What starter did you pick?

[Wolfdragon Rex]

I just got HeartGold, and I thought 'What is the most popular starter for each generation?' So I have this question for you.

What starter did you pick in each generation?

For me it's:

Gen 1 (Cept Yellow): Charmander
Gen 2 (Plus HeartGold): Totodile
Gen 3 (Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald): Torchic
Gen 3.2 (Firered and Leafgreen): Squirtle
Gen 4 (Diamond): Piplup
Gen 5 (Black): First go Pukabu (Tepig), Second go Tsutarja (Snivy)

PS: Totodile looks so cute following me around :D

PSS: I have an english patched game of Black, that's why the names are slightly weird.

[Zfrankthegamemasta]

For me it's:

Gen 1 (Cept Yellow): Charmander
Gen 2 (Plus HeartGold): Cyndaquil
Gen 3 (Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald): Torchic
Gen 3.2 (Firered and Leafgreen):Charmander
Gen 4 (Diamond): Chimchar
Gen 5 (Black): Tepig. (White): Oshawott

Almost all of my starters are fire, except for Oshawott.

[SuzuTitor]

Why count FRLG under gen 3 but not HGSS under gen 2?

Gen 1: Squirtle
Gen 2: Totodile
Gen 3: Treecko and Squirtle
Gen 4: Piplup and Totodile
Gen 5: Oshawott

[Neo Zanther]

Gen 1: Red- Charmander
Gen 2: Silver- Chikorita
Gen 2.5 SoulSilver- Cyndaquil
Gen 3- Saphire- Torchic
Gen 3.5- FireRed- Charmander
Gen 4- Pearl- Chimchar
Gen 5- White- Oshawott

Now granted, cept for Heartgold, I do have all the games in each gen, just listed the one I got first.

[Josiah]

Gen 1: Bulbasaur
Gen 2: Chicorita
Gen 3: Torchic and Bulbasaur
Gen 4: Piplup and Cyndaquil
Gen 5: Snivy

I don't think I had any particular reason for choosing Bulbasaur at the time but I picked chicorita specifically because I thought it might make a good replacement for venasaur in my battle team being pure grass instead of grass/poison. Though, in the end, I stuck with venasaur anyway. Torchic was chosen purely because I thought it's fully evolved form looked the coolest. I chose bulbasaur again in Leaf Green because I couldn't import my old venasaur into gen 3 games so I needed a replacement. Piplup was cute, plus I didn't want another grass or fire/fighting pokémon. Snivy... Actually, I wasn't all that fond of any of the gen 5 starters from the get go. But I didn't want yet another fire/fighting combo and I wasn't crazy about Oshwatt's evolved forms so...

[Faustgy]

Oh, this is interesting. I'll just list my starters from my first files, since I occasionally like to test other starters after completing the games.
Gen 1
I am ashamed to say that I've never owned a generation one game, though I did borrow some friends' games from time to time.
Gen 2
Silver - Cyndaquil
Gen 3
Sapphire - Torchic
FireRed - Charmander
Gen 4
Platinum - Chimchar
SoulSilver - Cyndaquil
Gen 5
Black - Snivy

I almost always pick the Fire starters, since so many Water Pokemon are available, and I generally don't feel the need to use Grass types. Oh, and I suppose Fire is one of my favorite elements in the game. Black was an exception for the simple reason that I was sick of Fire/Fighting starters. Ironically enough, I've never used a Fire Pokemon for the main storyline.

[Silver]

Blue - Squirtle
Silver - Totodile
Sapphire - Mudkip
LeafGreen - Squirtle
Diamond - Piplup
SoulSilver - Totodile
White - Oshawott.

As you can see, I've used the water starter for my first run every time. I've also always gotten both games, keep my first save file with the water starter forever and ever as a "main" file, and restart the other game after I've finished. Only exception is third gen, ditched my Sapphire save in favor of Emerald master race. Started with Treecko that time, too. So while I didn't pick him the first time, I used him for my main game.

But either way, I've used every starter at least once, except for fifth gen because I don't have Black (yet). And technically I don't have HG yet either, but I've played the second gen games so many times...

