Again, two parts - so I can make a more general point.
Part 1 - Team Sizes
Or, “Why I’m only listing up to 6 Pokémon for each character”. This is effectively what I’d headcanon as the character’s on-hand team. For instance, Kaito probably has a huge number of Pidove, but they’re trained for magic, not for battling.
It also saves me headaches ^^’
Part 2 - Kaito’s Team Explanation
Okay, so if you see this and you’ve not looked through my blog, my team for Kaito is Murkrow / Carbink / Golduck / Roselia / Kadabra / Joltik
Although it’s not his first mon, Carbink was the first Pokémon I selected for Pokéverse Kaito. The rationale is that in a Pokéverse world, Kaito isn’t looking for Pandora, but the legendary Diancite (Hence the blog name). The Diancite isn’t as strong as Pandora (It doesn’t give immortality - it simply makes the holder able to get very rich... and would also give someone access to the stunning power of Mega Diancie). Either way, blood has been shed over it. The one consistent trait of people looking for the Diancite is that they have to have a Carbink use Moonblast on the gem concealing the Diancite in order to actually obtain it - so Carbink was needed on Kaito’s team.
The second mon was Murkrow, which is Kaito’s first. Murkrow is, to a degree, the embodiment of a lot of Kaito - the thief, the prankster. I do like the presence of both Murkrow being the bearer of ill fortune, as well as a Pokémon with the ability Super Luck. And, naturally, it’s a Prankster.
Kaito’s third was Roselia. Roselia is very clearly an analogue for Kaito’s magic - she’s a walking rose, who Kaito habitually pulls out of thin air. Roselia (In particular Kaito’s) tend to be quite show-offy, which fits the part of Kaito’s personality that’s always seeking attention.
Fourth was Golduck. Golduck came from Kaito’s urge to not have to travel by boat everywhere, and a distinct desire to not have a fishmon. Golduck has a few advantages - perhaps I should blame Psyduck for this - but they always seem relaxed, whilst they also have some surprising psychic powers. Kaito would likely speak with Golduck when he feels like he needs to be grounded - if only to calm down.
Fifth was Kadabra. Kadabra is another embodiment of magic - this time more advanced tricks than Kaito’s roses, Kadabra is the team brain, able to plan for events happening before they happen and adjust accordingly.
Final mon selected was Joltik. I’ll be honest on this one - Joltik I picked because the idea of a Pokémon deciding that Kaito’s hair has more static electricity in it than a wooly jumper makes me smile. Also, sometimes having every mon be a pure personality thing can be silly ^^’
One thing that I noticed when I finished Kaito’s team was that it wasn’t that evolved. Roselia, Kadabra, and Murkrow are all strong for being not fully evolved (And two of them used to be fully evolved), so I internally dropped the matter, because they were also useful metaphorically.
Murkrow and Roselia are both Evolutionary Stone Evolutions. If Kaito and the Pokémon wanted to, he could very easily find one of those stones and apply a five fingered discount. However, he doesn’t - I like the symbolism that he won’t steal for his mons, and that he keeps his two lives (Carbink excluded) as seperate as he can mange.
Kadabra is also interesting - it’s a trade-based evolution. And quite frankly, I can see him being terrified of trading away Kadabra, even for a moment - I mean, he’s already lost his father (And his clean criminal record, should he ever be caught).
One of the big things a Pokéverse is that Pokémon can be used as an identification. For instance, it’s not hugely likely that two trainers will have the same team - especially when one trainer is 16 and the other is 6. Put simply, the mons would give Conan away. Ran would notice if he ever used them - I’m often grumpy that Clark Kenting works, I outright would refuse to believe it’d work with mons.
I can see several possible ways to handle this;
Shinichi shrunk, and people who meet him w/his mons would know - such as Ran, who was able to confront him in the Agasa household (where he still had his team on them). This fixes one of the most annoying DCMK canonical status quos, but it then opens up new issues (Obviously he wouldn’t be able to use his mons - perhaps Agasa would look after them?). Actually that makes there less issues. Let’s go with that :D
A minor variant on the above would be that Ran never sees Conan with his older team - he doesn’t panic and offloads them. Agasa still looks after the mons, but Ran doesn’t know who Conan is. Maintains status quo.
