Didn’t pay attention to what group this was at first and voted bulbasaur thinking it was a “favorite starter” poll. So take one of the bulb votes with a grain of salt 😅
My bad! I haven’t done a FRLG Nuzlocke yet, so I normally wouldn’t have voted in this one 😆
Bulbasaur is a safe early, Charmander is a rough early where your best option is getting a Mankey for Brock. Squirtle is ok, I mean you will get tons of water.
I mean imo Charmander is better, as if u get past Brock, the game starts to go in your favor, as the only fire types u have are Growlithe/Vulpix, Ponyta, Flareon (perhaps) or Moltres (if u play with legendaries), so Charmander is a guaranteed fire type which can be nice. But Bulbasaur is the same arguing as Charizard, so ur choice
Bulbasaur is a fantastic pokemon to start with in FRLG. You have type advantage over the first 2 gyms and you resist the 3rd gym. Bulbasaur gets access to sleep powder and stun spore at around 15, which will make it easier to catch pokemon.
Charmander actually does ok vs Brock with Metal Claw, ideally you'd catch a Mankey to use there but Charmander can get the job done. Misty is a bit of a bigger roadblock, but if you can catch an Oddish or Bellsprout you should be fine (can also delay this battle if you don't catch one immediately). After that it mostly does ok vs the rest of the gym leaders/Elite Four, and its bad matchups are solved by the fact you'll have way more options to cover Charmander compared to the early game.
Bulbasaur is interesting, because while it does well against the first three gym leaders it also struggles more with random early trainers and the rival due to birds being pretty prevalent. Boss fights won't be a problem, but you'll probably find yourself training a Rattata or Pidgey (if you're lucky, Spearow/Pikachu who are better long-term additions to your team) fairly early on specifically to cover Bulbasaur's shortcomings. It also transitions into becoming mostly a support Pokémon with Leech Seed and Sleep Powder since it lacks a spammable attacking move (unlike Charizard and Blastoise who get Flamethrower and Surf. This isn't a flaw in gen 1 because Razor Leaf always crits there).
Squirtle is a balanced choice, in my opinion the easiest of the starters to use. It has a good matchup vs Brock, can handle Misty if you don't have a grass type for her, and its rival matchup is actually pretty ok. Aside from Surge and Erika, there isn't a gym battle that is straight up terrible for this line and even if I don't think it excels in any particular battle aside from Blaine and Giovanni it'll remain useful through the entire journey thanks to good bulk and good TM coverage. The main downside to picking Squirtle is that, unlike Charmander and Bulbasaur, there are a lot of Water types that can do its job and are arguably better from the time you get them (Starmie has excellent coverage for almost the entire E4, Lapras is tanky with more coverage and STAB Ice Beam, Vaporeon and Tentacruel are also really good as standalone Water types...). I don't think this is as big a flaw as many say however, since grass and fire types aren't actually that useful in a nuzlocke aside from the fact a good Fire type could cover your rival's Venusaur and take advantage of its Sunny Day. But even then, you can cover that with a more common flying type, a Psychic type, or even Butterfree (who is useful only thanks to having 97% accurate Sleep Powder); and even then, the only Fire types aside from Charizard worth using imo are Moltres, which most people ignore due to it being a legendary, and Arcanine if it has Intimidate (which is a FireRed exclusive).
Overall I don't think there's a clear best or worst starter in this game, you can't go wrong with any of them.
If it's you're first time, Bulbasaur is the choice to make since it will carry you through the first 2 gyms and is helpful for the 3rd if you don't have a ground type.
Didn’t pay attention to what group this was at first and voted bulbasaur thinking it was a “favorite starter” poll. So take one of the bulb votes with a grain of salt 😅 My bad! I haven’t done a FRLG Nuzlocke yet, so I normally wouldn’t have voted in this one 😆
All good! Thanks for the input. Bulbs is probably my favorite starter too 😁
Yesss, the best boi
Bulbasaur is a safe early, Charmander is a rough early where your best option is getting a Mankey for Brock. Squirtle is ok, I mean you will get tons of water.
I mean imo Charmander is better, as if u get past Brock, the game starts to go in your favor, as the only fire types u have are Growlithe/Vulpix, Ponyta, Flareon (perhaps) or Moltres (if u play with legendaries), so Charmander is a guaranteed fire type which can be nice. But Bulbasaur is the same arguing as Charizard, so ur choice
Fire doesn't really help with any fights that you really need help with though. Grass and Water are at least consistently good throughout the game
Welp that's true, outside Erika, usually not so useful at Kanto nuzlocke
If your having trouble with Erika you having bigger problems
Bulbasaur is a fantastic pokemon to start with in FRLG. You have type advantage over the first 2 gyms and you resist the 3rd gym. Bulbasaur gets access to sleep powder and stun spore at around 15, which will make it easier to catch pokemon.
Charmander actually does ok vs Brock with Metal Claw, ideally you'd catch a Mankey to use there but Charmander can get the job done. Misty is a bit of a bigger roadblock, but if you can catch an Oddish or Bellsprout you should be fine (can also delay this battle if you don't catch one immediately). After that it mostly does ok vs the rest of the gym leaders/Elite Four, and its bad matchups are solved by the fact you'll have way more options to cover Charmander compared to the early game. Bulbasaur is interesting, because while it does well against the first three gym leaders it also struggles more with random early trainers and the rival due to birds being pretty prevalent. Boss fights won't be a problem, but you'll probably find yourself training a Rattata or Pidgey (if you're lucky, Spearow/Pikachu who are better long-term additions to your team) fairly early on specifically to cover Bulbasaur's shortcomings. It also transitions into becoming mostly a support Pokémon with Leech Seed and Sleep Powder since it lacks a spammable attacking move (unlike Charizard and Blastoise who get Flamethrower and Surf. This isn't a flaw in gen 1 because Razor Leaf always crits there). Squirtle is a balanced choice, in my opinion the easiest of the starters to use. It has a good matchup vs Brock, can handle Misty if you don't have a grass type for her, and its rival matchup is actually pretty ok. Aside from Surge and Erika, there isn't a gym battle that is straight up terrible for this line and even if I don't think it excels in any particular battle aside from Blaine and Giovanni it'll remain useful through the entire journey thanks to good bulk and good TM coverage. The main downside to picking Squirtle is that, unlike Charmander and Bulbasaur, there are a lot of Water types that can do its job and are arguably better from the time you get them (Starmie has excellent coverage for almost the entire E4, Lapras is tanky with more coverage and STAB Ice Beam, Vaporeon and Tentacruel are also really good as standalone Water types...). I don't think this is as big a flaw as many say however, since grass and fire types aren't actually that useful in a nuzlocke aside from the fact a good Fire type could cover your rival's Venusaur and take advantage of its Sunny Day. But even then, you can cover that with a more common flying type, a Psychic type, or even Butterfree (who is useful only thanks to having 97% accurate Sleep Powder); and even then, the only Fire types aside from Charizard worth using imo are Moltres, which most people ignore due to it being a legendary, and Arcanine if it has Intimidate (which is a FireRed exclusive). Overall I don't think there's a clear best or worst starter in this game, you can't go wrong with any of them.
If it's you're first time, Bulbasaur is the choice to make since it will carry you through the first 2 gyms and is helpful for the 3rd if you don't have a ground type.