that. By the end of Gen 7, I remember I used to run a Sun Team in Doubles of my 6 favorite Pokémon at the time, which were Serperior, Hydreigon, Goodra, Ninetales, Leafeon, and Mega Lopunny. You can already see the issue with the repeated types twice in dragon and pure grass. It was a dumb idea, but i just did it to have fun and wanted to use pokemon that represented me at the time. To my surprise, the team had synergy given the loads of literal firepower and performed pretty well. As a result, it’s shaped me into the player I am today: choosing Pokemon I really love over the objectively better choices

[@WhiteRaven696]

Karen’s right in terms of playthroughs. The Gentleman is right in terms of competitive. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@tonberry2670]

Competitive pokemon is an entirely different game than normal Pokemon. Karen's quote referred to in-game fights and themes. It wasn't written with competitive pokemon in mind.

[@RatedX29]

the Quote is part of Silvers story

[@marywallace3620]

honestly what people forget is thart not every Pokemon fan or player are gonna be grinding out the perfect competitive pokemon with perfect ivs for battling or r that perfect shiny pokemon with perfect ivs. Most of us just want to have fun doing fun battles with our favorite team, regardless of if we win or not. This is kinda why i stopped enjoying watching people do competitive battles and nuzlocking because most of the teams contain mostly the same damn pokemon. You know how many Gyarados's and Lapras's and Alakazams I see in a gen 1 nuzlocke? A shit ton.

[@jembozaba4864]

I like the quote. It's how I play Pokemon, even competitively. I choose my favourite Pokemon, then build a team around it

[@nebuchudnessar]

I imagine that using your favourite Pokémon is the mentality of most type specialist so it kinda explains why Karen uses dark types or any other person using any other type of

[@ChrisVillagomez]

One of the craziest things someone can do is gatekeep what Pokemon other people like to use. Sort of the opposite to it but very similar, it's why I hate seeing the comments of, "Why use a Legendary/Mythical in the story? It's too easy." Because I like some of the Legendaries and if I went through the struggle of catching the main Legendary or ones like Cobalion, Darkrai, and Suicune, I'm gonna use them at least for a bit because they're fun. It's rare but sometimes I'll still switch the Legendaries out if I have an idea for a replacement

[@chaoschalice]

I mean you get attached to mons if you use them competitively(repeatedly), i mean i used to hate crygonal but now its one of my fave because how fun it is to use in ou/uu single format

[@Unf_nny]

I still use my favourites especially in casual playthroughs but paying attention to vgc and other competitive formats has made me appreciate a lot of different Pokemon that I wouldn't have normally liked. When I teambuild i try to go for a mix of niche mons I like along with some more meta stuff to help them along

[@castform7]

2:11 - 2:25 That's a very good point. While I have my issues with the side of people who think competitive is just "use strong Pokemon" I also don't like the side that *just* looks at the raw numbers for everything. Sometimes there's just a Pokemon that's meant to expand the world or be there to be "another Pokemon". I'm fine with Chimecho sucking because they're just a cool guy. It's especially a problem in the anime because literally anything they do that deviates from the games falls under scrutiny. "How is this Pokemon beating this Pokemon? Why is this Pokemon using a Special Attack? It's a physical attacker? What is that, a strategy that's exclusively in the anime because that's how adaptations work, taking the basic ideas and structure of something and changing it to suit the different medium of entertainment? YoU Can'T dO ThAT In THe GamES!"

[@Connowot387]

HGSS changes it to “Truly skilled trainers should try to win with the Pokémon they love most.” Iirc, the OG phrase isn’t meant for us, but for Silver (our rival). It’s to teach him to treat his Pokémon better with love and trust. Also, the Goomy line is my favorite. The only time I have ever seen Ash’s Goodra lose was only two times. One each against Alain (screw Guillotine) and Lysandre. Ash was the inspiration for my love for the Goodra family. For those who have Durant as their favorite, yes you can win with it. Entrainment Truant in Battle Facilities and as a great Dynamax Attacker in early Gen 8 VGC.

