In every new set of pokemon in the games I always went for the starters that can do special HMs.
Like for the first season I went for charmander because it can fly when it evolves into charizard. For this season I went for Piplup because it can swim. My 2 favorite HMs in the games are Fly and swim. I always try to look for a starter pokemon that can do fly and if it can't I chose one that can swim.
when i first got pearl , i was thinking of getting a piplup , but then i remembered that veryone always gets piplup. so i chose chimchar, and i eventually got all three starters. =)
Well, considering that Turtwig is, well... a turtle, it obviously wouldn't be fast. Rocket science, eh? And Piplup looked all cute, but evolves into a part-steel... Steel-types tend to be slow. So the choice was pretty clear for me.
I chose Chimchar! =P
I drop by every now and then... I shall never be just a memory! *cackles*
... Not back to the regularly scheduled thread... ^^;
I chose Turtwig because I wanted to get through the game quickly, so that I could start the competitive part sooner. But if I would have known that Infernape actually ties with Swampert for the "Best Competitive Starter" award, I would have chosen Chimchar.