Short version: Help me pick a Unova starter.

Long version: Caught the Pokemon bug when it was big, cut my teeth on Blue, replayed Yellow constantly, got Gold, picked up Emerald, got caught in the nostalgia waves of Fire Red and Heart Gold

Then things petered out for a while as I got older and tired of the formula, and I've been away from the series ever since. I probably would have skipped Gen VI, too, if not for a bunch of my friends getting X and Y. So I'll join the crowd, and I'll even go back a generation and give myself a bit of a brush up with the more traditional style before jumping into the 3D overhaul. I've also had several of those same friends creaming their pants over how great Gen V was supposed to be. Gen V is must-play by their reasoning.

But what do you guys think of the Unova starters? I know everyone is irritated by Fire/Fighting, but I've never used it before. Mudkip was my Emerald starter (and he wound up so hilariously powerful that the game was a joke), and I skipped Sinnoh completely. Then again, I like Samurott's design because it's so goofy with that beard, and I've always liked serpent Pokemon. I just never could make much use out of them. I didn't know what I was doing with Arbok, and I didn't have the patience as a kid to grind my way up to Dragonite.