[@matts5747]

(Apologies if the following seems more like a ramble) I feel like among some of my teams I tend to have 1 Pokémon I did not expect to have on my team but ended up going for anyways I feel the biggest example is in Legends where I had both Drifblim and Tangrowth on my team and Drifblim family was my least favorite ghost type but now, after getting a chance to use it, while not my favorite definetly rose up. Other examples were Turtonator in Sun, Hitmomlee in Let's Go, and while Tandemaus was on my planned team for the Teal Mask, the little mouse family ended up surprising me with how strong they could be, same thing with Clefable in Let's Go Eevee I also remember in Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX, going for Pokémon I don't remember using from Gens 1-3 or in the case of the main duo, Totodile and Chikorita ones I didn't think I'd get to use for awhile. This only came about after expanding my horizons and Mystery Dungeon set a way how I'd make teams for spin offs. However in regards to the competitive scene, I still think it's important to look at. It's not only just another way to enjoy the series, but I think looking at it can also show ways the series can be improved. I'm not just thinking about how Pokémon can buffed and nerfed, but also how mechanics go together. While I am myself not a competitive player, one thing I've noticed is the change from Hail to Snowstorm helped the Ice Type, which makes me wonder if other conditions could help other weaker types like Bug. That being said, I understand the perspective of "If my favorite sucks, I really can't use it in competitive". It's part of the reason I'm not reay into competitive, however to say that means putting all competitive players into a stereotype, I'm gonna have to put my foot down. Same putting all more casual players in one. The world isn't black and white, and looking at someone else's perspective helps. While I don't have favorites (I remember often using that Favorite Pokémon of every type website) and often times my favorites can switch around, I can give my teams across the years(Well to the best of my ability with Heartgold and Black, as it's been that long) ***(Warning this gets long)*** I remember Heartgold eventually became Ho-oh Lugia E-Bird the Zapdos I-Bird the Articuno F-Bird the Moltres Snorlax -------------------------------------------- Black Samurott Unfezant Simisear Reshiram (I think the rest was just whatever I wanted at the time) ---------------------------------------------------- X Greninja Talonflame Sylveon Mega Blastoise Chesnaught(I somehow got an online trade for a Japanese Chespin) Xerneas Delphox(The Fennekin you get from Shaunna) ------------------------------------------------- Alpha Sapphire Mega Swampert Windman the Swellow Colo the Ludicolo Mega Gallade Sloth the Slaking Pyrron the Torkal ----‐------------------------- Sun Primarina Toucannon Vikavolt Lycanroc(Midday) Lurantis Turtinator ----------------------------------- Shield(I played this before Let's Go Eevee as I didn't have a switch during its release) Inteleon(Yes I had a trend of not nicknaming my starter, but in the case of Inteleon, I didn't want to go for the obvious) Corvus the Corviknight Sbarking the Boltund Zig N Zag the Obstagoon Ginny the Hatterene Morro the Dragapult I don't remember the exact members of DLC as I think I was going for part new part old but I do remember having Isle of Armor Venasuar Luxray Shuīshishishifu the Urshifu(I need to double check the emphasizing but I remember going for Water Arts Master) Crown Tundra Hugger the Dragonite(Because anime) ----------------------------------------------- Rescue Team DX Hyacinth the Feraligatr Hibi the Meganium(Looking back at what I was going for, I should have done Ado) Talos the Magnezone Delphi the Absol Galatea the Claydol Homer the Smeargle Alakazam(I remember pretending this was the ACT Alakazam) Echo the Flygon Pullox the Hitmontop Scorpio the Gliscor Heracles/Hercules the Heracross(Can't remember which one) Typhlosion(I had a nickname, I just can't remember what) Atlas the Donphan Thanatos the Dusknior Castor the Medicham Tantalus the Marowak Typhon the Yanmega Orpheus the Exploud Lycaon the Mightyena Canis the Arcanine Aegis the Gardevior ------------------------------------------- Let's Go Eevee(This was the first time I really experimented with multiple team members in a mainline game) Sol the Eevee Rai the Raichu Kaguya the Clefairy Forrest the Venasaur Wave the Blastoise Vulcan the Charizard Hamonlee the Hitmonlee Alolan Ninetails Alolan Marowak Dodrio ‐-‐-------------------------- Shining Pearl Amphirite the Empleon Morgan lefay the Mismagius Rataskor the Pachirisu Michael the Togekiss Asura the Ambipom Drac the Drapion Nephyths the Garchomp (Specifical mentions) Dagda the Roselia Xingtian the Shieldon Tiamant the Gastrodon Bishamonten the Riolu (I was going to try and form a contest team) ‐---------------------------------------------- Legends Arceus (Note for these I tried making Japanese based names so apologies for any mess ups) Yameruler the Hisuian Samurott(This is named after a Yu-Gi-Oh card) Tsukumodama the Drifblim (Tsukumogami + Hitodama) Agyoshinu the Hisuian Arcanine (Agyo+Shishi+Komainu) Okeko(O, (as in Giant), Keukegen, + Kodama) Itanyachi the Sneasler(Itachi(weasel)+Nya+Kunochi) Yukirei the Hisuian Zoroark(Yuki+Kikio+Yurei) ---‐---‐---------------------------------------- Violet (Note some of these try to incorporate Spanish and one has apparent slang in the Philippines so apologizes if I get anything wrong) Seadall the Quaquaval Lodiva the Clodsire(Lodo(Mud in Spanish if I'm right) + Lodi(Apperent slang in the Philippines for someone you admire but it's also just idol backwards) + Diva)(All this because according to Bulbapedia, the name Clodsire could come from a salamander called the Siren) Ignio the Ceruledge(Ignis + Indigo, but some Inigo could be in there) Solipaz the Arboliva (Sow + Olive + Paz(Spanish for peace if I'm right) (Also Soil is in there unintentionally) Pequero the Lokix(Pequeño(Little in Spanish if I'm right + Hero + Picaro) Zermenta the Kilowattrel (Zerker + Tormenta(A feminine version of storm in Spanish if I'm right) Rosemith the Tinkaton (Amy Rose + Blacksmith) Stellaraffe the Farigiraf (Stellar + Giraffe) Naga the Miraidon Teal Mask Famille the Tandemaus Baba Marta Carol the Politoad Hallows the Chandelure Ōmisoka the Chimeco Kapa Haka the Kommo-o Ogerpon Indigo Disk had me use all my SV Team(Minus Miraidon) but 3 additional members were added in Yunaka the Alolan Muk Orsin the Kleavor If you read all of this, genuinely thank you!

