How important are nicknames to you?

Nicknames?


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Except for legendaries, it's a pretty big deal for me. It's pretty easy to get shinys or competitive IVs from trades or wherever now, but if they can't be nicknamed I don't do it. Especially shinys - if I see a non-named shiny I just feel like it was downloaded from somewhere. In gen6 I haven't named the legendaries, but back in the day I did (JellyBelly the Palkia....)
 
In a normal run, the only thing I will nickname are Slowbro (Polygon) and Slowking (Kotaku). However, I'm doing mono-type runs and blogging about them, so I use thematically appropriate nicknames.
 
I only nickname my pokemon once they're ready for competitive play, I see it as kind of an "inauguration" to my squad of competitive pokemon ;P

Plus it gives me time to think up an appropriate name for them, I'm terrible with coming up with names from scratch. If I didn't have time to brainstorm all their names would be sooo awful.
 
nicknames give Pokemon of the same species uniqueness (at a glance) for example, I used a jumpluff for something in Gen 5 and I loved that jumpluff. But in Gen 6 I bred a competitive jumpluff, I love the one from Gen 5 alot more but if I didn't nickname him I wouldn't really be able to tell the difference between the two.
 
I feel like nicknaming my Pokemon makes them tools and not individuals. Doing so would make me feel bad for each one, so I hate doing so. I won't nickname so I don't get too attached to them.
 
It would be nice to have some of my Pokemon nicknamed to my choosing, but they are not overly important. Lately however, I've grown more and more attached to the idea of nicknaming my own Pokemon, but again, not a huge deal if they aren't. I'm pretty bad with names, anyhow. u_u
 
I nickname all of my competitively trained Pokemon, but I always try to make my nicknames witty instead of just random. (Examples: Fun Guy the Breloom, Ribbit-kun the Greninja)
 
I have thought about this some more, and I feel nicknames are somewhat different for me by comparison with most people on this thread. A lot of people here seem to use nicknames to increase the connection they have with their Pokemon, much like why people in the real world name their pets. For me it's a chance to show off my originality, to come up with really original nicknames. I try to avoid giving the same Pokemon the same nickname twice (but, yeah, if I'd ever tried breeding and getting fifty boxes full of the same Pokemon, maybe that would change...)
I think that's a valid sentiment re: nicknaming. I never used to do nicknames much myself until Gen III, and ever since then, I've enjoyed trying to figure out a clever reference/play on words/funny joke/cool-sounding name to bestow on a Pokemon after I catch/hatch it. I think it's a fun creative process. :) The process of naming itself adds to the attachment I feel towards my little collection of pixels, too, which is great.

Another nickname method I like and occasionally use now is the ProJared method, which is basically just picking a random letter and then making sounds with your mouth until a name comes out. Names like this can be weird, but they can also make your Pokemon feel utterly unique. That I feel makes the bond with your Pokemon that much stronger, because that 'mon has your name that you made up. Like, there was no Nuptup before Jared's Nuptup, and now she's become the mascot for his whole YouTube channel because she ended up being just that stand-out a character.

Naming themes can be interesting too, just to see what you can come up with within the bounds of the theme. I still tend to prefer open naming, but I've done a Nuzlocke with a naming theme before and it was great fun.
 
I almost always nickname my Pokemon. Even if I won't use them and seal them in a fate worse that death that is being kept at a PC without ever being used, it's still quite fun to give some Pokemon nicknames IMO.
 
I tend to nickname pokemon if I have several of the same species so I can tell them apart at a glance. Like my two Blastoise, Breaker and Unbreakable.
Breaker is the sweeper, and Unbreakable is the spinner.

I also have two Greninja, Genju and Taiju (lolNaruto)
Genju is special and Taiju is physical.

Plus just my random Talonflame Avenger because he is a fantastic revenge killer.
 
I'm pretty bad at choosing nicknames, so for the most part I stay far away from nicknames. Still, when an idea gets stuck in my mind, I don't hesitate to use it. If I were a tad more creative/confident, then I'd probably use nicknames more often, since I love nicknames in general.
 

dwarfstar

mindless philosopher
In story mode, I only really nickname the ones I have a reasonable expectation of using for a decent period of time (barring Nuzlockes, naturally). I absolutely do have to name everything I raise up to competitive specs, though (even the ones I know I'll never actually use). Most of those are either named for close friends of mine or Star Wars references; names in the latter category range from the obvious (Mustafar the Heatran) to things that you'd only get if you read the novels (a whole bunch, including a Starmie named Adegan, a Zygarde named Tyvokka, and about five Sceptile named Wroshyr). Sometimes I'll just throw out something weird if it fits, and any Grass/Poison Pokemon have to be named for something cannabis-related (college sophomores can be twelve too, thank you very much).
 
