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How important are nicknames to you?

Nicknames?


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I always love naming my Pokémon; it gives them a bit of personality, or sometimes just a fun reference or joke. I named my female Garchomp in Platinum Majora due to sheer power she had, for example.
 
I used to absolutely hate nicknames, but after a Nuzlocke run of Platinum I grew to really like nicknaming the Pokemon I use on my teams. I usually end up nicknaming a majority of the Pokemon I catch now for ingame just in-case I might use them.

I really don't like silly names at all, they're dumb. Sometimes I just give them names of characters from games, books, shows, historical figures, etc., that I like, but I've gotten into the habit of giving really formal, proper names.
 
I'm not really a fan of nicknames, I've even done uncapped names e.g. turning PIKACHU into Pikachu back in gen 5 because of OC problems.

Maybe if I made good teams in the future, I'll probably reconsider having them sometime. But when it comes to trading, I'd prefer having the pokemon's species name.
 
Yeah, I got to have nicknames on all the pokes I use. Obviously I don't nickname all the boxes full of them I get when I breed, but the ones who end up useable all get nicknames.

But, they have to be good nicknames. I have been stuck by the name rater for half an hour whilst trying to figure out a good nickname, searching the internet for a suitable reference to name it by, leaving for lunch, coming back and finding that I'm still at the name rater. And then I go "wtf why i doe dis i so dumb". Eh, worth it. Most of the times it goes a lot faster.

I try to make either punny or referential names, but most importantly: intimidating, badass names for cutemons and cuddly, awww-inducing names for (psuedo-)legendaries and the like. Bow in fear before Mr. Tweetums, the Pokémon of Destruction! (Yveltal)
 
If I caught/bred something and I plan on using it, I will give it a nickname. It's also the reason I don't often use some of the cool things I have that I can't nickname (that and none of them fit my playstyle anyway).
I think my favorite set of nicknames I've used is my Vaporeon and Sylveon, who are named Yukiteru and Yuno. For those who don't catch that reference, they are named after the main characters in my favorite anime, Mirai Nikki.
 
If I caught/bred something and I plan on using it, I will give it a nickname. It's also the reason I don't often use some of the cool things I have that I can't nickname (that and none of them fit my playstyle anyway).
I think my favorite set of nicknames I've used is my Vaporeon and Sylveon, who are named Yukiteru and Yuno. For those who don't catch that reference, they are named after the main characters in my favorite anime, Mirai Nikki.
Does that make Jolteon Minene?
 
Anyone ever heard of an old game called Eternal Eyes? It's a highly unrecognized gem for the Playstation that I compare a lot to Pokemon. You make your own team of three and play though the game with them. They can even evolve, though it's handled a lot more differently in this game.

Anyway, I've gotten into the habit of naming a lot of my Pokemon after characters you can recruit in Eternal Eyes. Here are a few examples.

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My Rampardos I named after the Lizadon1.JPG
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My Garchomp I named after the Rich2.JPG (Garchomp always looked a little bit like a reaper to me.)
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My Rhyperior I named after the Crusher3.JPG (My favorite character from Eternal Eyes.)
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My Xatu I named after the Dogu 24.JPG
There's even more! When I finally breed them, I'm highly considering naming even more monster after Eternal Eyes characters. For example, there's this slug monster called a Pikuchi that I think would be a neat name for a Dunsparce. There's a mist monster called a Phew that I think looks a little bit like Musharna. And there's this monster called a Moh that I think looks extremely like Wigglytuff.
 
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Nicknames are vital, how else would you distinguish yours from everyone else's? It also becomes a fun challenge when you try to come up with clever names, or name several along a theme (e.g. I tend to name Fire-types after volcanos, Electric-types after stars, fossils after paleoartists...)
 
naming pokemon is ridiculously hard for me because i'm really, really picky, so usually the majority of my pokemon go unnamed except for my main team, or pokemon that i develop a special attachment to. my pokemon can also 'earn' the effort it takes me to pick out a name, too, kind of like how i nicknamed my lucky d20. :P i didn't used to, but there was a pidgeot that 'earned' his name after i managed to solo the E4/champion with him, and since then i've sort of made a point to name all my stand-outs 'in his memory' because i'm apparently some kind of ultranerd.
 
I always nickname mine, but sometimes it is hard to come up with a name. My default is to various media figures from books, tv, movies, fables, etc. Don't know how creative that is though. Or I have some science theme like Nuclear disaster (like Wisteria the Vileplume or Graupel the Kyurem).

Sometimes I get a really good one though. My current favorite is Beetlzebub the Mega-Pinsir and Segway the Gogoat.
 
I feel that nicknames are the thing that allows you to individualize a pokemon *you* caught or bred. It's what separates it from a random traded 'mon with no sentimental connection.

Like, for example, getting a ditto safari specifically so that you could nickname your VGC-legal competitive imposter ditto "U scarfed, bro?"
 
I never really cared for nicknames while growing up playing RSE, but I've started to get a little creative over the years. I didn't have the mental capacity for that sort of creativity back then. I also didn't want to give generic names that you would also give to people, so I figured there was really no point in doing anything until lately.

I believe that when you nickname Pokémon, you should give meaning to and put thought into your Pokémon's name because it is your companion. Pet names were nice for a while like 'Sparky' the Arcanine or 'Thaddeus' the Lunatone, but making names one would find straight up in an RPG or in ancient text sound a lot more exciting to experiment with.

Either that or general silliness. I wish there were more characters available for use when nicknaming your Pokémon so I can just breed a Dry Skin Parasect for battle and name it 'KILLIT!KILLITWITHFIRENOW!!!'. I'll probably pair him up with a Flash Fire Chandelure named 'FEEDMETHEIRSOULS!THEYBURNSOEASILY!!!'.
 
I've nicknamed all my Pokemon ever since I first played Pokemon Red, although my nicknames back then weren't exactly awesome - creativity is limited when you're five years old :p I name the Pokemon I use on my initial playthrough, and afterwards I name shinies, Pokemon I breed for battling, and even Pokemon I only use for utility, like my Talonflame. My nicknames probably haven't got that much more creative though. I can rarely think of a really nice name but I'm pretty happy with Korra the Lucario and Ruby the Talonflame. At least they're mine.
 
I try to nickname my pokemon if I'm trying to use them specifically for a use other than battling online. For example, in RSE, and D/P/Pt I nicknamed all the pokemon I had used in any contests.

Sometimes if I get really bored I'll go through a game on "Anime-mode" where i don't evolve any of them and need to think of a storyline surrounding each team member. I'll try to think of a nickname for each one.

Or an Oddish. Every single time I play though with a pokemon from the Oddish-line, I'll nickname it LSD, because for some reason It'll always know Acid when I catch it. (although in order to justify it, I then need to nickname everything else in my team...)
 
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