[@christiancinnabars1402]

I'm fine with people liking and using competitively unviable Pokemon - take it from me, whose favorite Pokemon are the ones like Mawile, Huntail, and Regice (and those were a couple of my favorites even back in Emerald, so no Mega Mawile is involved in that process) - because design and lore are king for me. _But,_ having an underperforming mon's stats, Abilities, and/or movepool be buffed to help it gain competitive niches or even just be a bit better for in-game playthroughs never hurts either. And a part of that is because buffs usually enhance a mon's _uniqueness._ Politoed from Gen II - IV was just _frog_ with some sound moves, but from Gen V on it gained the trait of being a mon that brings about rain. Which makes sense for a Pokemon whose children (and neotenic counterpart) are heavily dependent on moisture and deeper bodies of water. Clefairy and Clefable were just mons somewhat related to the moon in Gens I - V, but in Gen VI they became Fairy types to deepen their connection to the moon, being given moves like Moonblast and the newly Fairy-type Moonlight (granted, it changing types does jack gameplay-wise, but the only Normal -> Fairy-type user of the move was the Clefairy line, giving it a closer connection to them over mons like Oddish and Umbreon). Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit were already connected lore-wise, but the three gaining Mystical Power (as underwhelming as the move is in the mainline games...) gave them a gameplay similarity exclusive to the trio. And at the end of the day, that is the thing I want from every mon (or at least as many mons as possible) in the franchise. I do want to try to use mons like Carnivine, Camerupt, and Blastoise. But what do you mean a Bite from Carnivine does less damage than a Bite from Leafeon? What do you mean Camerupt is a slower, frailer, and less damaging Eruption user than Typhlosion? And what do you mean a single Mirror Force takes out the Obelisk I took two turns and a Monster Reborn to summon out? But with a single buff, those assumptions from looking at a mon's design, movepool, and sometimes dex entries could become a reality. Give Carnivine Strong Jaw and Snap Trap, because that would only make using it more fun and thematic. I don't care if it only moves it from top 70% ZU to top 50% ZU, it's still something.