[Josiah]

Edited my post to add in the reasoning behind my choices.

[BionicleMandi121]

Generation I:
Red - Charmander

Generation II:
Silver - Totodile

Generation III:
Sapphire - Mudkip
Leafgreen - ...Ya know what, I forgot. We lost the cartridge many years ago.

Generation IV:
Pearl - I actually used all three, because I restarted my game 5 times and sent the other starters to my sister's game (giving her a set of all three as well), then started my "real" file with Chimchar.
SoulSilver - Like with Pearl, I traded the other two starters to...myself (via Pearl), then started with Totodile. I actually beat the game with each starter before sending them over and am seeing why Faus loves Typhlosion so much.

Generation V:
White - As before, I traded the other two starters to Faus, then started with Snivy. I ended up ditching the Tepig in favor of a Litwick, also traded to me by Faus.

I generally select starters based on whichever one I believe looks best in its final form. If I can't choose (ie, between Torchic and Mudkip), I default to the water starter.
Usually I only get one game per "set" (ie both Sapphire and LeafGreen, but none of the other GenIII games), and unless I'm trading starters over to my main file, I don't restart any of my game files, either. Only exception was SoulSilver, in which I traded EVERYTHING (including all useful tradable items in my bag) to my Pearl version before restarting.

[Blivsey]

My problem? I'm in a family of three kids. Tradition dictates first come, first served.

Gen. I: Squirtle (through LeafGreen) (So adorable. I always name it "Nautilus".)
Gen. II: Totodile (through HeartGold) (CROCODUCK)
Gen. III: Treecko (Favorite starter of all. It's a gecko and it clings to walls and spits seeds at you oh my god so awesome)
Gen. IV: Turtwig (Snapping turtles, whatcanIsay)
Gen. V: Snivy (*ahem* Dapperleaf.)

[Wolfdragon Rex]

If I picked a different starter in HeartGold it'd be Gen 4.2 instead of included with Gen 2 XD

[Doodleshark]

Blue - Blastoise
Gold - Chikorita
Ruby - Torchic
LeafGreen - Bulbasaur
Pearl - Turtwig
Platinum - Chimchar
SoulSilver - Cyndaquil
Black - Oshawott

Recently I've been basing my picks on how many other decent Grass/Fire/Water types are available.

[Kaida]

So because I eventually use 2 or all 3 of the starters I'm going to list them in order of first-last.

1st Gen; Red - Charmander
2nd Gen; Crystal - Cyndaquil
3rd Gen; Ruby - Torchic
Emerald - Treeko
FireRed - Charmander
4th Gen; Pearl - Chimcar
Daimond - Piplup
Platinum - Turtwig
5th Gen; Black - Snivy (This is the first gen where I haven't used the fire starter first time around, also where The fire starter isn't my favorite. Tehpig is cute, had potential and they could have done so much more then another fire/fighting type. I went with Snivy first because at the time I liked Serperior better then Samurott, but after using Samurott I honestly don't know which I like better.)
White - Oshawott

Besides 5th Gen its pretty simple for me. I like my fire types, Charmanders still my favorite of all the starters, followed by Cyndaquill.

[Isis]

I didn't start playing until 3rd gen, so...

Gen 3
Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald: Torchic
Fire Red: Charmander

Gen 4
Platinum: Piplup (I was impressed by the water/steel dual type of its final evolution, though I wish I chose Chimchar now)

Gen 5
White: Snivy (I actually quite like using Serperior, its attacks are actually pretty strong--I've taken out a Durant with it)

[PoisonWing14]

Red - Squirtle
Blue - Bulbasaur
Green - Charmander
Silver - Cyndaquil
Gold - Totodile
Crystal - Chikorita
Sapphire - Treeko
Ruby - Torchic
Emerald - Mudkip
Pearl - Turtwig
Diamond + Platinum - Piplup

As you can see, I have tried using every starter in the first three generations. Once I got to the fourth generation and got Platinum, I really didn't want to use Chimchar. Why? Because, by then, I was tired of Fire-Fighting pokemon.

And, yes, I do have Green version. It's very poorly translated, but I think that adds to the fun of it.