Gen 8 Starters Evolution and Secondary Typing Predictions

[Beloberto]

Also I never viewed Primarina as a humanoid like the other recent starters. Doesn’t stand on two legs!

Maybe humanoid is not the right word. Maybe "humanesque"? The thing with the last 2 gens is that they have too many human features, not necessarily human bodies.
I don't like Gen VI starters, but I admit the RPG classes were a nice novelty when they did it back then. When Gen VII starters were revealed to also follow a similar concept and have "monsters with a job", it already felt like "oh, they are doing it again? Ok". If Gen VIII follows, I am pretty sure it will reach the breaking point and the trio will not be well received by the fandom (I can tell Sobble becoming a simple big lizard sounds much more appealing to me than it becoming a "lizard with a job").

And not just that, Gen VII actually seemed to delve deeper into the concept. I love Incineroar to bits, but I can't really look at it and imagine it as a wild pokémon. Nor Primarina and Decidueye. Rather than that, they look closer to "Cosplay Pikachu": a pokémon who was domesticated and gave a specific trait by its human owner. I look at Incineroar and it looks like I am seeing the "Wrestler Incineroar" variation, and the pure wild Incineroar remains unseen.
Gen VIII should definitely take a step back before things get out of track.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

Honestly Primarina and Decidueye are pretty animalistic (aside from Primarina's hair of course). Decidueye in particular is proportioned very much like some real owls, its just that how vertically they can stand does make them look more humanoid. Its "hood" that's part of its body isn't really much different than features many other Grass types have.

 

[Golden_Latias]

On the other hand, some may argue that the big animal starters of the past are to simple and "safe" in design, and GF designs the starters the way they do now in order to appeal to more people. Especially since a lot of the starters of the past were also very gender neutral. The way the starters are designed now makes it more likely at least one of them would probably appeal to you. Consider Incineroar, for example. It's a tiger, it's a Fire type, , it's humanoid, it's very tough and masculine looking, and it's a wrestler. If you like tigers, wrestling, Fire types, tougher looking Pokemon, or humanoid Pokemon, then Incineroar would probably appeal to you. Compared to Charizard, who's just a basic fire-breathing dragon and would only really appeal to you if you like either dragons or Fire types. And the former is probably a hell of a lot more people than the latter.

The problem is that the reverse is true, as well. Add more elements to a Pokemon, and there's a larger chance there will be something about them that turns you off to them. A lot of people don't like humanoid Pokemon, so Incineroar isn't going to appeal to those who don't. Whereas Charizard, again, is just a basic fire-breathing dragon. It's a very "safe" design, so it isn't going to be as controversial (sure, plenty of people hate Charizard for its popularity, but that has little to do with its design).

Different people have different tastes and different Pokemon that appeal to them. To go back to what I said earlier as an example, a lot of my favorite Pokemon tend to be ones that are very elegant or feminine in design. Some non-starter examples include Gardevoir, Milotic, Mienshao, Froslass, and Roserade. In the older generations, there really were no starter options that were elegant or feminine except arguably for Blaziken (yes, I know Meganium is feminine, but it's still a big, lumbering dinosaur and therefore not elegant, so it doesn't count). The past two, arguably three, generations, have had an option for a more elegant, feminine starter.

While I don't mind simpler designs, odds are if I don't like the animal, I'm not going to like the Pokemon. Which is why I'm fine with them doing the starters the way they do them now. Maybe there will be something else besides the animal they're based on that will appeal to me. Also, I've always preferred it when GameFreak takes risks than when they play it safe.

But this is all just me.

 

[ReneEnjolras]

I think my dream types would be:
Fire/Ground, Fire/Steel or pure Fire
Grass/Steel, Grass/Psychic or Grass/Ground
Water/Dragon or Water/Poison

 

[44OUNCESODA]

So my predictions are
Grookey - grass/fighting
I think grookey is based off of the squirrel monkey that's native to England they're thin and quick and he also has a stick maybe it'll be a weapon?
Scorbunny- fire/fighting or fire/electric it has that band-aid on it's nose like a fighter but it's description and the trailer shows it being really quick so fire/electric seems plausible, but I almost don't see gamefreak giving a starter an electric typing because it just doesn't seem like it fits.
Sobble - water/dragon
I definitely think sobble will be dragon just because of how they described him as wimpy and shy so I feel like he's going to go from shy to really strong. I can see it fitting in with the anime as well. Plus he's a chameleon it'd be awesome, but I'm scared gamefreak also wouldn't make a starter a dragon type for some reason