[@castform7]

I have a very storied history with this quote. For a while now I've grown kind of resentful to this sentiment because I was looking at it from a competitive lense. You can say whatever you want about a niche set of a Pokemon you like but at the end of the day, a lot of Pokemon just aren't as good as others. My pfp is a living example. It has been (rightfully) argued that Karen doesn't mean this in a competitive lense and that *in-game* you quite literally can use any Pokemon. I can't deny that's true, I for one always leave a spot in my team for a somewhat weaker Pokemon who can do some work when put in the right position. My problem is, that's never how the quote is used. You could probably watch any VGC tourney featuring a weaker Pokemon and you had Karen quoters in droves showing off how they didn't really know about competitive or are not happy with how little the pool of competitive Pokemon is. Weaker Pokemon aren't being used to "show off what truly skilled trainers can do with their favorites", they're used because they fill a niche no other Pokemon does at that moment in time. What truly skilled trainers will do (in competitive) is look at what's currently happening within the meta and plan accordingly with the right Pokemon to take advantage of any holes in common strategies. That is mostly done by stronger Pokemon but sometimes when the time is right, a weaker Pokemon can slide in and make things work. That's the general gist of what makes this quote flawed in usage to me. Urshifu being used cause it literally cheats the system isn't the "notion of a weak trainer".

[@rogue1248]

Silvers character changes after fighting Lance ngl.

[@faniskouklas]

I've been using double Hydreigon (normal and paradox) for Ranked, I don't care what anyone says

[@delphoxhoopa7289]

Funny you mentioned that. During my second playthrough of Black 2, I decided to do everything I possibly could before I deleted that save file, as I was running out of things to do. So I decided to challenge Cynthia, as I never beat her before in that game. I started the battle, and eventually got to her infamous Garchomp. It immediately knocked out my Black Kyurem and my Samurott. But when I sent in my Hydreigon, IT MISSED DRAGON RUSH. This allowed my Hydreigon to knock it out with Draco Meteor *in. One. Hit.* I would eventually delete the save file, but I'll always cherish that moment. And it's been my second favorite Pokemon ever since (Infernape's the first) 🥰❤️

[@smackjack78]

Double Hydreigon is one of the most based things I’ve heard for a team comp

[@Blutexdoingsomething]

all we need now is a regional Hydreigon and triple battles so we can run tripple Hydreigon

[@nicocchi]

Friendly reminder that trying actually good Pokémon every so often can help you find new favorites. Play the meta for a bit, play to win, and you might find out the Pokémon you didn't care about (or even hated) could end up being likable It's kind of the inverse experience of trying to make your favorites work in a competitive match. Suddenly you find yourself ironically enjoying Landorus-THICC because of the memes and then it turns out to be unironic

[@matthewroberts198]

Agreed with this. I remember Pokeaimmd made a video of his favorites and I was expecting some of the best 'mons ever but one of them he said was Stunky who I doubt most people would take a second glance at cause its a skunk, but Aim said it helped him win multiple battles.

[@millsxi]

Yeah I legit love Iron Bundle for being a goofy robot toy but they are also turned out to be strong as heck.

[@garg4531]

“Strong pokemon. Weak pokemon. That is only the foolish perception of people.” Not necessarily… “Truly skilled Trainers should try to win with their favorites.” PREACH, sister! 🙌

[@andrewschaosson]

Sometimes I try to play in Showdown, so I do have my knowledge on competitive base. But in my playthroughs? Nahhh. I'm just like: "Man, Probopass is such a silly goober, I'll add it to my team."

