First partner Pokémon
At the beginning of their quest, trainers are given a starter Pokémon (Japanese: はじめてのポケモン Starting Pokémon). This Pokémon will be used to battle the first wild Pokémon that the trainer encounters. Once another Pokémon is caught, the starter may be retired, but it is often with this Pokémon that trainers learn friendship and trust. As such, even advanced trainers may still use their starters.
In the games
In the main games, each starter Pokémon are at level 5, armed with one damage-dealing move and another that affects stats. Generally, trainers can choose between a Fire, Water, or Grass Pokémon. The rival picks the starter that has a type advantage against the player's choice.
The following is a list of starters by region:
Normal Starters
Kanto
In Pokémon Red, Blue, Green, and FireRed and LeafGreen, Professor Oak will bring trainers to his lab to give them one of the following to begin their journey:
 Bulbasaur |
 Charmander |
 Squirtle |
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The player's rival will then pick the type-advantaged starter, and the remaining Pokémon will sit in the Poké Ball on Oak's desk for the rest of the game.
In Pokémon Yellow, Oak instead gives out:
 Pikachu |
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The Pikachu is the same one that attacked the player when they ventured onto Route 1 that Oak caught, which will be the only choice the player gets.
The player's rival will get an Eevee from Oak, which will evolve into one of its three Generation I evolutions depending on the outcome of the battles between the player and the rival.
During the adventure, the player will be able to get the original three Kanto starters through special events not present in the earlier games.
Johto
In Pokémon Gold and Silver and in Pokémon Crystal, Professor Elm will have an errand for the player to run, and will give them one of the following for protection on this errand, which they will then keep:
 Chikorita |
 Cyndaquil |
 Totodile |
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A thief will then take the Pokémon with the type advantage over the player's choice and become their rival, leaving the remaining Pokémon with Professor Elm for the remainder of the game.
Hoenn
In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and in Pokémon Emerald, after Professor Birch is rescued from a Poochyena (R/S) or Zigzagoon, (E) he allows the player to keep the Pokémon they chose to rescue him with, either:
 Treecko |
 Torchic |
 Mudkip |
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The player's neighbor, Brendan or May, already has his or her starter, which is always the one with the type advantage. Wally starts with Ralts; he seeks Norman's and the player's assistance in catching his first Pokémon.
Sinnoh
In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Professor Rowan will give the player one of the following when they return from Trust Lake after the Mukkuru attack:
 Naetle |
 Hikozaru |
 Pochama |
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The player's in-game neighbor will choose the one that weakens the player's choice, and the NPC who is the other-gender choice will have the Pokémon weakened by the player's choice.
Orre
 Espeon |
 Umbreon |
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A first for the Pokémon games, these starter Pokémon come as a pair as to represent the Double-Battle system, and are also different in that they are in the player's possession right at start of play. Umbreon is at level 26, knowing the TM moves Taunt and Snatch, as well as Bite which is otherwise only available through breeding at such a level. Espeon is at level 25, knowing the TM moves Return and Reflect.
In Pokémon XD:
 Eevee |
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This starter Pokémon is also in the player's possession right at the beginning. It is at level 10, knowing Bite which is again unique for this level. At an early point in the game, the player is offered one of five evolutionary items, Water Stone, Thunder Stone, Fire Stone, Moon Shard and Sun Shard, to make the Eevee evolve into any of its (then) five evolutions.
Fiore
In Pokémon Ranger:
 Plusle (player is Solana) |
 Minun (player is Lunick) |
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Special Starters
Bulbasaur |
Charmander |
Squirtle |
Pikachu |
 Meowth |
 Psyduck |
 Machop |
 Cubone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eevee |
Chikorita |
Cyndaquil |
Totodile |
Treecko |
Torchic |
Mudkip |
 Skitty |
In this game, instead of the player choosing a Pokémon to train at start, depending on choices made on a test, the player becomes one of these Pokémon.
In the anime
Upon their tenth birthday, young people can register for a PokéDex and pick up a starter Pokémon from the local Pokémon professor or Pokémon Center free of charge. Starters are usually raised specifically to be easy to train.
List of starter Pokémon in the anime
- Ash Ketchum received a Pikachu from Prof. Oak
- Gary Oak received an Eevee from Prof. Oak that he evolved into an Umbreon
- Brock received an Onyx from his father that now belongs to his brother Forrest who evolved it into a Steelix
- James received a Growlithe
- Jimmy received a Cyndaquil from Prof. Elm that he evolved into a Typhlosion
- Marina received a Tododile from Prof. Elm that she evolved into a Croconaw
- Vincent received a Chikorita from Prof. Elm that he evolved into a Meganium
- The character based on Silver apparently received a Sneazle
- May received a Torchic from Prof. Birch that she evolved into a Blaziken
- Hikari received a Pochama from Prof. Rowan
- Gilbert (H014) received a Bulbasaur