Shinichi never shrunk. He’d probably still have an attitude problem, but I should imagine that would eventually be grown out of - admittedly at a slower rate than as Conan, but that’s a given.
Things are happening before Shinichi could potentially be shrunk - littledetective runs a Cone in a similar manner. Simplest option, run it pre-canon.
So... yes, a Shinichi within a Pokéverse could work - although Conan wouldn’t be able to use the mons if Shinichi was shrunk (Lest Conan find himself receiving a lead injection through the cranial region)
Incidentally, if you want to RP with me as a shrunken Shinichi, lemme know if you’re okay with Kaito knowing who you actually are :3
Part 2 - The Team
Okay, this is arguably the easier bit - but it takes longer xD. No particular catch order here - just ideas as they flow. I’m using Scenario 1 above as my basis
First mon is an old headcanon, and it’s Chimecho. Chimecho can be said to be the leading light for Shinichi - that’s quite literal, given that Chimecho will wrap itself around Shinichi’s arm and use Flash (Think Shonen Tanteidan Watch :D). Almost certainly a gift from Ran - we’ve known Ran to use Teru teru bōzu before, so it’s likely that she would believe in the power of the furin. Chimecho is very likely based on a furin, and furins are said to expel evil spirits, and hearing one would prevent anything unfortunate from happening. Unfortunately Shinichi is still a murder magnet, but it was worth a shot.
Okay so.... what comes next? I think Shinichi needs a scent tracker. Normally people opt for a puppy here - but none were inspiring me. Know who would be interesting? Sawsbuck. Already learns Odor Sleuth, and is a similar size to Gogoat - there’s not much of a better tracker than one which you can climb onto the back of.
Next (Intruding into my Ran Pokeverse headcanons) I would think Shinichi would have a Huntail - naturally Ran has a Gorebyss. It might have made sense to have them reversed (Huntail is about strength - a theming usually reserved for Ran, whilst Gorebyss is based on a defensive item and is more likely supposed to represent defensiveness and protection), however I enjoy the symbolism of Ran promising to fight for Shinichi, and Shinichi promising to protect Ran.
Okay, so that’s 3/6. I think one of the more well known and recent Shinichi quotes is on sharks and detectives. However, I dislike type stacking - however, there is a Pokémon who’s dex entry is “ It never allows its prey to escape.” and has appropriate visual thematics. Welcome Garchomp to this headcanon’d team :D
So far we’ve emphasised a lot of his happier traits, but he’s also got some darker points as well. For instance, he bottles up emotionally - he’s only ever seen crying in the movies, and he’s always hiding. Almost like he keeps up an emotional mask - and I think a Yamask would represent this very well. Also deals with the team all being FE, which was starting to worry me just a wee bit.
Last mon I’d like to be representative of soccer - however Nintendo never made a mon that’s really suitable (Otherwise their Striker Trainer Class would all have one). The closest for me are between Hitmonlee and Hitmontop. Really, both work here, but I prefer Hitmontop (Technician sounds like the sort of ability that someone as accurate as Shinichi with footballs would use, rather than Hitmonlee’s Reckless.... although that would also work ¬¬).
Final Notes
Well, if you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading my stream of consciousness. Obviously I don’t claim to be the authority on Shinichi Pokéverse stuff - but I wanted to give you a brief insight into how I select Pokémon. Kaito’s mons were selected in a very similar way to this.
Perhaps later I’ll reanalyse my choices - for instance, the fact that my Kaito has 2 Pokémon that haven’t evolved because they haven’t been exposed to the correct stone (Kaito is trying to separate his life from his night job and wants to avoid stones) and he hasn’t evolved Kadabra (Trade-only, fear of losing someone close to him) only made themselves appear later. The subconscious is a wonderful thing~