[@blera77]

Why is this so relatable

[@Moonsong227]

I love how every part of the game *except competitive meta* illustrates this--contests, in game teams, trading, breeding cool egg moves/a dozen of your favorite, collecting merch, transferring, battle facilities, pokeathalon, safari zone, filling the dex...

[@AgitoFang666]

nah man she was right, just use your favorites after all before competitive or learning about IVs what pokemon did you use in the games? your faves! it didn't matter if it was harder to pass the game it was the thrill of having that good ol fun no matter if they kicked you but, all you would do is train harder!

[@gilgallardo9394]

I love using Passimian. He just looks cool.

[@Adrian-ze9ud]

My favorite pokemon is Mimikyu. My second favorite is ULTRA NECROZMA. I think it would be hard to win with them, huh.

[@Trixie_Lavender]

One of my favorite Pokémon is Kingdra. Not because it's really good or its design, but because its cards are often really fun

[@thearrivalcyberseignister8898]

People who like pokemon because of how strong they are: Are you my favorite pokemon because you are the strongest? Or are you the strongest because you are my favorite pokemon?

[@Primzyy55]

Sometimes winning with good Pokèmon makes you like them more

[@leelewis445]

Rayquaza, Volcarona, Sharpedo, Golurk, Blaziken, Rhydon, Ampharos and Metagross are amongst my all time favorite Pokémon. I am someone who does not pay much attention to the competitive sceen, so my love for does not come from how viable they are in competitive play. Now the Pokémon I listed may actually be good in that competitive area, but a Pokémon like Dustox, from what little I know, isn't used much, but I have used in runs throughout multiple Pokémon games. It's just a Pokémon that I love and has come I clutch during some story play throughs.

[@liviquail]

For competitive I try to have a mix of both. I won't use a random Pokémon I don't care about just because it's strong (unless I have to), but I also know that some Pokémon I like just aren't good enough for ranked battles or tournaments. If I can make a personal favorite work on a team, great. If not, that's ok too. Fortunately I like most Pokémon to some extent so it's not really a problem for me.

[@youtubestudiosucks978]

Porygon is cool, it's a pokemon that's also a digimon, and Rotom comes close to it.

[@Nosretep]

My favorites are: Kartana Mega Metagross Zacian-Crown Dusk Mane Archaludon Dialga-Origin

[@connorreed7523]

I just like using Clefairy in a casual playthrough

[@VivioSaf]

"Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of a game" ~ Civilization Dev (I think)

[@nellewoodruff6337]

Even just in the games, it feels really bad when you don't get to play your favorite because it's a ledian that can't last 2 seconds even on the early routes and you spend the most time with it carting it back to the pokemon center constantly. We'll always have mystery dungeon, Skitty ❤

[@GumCow]

My friend and I don't battle much anymore, but when we do we use pokemon that we like, that aren't necessarily competitive. It's also why I liked Hodlum calum's (idk how to spell his channel name) FFA's. They're more interesting to watch than standard tournament battles.

[@kuitaranheatmorus9932]

I agree with video theme cause it more of a personal thing rather than a black and white subject, and I can't wait to use this in other medias

[@argent1875]

yeah you use your favourite mons, my top 3 are incineroar, flutter mane, and urshifu rapid-strikes

[@Charmandu]

I always manage to make it to master rank with my pokemon that I really like. It's not impossible to do it, just harder.

[@ShayTheValiant]

What if my favourite Pokémon ARE the strong ones?

[@blera77]

Do you have fun? That's all that matters

[@ShayTheValiant]

@@blera77 Yes. I have fun using strong Pokémon. No Legendary Pokémon, though.

[@TotodileisBetter158]

I remember once putting my six favorite Pokémon into a team on showdown and being kinda upset when they weren’t good together. (They were Feraligatr, Sceptile , Hisuian Arcanine, Alolan sandslash, Luxray, falinks)

[@samable7724]

Honestly, using my favorites in the Blueberry Elite 4 with level cap and no bag items during the fight was REALLY fun! It took a few tries and different strategies but that made it really rewarding, so I agree with Karen.

