Build your Pokémon team!!

Ooh, pokemon teams! I think if I were to have a team I'd want it to be something along the lines of this.

• Scolipede. My gosh, I love Scolipede. If I were to choose any pokemon that isn't a starter to be my partner, I'd choose this giant bug-horse without hesitation. I love pokemon with high speed and high damage, and I kinda just think it's neat. 

• Luxray. Same deal as scolipede really, Luxray is just one of my favorite pokemon. The whole shinx like is real high up there. 

• Falinks. My team feels incomplete without the silly little 'No Retreat, Black belt boosted close combat' strategy I came up with spontaneously while playing Sword. It's super beatable but I'm attached to it and to Falinks in general, so...

• Ninetales. Specifically a shiny one if I can help it. Once I received a random shiny ninetales named 'Kitsune' from ORAS wonder trade. She was super low level, but I loved her, and raised her up to level 70-ish with the rest of my team. I want her back, haha. 

• Reshiram. OP much? But genuinely, I feel like if I were to have any legendary on my team, it'd be Reshiram. Its specific focus on truth and nature feel like they'd work well, as those are two things I value greatly and try to maintain in my own life. Also, Pokemon Black was the first pokemon game I got genuinely invested in, so I think it's fitting. 
  

• Decidueye. My favorite starter. I don't think I've played a file of S/M or USUM without picking it since the first time I touched the Sun cartridge. It's got good coverage, and it overall just a neat pokemon. I like its design. 

ohohoh let me play around with this
So i'm gonna build my team more on the daydreams i've had of pokemons in real life, and which ones i'd like as companions, more than a game thing. So for me irl.



Pidgeot
Seems like it would be an easy enough bird pokemon to find and train, and it's always been one of my favorites. As a bird therian, I'd adore a bird companion. I know pidgeot can learn fly, so woohoo! Flight urges can finally be sated with a Bird Frend. 
For some reason I always interepreted pokemons in general as pretty damn intelligent, even for the ones mostly shown as dumb. Probably due to the anime? 



Absol
Probably would be hella hard to get as my irl self, but i'd adore one. They are my faves, and I feel like having one around would be great for my anxiety ahah. It's reassuring to have a creature that can warn you of incoming danger, and therefore tell when there's no danger. Plus Big Cat Scary.



Scyther
One of my fave insect pokemon, and we have a lot of praying mantises where I live so always thought it'd be reasonably easy for me to find one.


Noivern
Bat dragon!!! I absolutely love Noivern, and once again, a flying type bc of my theriotypes. It just feels like a great pokemon and i'd love to be pals with one.


Unfezant
A bird once again. Fun fact, bulbapedia says there is roadrunner inspo in their design! I like the male form best, although both are great, and find it a really underrated pokemon.


Grovyle
There needs to be a starter in there somewhere. Why a grovyle and not a sceptile? Always found Grovyle cooler. It's my fave of all starters, and I'd just vibe with having one they seem rather chill.

All of my pokemon are based on my own personal identifications and associations, not type-balance or other traits relevant to pokemon battling. 



Rockruff: The "Me" pokemon. Rockruff is a very strong paratype for me, so much so that it made me question a pokemon kintype. This is the pokemon I'd want to be if I could, and the one I'd want as my constant companion partner if I couldn't. If evolved, I'm definitely a day-form type, but really Rockruff is the one for me. 
Alternatives: None of the dog pokemon really hit my kinfeels as much as rockruff. But in games it's not availble, Poochyena, Growlithe, Yamper and Houndoom are acceptable. 

Gogoat: I have a strong internal preference for the Grass type aesthetically, and Gogoat taps into whatever internally gives me hoof shifts. It's a good stand in for my goat-faun-kith-kin feelings soup. Also the Gogoat-riding option in Pokemon X and Y gave me such intense envy and desire. 
Alternatives: Deerling, especially spring form. Sky-forme Shaymin. 

Galvantula: The joltik line is what most fit me when the Daemon Forum had a thread on Pokemon forms. My dae, Lorian, has really taken to it as a form. I love the colors and the sofy fuzziness. Aesthetically, I like giant spider pokemon because they remind me of Spider Riders, a show that was objectively terrible, but for which I enjoyed the setting/premise and still love imagining a better version in my head. 
Alternatives: Ariados

Bayleef: Another Grass-aesthetic Pokemon. I recall seeing a scene of Bayleef in the Pokemon anime as a young child that just...stuck with me. Meganium definiftely meets that soft pink-and-green scheme that I really love. If I have to pick a starter, Chikorita is definitely near the top of the list. I also am Chikorita in Pokemon Mystery dungeon, making it another "me" representative in a faceclaim way. A good potato. 
Alternatives: Leafeon, Hoppip, Snivy, Cherrim

Aegislash: I wanted something to represent my Paladin identity and idea of Knighthood. Of the options I considered (see alternatives) Aegislash felt the most right. I know I wouldn't weild Aegislash like a sword and sheild, but I like that general idea or association. Despite being a ghost type it feels less dark than Corviknight (which, admittedly, has the benefit of wings/flying/being a bird), and less silly than SirFetch'd. 
Alternatives: Corvinight, SirFetch'd, Escavalier, Failinks, Pawniard 

Lucario: Waaaay back as a small child, Lucario is the first pokemon I remember ever distinctly noticing and attaching to. I found it very cool. There was also a sense of relatability that I can now, in hidsight, recognize as probably early smatterings of that canine-me intternal identification. Nowawdays my kintype can be manifested more directly through Rockruff. But Lucario still carries a nostalgic vibe, and also feels like something I can connect to my identity as a furry in general. 
Alternatives: Gallade, Absol

Honorable Mentions:
Tepig- Other possible starter. Despite my grass aesthetic, I almost always pick fire starters, and I'm a firebender in Avatar terms. Pigs are a favorite animal from childhood, as I self-identified with then via as my Zodiac sign, and being a messy kid. 
Spoink- Another pig, psychic (which is usually linked to pshycic powers but also intellectualism and thought). The "bounce to live" is relatable as a anxious person with producitivity issues and difficulty taking breaks.
Ribombee- Fairy/Spring aesthetic, love of bees (especially as a Deamon form).
Shinx- just easthetically plesasing, honestly. 
Pachirisu- same as Shinx, just weel-designed, cute and pleasant.