My parents were the type who said "You must buy this yourself if you want it", so I didn't get a game until LeafGreen (though I stole my friends and played them at racquetball tourneys), but I generally choose the grass type (though I cheated and used my sister's FireRed to get them all), but for Platinum I chose Piplup, even though penguins are kind of evil. Normally though, it's grass.