[@bessieburnet9816]

When it comes to the teams I use in my playthroughs, I do meticulously plan a balanced team that covers needed types and HMs. But I do work it around the mons I like. Let's say X and Y for example, as I'm playing that right now. I love Lucario, and not using the one Korinna gives you is sacrilege. And it is well good to have a Fighting type and a Steel type in Gen 6. And while the team is mostly balanced, I did sacrifice some type distribution to have Sylveon. Fairy's strengths are mostly covered by my other team members, but I really like Sylveon, Fairy types are new in Gen 6, and I'm a Fennekin chooser playing as the girl. What sort of Serena would I be if I didn't have Sylveon? Besides, spending all the time with the Pokémon you caught can really develop new faves. I'll be using some Pokémon I haven't used before come ORAS's tenth anniversary, and i can't wait for our time battling together to gain a whole new appreciation for them! ❤

[@justinr.507]

I do play competitive but i use sets like choise band slaking and focus sacs weak armor ceruledge. I just pick stuff that sounds fun.

[@Ammiteur9]

I watched this just after I failed to catch a Sableye 😢

[@GravityIsFalling]

It always baffles me that players pick a Pokémon as their favorite first, and then try and use them I use whatever I want, and the mons I have fun actually using become my favorites So I never have an issue with “use your favorites” because my favorites are already good

[@mauriziobernotti9171]

Ahaha In The Hoenn games I Always use Glalie ❤

[@300kyuubi]

I never was a competitive player. I just played for fun using my favorites or working out different methods. Also, when I heard you play Yu-Gi-Oh and use cards involving lore, I perked up! Love me some yugioh card lore. I have a few custom decks that I use for fun on casual play. My favorite pokemon i use is The Dragonite line, mostly because when I was little I had the pokemon guide book ( the 1998 version that was updated with Mew) and I would look through it and when I saw Dratini, I immediately wanted one. But I had no idea where to exactly get one. It wasn’t until I was in the safari zone that I obtained one and raised with utmost care and when it evolved into Dragonair. I was in love with it ever since. Ever since then, I would always make sure to get at least a dratini in my playthroughs if possible

[@aureliamastergoomba1278]

0:35 Me who beat every BB Elite Four Member with a Pikachu, and watches a Draft League team: Okay clearly some of you don't know how to do it right, you just gotta ignore the competitive side for the most part.

[@studbagl]

When I played sapphire when it came out, my team was 6 wailords. Wailord, Pelipper, Swellow, Tentacruel some of my faves

[@Rowlet111]

My favorite pokemon is Aloan Raichu which I caught a shiny from the event and that pokemon beat most of Kirens pokemon and landed the final attack on Terapagos in the finally battle in the DLC

[@superkingdynamic1863]

A foolish miscalculation!!! - MandJTV

[@IamReyver]

"Strength does not come from the body, it comes from the mind, pure force wont beat pure strategy" is what you can say about any pokemon, sure a mewtwo is incredible strong but using a strategy with status moves could give the advantage over it, thats what separates your nine year old cousin who only uses legendarys from Wolfey (VGC)

[@MJ-oi6ul]

It’s so easy to win with anything you like in the games story only competitively you can’t. I always had a skitty/delcatty in the games she way in and while it is a horrible pokemon I won the elite four with her 😃

[@tangerinepaint3643]

On one hand, I mostly resent the quote due how I mostly associate it with people using it as an excuse to shit on competitive Pokémon, but on the other hand, Honrade in Pokémon Clover is generally regarded as an RU Shitmon but there’s no way in hell I am taking them off the team despite how unforgiving the game is.

[@doubl2480]

Early elite 4s often were trying to say some deeper stuff, I think. I personally like this quote, I understand it as things not being all black or white. I'm a Yu-gi-oh player and my way of playing the game is taking decks I like and working on them, studying the meta to see if I can combat it with the cards I have chosen. That's how I have fun. On the flip side, I think if you really aim to be the best, you might need to use what's "the strongest" deck or Pokemons, but if you never innovate and only copy what's commonly seen as strong, you will remain below opponents who did that effort. You need to know the box so you can think outside of it - that's my understanding of a competitive mindset, at least.

