It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that one of the most defining moments in a Pokémon trainer's career is the starter that they choose at the beginning of the game. Who they choose not only impacts the early game when they don't have a larger repertoire of Pokémon to choose from, but it also impacts other Pokémon the trainer chooses to include in their main team later down the road.
There's a saying that some fans refer to called APAGIG, which means "All Pokemon Are Good In Game." While true for the most part, it's a fact that some Pokémon are simply better than others, and this is no different for the starting Pokémon. And now, Japanese gamers have reached a "consensus" on not who is the best, but who is the worst.
In a survey held by data research site Goo Ranking, the same site that ran polls where fans declared Mewtwo as the most handsome Pokémon and Grimer as the ugliest, 1,397 Japanese gamers were asked who they think is the franchise's most "Seriously Useless Starter Pokémon."
Here are the results:
1. Chikorita (166 votes)
2. Piplup (137 votes)
3. Bulbasaur (121 votes)
4. Squirtle (99 votes)
5. Chespin (90 votes)
6. Charmander (tied with 89 votes)
7. Turtwig (tied with 89 votes)
8. Treecko (78 votes)
9. Froakie (75 votes)
10. Tepig (69 votes)
So what can we glean from these results? Obviously, Pokemon GSC's grass starter Chikorita has been deemed the most useless among all the starting Pokémon across all six generations. Furthermore, we can see that all three of the starters in Pokémon RB/G made an appearance on the top 10 list. Most notable, however, is that every single grass starter (except for Snivy who is in 14th) made the top 10 list.
While a sample size of 1,397 is hardly representative of the global Pokémon community, these results aren't too surprising. Debates concerning the starters in Gen I often boiled down to Team Charmander and Team Squirtle, while Bulbasaur fans were typically left in the cold. In a similar vein, the grass starters in later generations were generally overshadowed by their fire and water counterparts.
It will be interesting to see how the starters in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon will fare later down the line. As of now, much of the fan base has fallen in love with Rowlet, while Popplio has become something akin to a person you don't really like but have to acknowledge simply because s/he is there. Of course, this can easily change if either fail to meet expectations, so we'll just have to wait and see.