I enjoy nicknaming pokemon but I only do it for play through teams and pokemon I use. To me, Roserade will always be Aria, from X, and Infernape will always be "CHIMpCHAZ" from my playthrough of Diamond when I was 6-7. And Talonflame will always be Sharkiesha, the girl that brave birds your face.
 
I like the thought of nicknaming, as it adds a sense of personality to the Pokemon. Gives you a sense of attachment, and a depth of friendship with a Pokemon. You don't want it like all the rest, right?
 
I've always liked nicknames, although the degree to which I like them tends to vary.
I'm a firm believer in the idea that every unique Pokemon I own should get a nickname; that is, the first Pokemon of an evolution I get is nicknamed. I tend to nickname on a theme; the theme varies through each playthrough. My Y playthrough had characters all named after Game of Thrones characters (Jaime the Aegislash, Brienne the Blastoise), while Black 2 had League of Legends characters (Viktor the Magnemite, Zyra the Roserade). Sometimes, the themes get messed up; my recent Ruby run had Pokemon named after types of coffee, and my Diamond run was made up of bizarre, mash-stylus-randomly-on-the-screen names. Even the weird themes, though, give me names that stick; I'll never forget Espresso the Ninjask, or QUSPNYWNY the Jolteon.
Nicknames are cool. They give your Pokemon a unique flavor, unlike anything else, and it's a part of Pokemon that I could never do without.
 
If I am going to use a pokemon, it MUST have a nickname. Sometimes I get a good 5IV pokemon in a trade, but end up breeding a new 5IV pokemon from it just so I can have one with a name.

I don't usually give nicknames to pokemon that I know I won't ever use.
 
I used to try to name every pokemon I caught. Now I usually name pokemon I use frequently, and they're usually taken from classic literature that fits them. Or Latin names.

Like I'm trying to hatch a shiny ralts right now, and if it's a female I plan on naming it Titania (Taken from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, she was the queen of the fairies.)

If it is a male, I'll name it after across-dresser in literature, like that one dude from The Count of Monte-Cristo.

But sometimes I just give them badass names.
 
I nickname everything I plan to use. I only nickname unused mons or legends if something strikes me as irresistible. "Irresistible" to me, though, is often really stupid and cheesy. I'm a stupid and cheesy person, though, so it's cool.

Like, maybe naming your Mewtwo U2 is a tad insulting? Firebird the Moltres? Yeah? Oh well. Slightly better than an old mon that haunts me: "Draggywaggy" the Dragonite. Oh god.
 
I rarely nickname my Pokemon. Sometimes I will come up with something for one of them, but usually I can't come up with anything. I doubt I'll ever nickname anything I've bred that I intend to Wonder Trade, as I'm fully expecting the receiver to use it as breeding fodder.

That said, I'll nickname each of the Unown after the appropriate T2 Gaia Memory from the Kamen Rider W (Double) movie. For example, the D shape gets nicknamed 'Dummy'. The ? and ! shapes get nicknamed in the symbols they represent. As for 'Mons I actually use, I nicknamed my female Eevee Katie and while as a Sylveon she's not the best around I still love her to bits. Perhaps a Nuzlocke would coerce me to give nicknames more often outside of it...
 
I nickname my Pokes after cartoon/anime/video game characters that I really like. For example, Jiraiya for Greninja, Ed for Slowbro, and Zankantou for Aegislash.
 
I've gotten into the habit of naming every Pokemon I plan to use. I often name them after video game characters or in-jokes involving my friends.
 
My first game of Pokemon was on a Japanese Pokemon red, as Japanese is my first language. Since then I've converted pretty entirely to english, but i kept a soft spot for the Japanese names. For that reason, one of the first things I do each new gen is memorize the Japanese names of all new pokes and nickname all the pokes I catch their Japanese names. Not exactly original, but takes me back to my roots of playing Pokemon as a child
 

CrushinDefeat

Defeat me if you can... Survive if I let you!
In regards to nicknames, I think nicknames as many others have said above me just adds another layer to the bond someone can have over certain Pokemon. I think that nicknames further strengthen the desire people have over certain Pokemon. I've nicknamed a few Pokemon before and I felt that I had more of a connection with the Pokemon because they weren't the generic names that were given. They were names that I chose that made me really feel more closer towards my team. I also feel like nicknames referencing different things such as TV Shows, Videogames, Cartoons, Actors, ect also define they trainer's personality in a way as well.
 
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