[@Cosmic_Espeon]

Based Glaceon enjoyer

[@curiouszaku9537]

Me and my overleveled Farfetch'D stand by her quote. Using your favorites, albeit not that strong, needs to have the expectation that you won't win all the time. You do tho get to Strategize the pokemon's upsides, best situation, and figuring out quirks. You won't win but you'll have fun, lol

[@JD-iu6rv]

She’s in the top 3 of Pokémon baddies

[@Foxtayls]

I personally wish that you could have 2 or 3 pokemon that could get more stats based on friendship like in the lets go games. For balance, you could have bigger bonuses for pokemon with lower base stats and smaller bonuses for ones with higher stats. Of course if its a legendary, mythical or pseudo, the bonuses would be much lower. I would love if you could just go, i love zigzagoon and i want to take it all the way". Then you could genuinely train it to be a threat without even evolving it. But it could be limited in number or limited to only single player (even if there was a battle tower).

[@dejinnthedjinn5311]

As a Mimikyu fan, I love the Pokemon not because it was a menace in competitive for bit, but because of it's lore. And I will always be proud of my disguise boy. Incineroar is another favorite of mine and when I learned it basically became one of the best pokemon, I loved hik even more.

[@HavikLaosBoi69]

IMO: the quote was NEVER a bad thing just one misinterpreted in contexts that it wasn’t meant for in the first place, both by the casual and competitive players alike. As said it plays more to the story and how different of a viewpoint it is from Silver but I believe it is TPC telling the player playing the normal storied Pokemon game that they can play however they wish as long as they have fun with it. However it obviously gets misused by players tryna justify that some people aren’t playing the game right if they play the meta, though if I’m honest I genuinely believe that majority of the time someone is using that quote it’s just a copypasta to piss people off for the sake of it which is lame but also just very blatantly bait that people falls for because some people choose to exist just to get reactions out of people and people give it to them. But said misuse of the quote has effectively made the serious comp players misinterpret the quote from the casual players’ misuse of it not understanding that although they argue against it they’re arguing against something without the context it was originally used in and perceive it as if it was an insult despite Karen herself not actually insulting the character (she quite literally says “Well aren’t you good. I like that in a trainer.” And after the infamous quote she also said with it “I like your style. You understand what’s important.” Again, HOW does anything leave this out and believe she’s insulting you?). It’s like, to compare, knives are absolutely great kitchen tools and make cooking some stuff down very easy, but just cuz it can be used for harm by people with ill intent shouldn’t mean people need to be upset that knives exist just cuz bad people misuse what it was intended for, that’s how I perceive comp players getting mad at Karen and her quote rather than just at the players who uses it wrong because people who never touch comp gets caught in the crossfire of angry discourse that they weren’t even part of. That whole rant aside for another, for me it’s tiring as someone whose favorite Pokémon character is Karen and just want to see stuff like fanart of her but anytime I’m searching for it I just mostly deal with seeing discourse, often ones made out of the blue just cuz someone wants to be angry rather than actually needing to be provoked (it’s twitter, go figure) and I just wish to not see it anymore. I genuinely think the quote is not worth getting upset over, especially when 9/10 times it’s likely a troll bait, cuz most of their problem is just the people misusing it rather than the intention it originally was used for. It’s sad for me that this is one polarizing thing that doesn’t necessarily boost Karen’s popularity in hopes that I can see more fanart of her with more people choosing to like her and wanting more themselves as well as artists not wanting to deal with the potential discourse some people unnecessarily bring just cuz she’s drawn. I just want to enjoy my favorite character in peace without two sides throwing bricks about it 😅

[@elijahoder3667]

My favorite Pokemon, Tauros, has not been good since RBY, but I still use it if it is available because I love it

[@BJGvideos]

Hey if it's good enough for Nemona... Granted she uses one of the Paldean forms but still Tauros

[@leoryff979]

Oh, is that why I keep seeing that quote in my discord servers?

[@Zoroark_Master]

I don’t necessarily use my favourite in my story playthrough (not all of them are always available in all games and wanting a bit of variety and trying something new time to time) but I don’t make my story team to be optimal neither. But I do dabble in competitive and make separate competitive teams than from my story team

[@TheBonVivant_]

It’s always funny to me to hear how bad Arcanine is in competitive Pokemon when I’m just happy my favorite pokemon is vanilla enough to be in almost every game and has like 100 moves because it’s been around forever

[@johnmendez9525]

Me when my favorites are Lando-T and ferrothorn

[@SD-VThe_LovablePsycho0100]

I love Cinncino and Mienshao, they're really cool Pokémon :)

[@BrawlSnorlax]

My favorates are Snorlax and Gardvoir. And there pretty solid in any playthugh You got a massive tank and IMO Pokemon's best spellcaster mon.

[@futureDreamer4]

Karen's telling the truth though. It depends on which of you favorite Pokemon are good competitively. For example, Infernape, Marshadow, Garchomp, and Xerneas are some of my favorite mons yet they are good in competitive battling.

[@VideoJe1]

I kinda wish that there would be a way to truly be capable of using any pokemon you want and have a chance at success, but perhaps that requires to overhaul the game until it becomes something else.

[@giasca]

Honestly I just like to have fun and that's it. I find competitive to be cool to watch, but not fun to play

[@eliasraine8726]

I don't use any legendaries on my teams these days, but I have noticed that Pokemon I like for their coolness factor to me also happen to be good (Garchomp, Corviknight, etc), but regardless of how good Luxray is he will always be my boy!

[@JohnnyStormRules1961]

Okay well my favorite Pokémon are Landorus Therian and Ferrothron

[@PhoenixDavis-m4g]

I don't get people saying "OkAY WeLl My FaVoRiTe is (Insert competitive viable Pokemon)" the quote still means the same thing. Doesn't matter if your favorite Pokemon is good or not, it's still your favorite so just have fun with it

[@mysticpumpkin8520]

​@@PhoenixDavis-m4gwell, is mostly because the non-competitive sidd of things usually tries to undermine people for using said competitive pokemon just because they are strong, when in reality a lot of VGC and smogon players trully came to love said pokemon and see them as their faves Say if you like Flutter Mane and she is your fave, does that make you lesser than someone who likes furret? Is simply people trying to deem themselves superior for liking a pokemon and trying to feel validated to shame others. Is like those people that try to say they are "moral pirates" by pirating a game from nintendo instead of one from sony

[@UltimateBlobrex]

I think if you wanna have strong pokemon or pokemon that you just like on a team or both then go for it, it doesn't matter, as long as we accept that we're all different and unique then I think pokemon in general is just more fun I love pokemon like Charizard, Hattrem and Ultra Necrozma, they all have different levels of strength, but I don't care, I love them all :D

[@Akami_Shirokane]

🌱 Mono grass team trainer for years here haha, yeah I'm aware grass is one of the worst types because of the many weaknesses but it's my fav type, I always pick grass starters and Leafeon is my fav Pokémon ever! I just love the animal/plant hybrid look their designs often have! I did get into competitive, I bred most of my mon, make sure they have the best ivs, ev train them, give them favorable natures and good movesets, but I'm not really that competitive, I just love the feeling of going online with my fav pkmn I myself worked hard to train and prepare. Plus you don't really survive online if you don't do all of that before haha Yeah I've been losing most of the times online but I don't mind, that only makes those occasional wins feel just much better, it definitely wouldn't feel the same for me winning with a very competitively viable team than winning against an actual competitively viable team knowing I had the odds against me, it's just so much more rewarding, even more knowing I actually used the pkmn I really love. One of the pkmn in my grass team is my first ever, my Torterra from Platinum I got in 2009, and I'm still using him today in online battles! I just have actual fun playing that way and that's the main reason we are all playing the game in the first place. Some people may have more fun using viable mons even if they don't really like them, and that's understandable, to each their own way. Idk, it just feels great to beat legendary godly monsters with my silly matcha cup I love haha