 

[RileyXY1]

So my predictions are
Grookey - grass/fighting
I think grookey is based off of the squirrel monkey that's native to England they're thin and quick and he also has a stick maybe it'll be a weapon?
Scorbunny- fire/fighting or fire/electric it has that band-aid on it's nose like a fighter but it's description and the trailer shows it being really quick so fire/electric seems plausible, but I almost don't see gamefreak giving a starter an electric typing because it just doesn't seem like it fits.
Sobble - water/dragon
I definitely think sobble will be dragon just because of how they described him as wimpy and shy so I feel like he's going to go from shy to really strong. I can see it fitting in with the anime as well. Plus he's a chameleon it'd be awesome, but I'm scared gamefreak also wouldn't make a starter a dragon type for some reason

I think that a starter can get an Electric typing.

 

[Prof. SALTY]

I think dragon is way more unbelievable than electric.

I love Incineroar to bits, but I can't really look at it and imagine it as a wild pokémon. Nor Primarina and Decidueye.

I mean, wrestling in the wild makes more sense than conkeldurr holding man-made looking pillars in the wild. Animals play fight all the time. I can see all 3 as wild creatures with no issue.

 

[paipr_christian]

I think it’s mainly because those are the most speculated Types

That's kinda what I mean, why are they the most speculated?

I mean I kinda get the /Fighting (while also not getting it) as everyone sees a monkey or bipedal/athleticish animal and assumes it must end up /Fighting.

But why Grass/Ground. At first Grass/Rock was the go to, but then Grass/Ground quickly replaced it as one of the go to.

 

[Orphalesion]

Isn't Grass/Rock (and I presume Grass/Ground, since people associate those two types and it's a less awful type combination than Grass/Rock I think) just so frequently speculated about right now because Grookey is banging on some rocks in the trailer?

I know it's a pretty flimsy reason, but I guess that where the idea comes from/

 

[paipr_christian]

Isn't Grass/Rock (and I presume Grass/Ground, since people associate those two types and it's a less awful type combination than Grass/Rock I think) just so frequently speculated about right now because Grookey is banging on some rocks in the trailer?

I know it's a pretty flimsy reason, but I guess that where the idea comes from/

I know that's a big part of the Grass/Rock. Which is why I'm confused as to why Grass/Ground is the more common one. I get the association and how that may lead to some folks saying Grass/Ground instead of Grass/Rock. But from what I've seen most rumors/fake leaks are Grass/Ground more often than Grass/Rock.

It's just kinda confusing.

 

[silicon]

Personally, I’m hoping that Scorbunny’s line will be pure fire, as I’ve hoped for the fire line to be for three gens now.

It’s just a personal annoyance that there have been 3 lines of both water and grass starters that stayed pure while only one fire line stayed pure. I’d like to see that leveled out. I know it’s not going to happen, but that’s what I’d like.

 

[Golden_Latias]

I know that's a big part of the Grass/Rock. Which is why I'm confused as to why Grass/Ground is the more common one. I get the association and how that may lead to some folks saying Grass/Ground instead of Grass/Rock. But from what I've seen most rumors/fake leaks are Grass/Ground more often than Grass/Rock.

It's just kinda confusing.

Exactly where are you finding those suggesting Grass/Ground for Grookey?

Grass/Fighting and Grass/Rock seem to be by far the most common suggestions for it, and I think that's only because of it pounding the rock with the stick + a lot of people have hopped on the gorilla train.

 

[paipr_christian]

Personally, I’m hoping that Scorbunny’s line will be pure fire, as I’ve hoped for the fire line to be for three gens now.

It’s just a personal annoyance that there have been 3 lines of both water and grass starters that stayed pure while only one fire line stayed pure. I’d like to see that leveled out. I know it’s not going to happen, but that’s what I’d like.

But to truely level it out the other two starter types need three lines of the same type combo.

All three starter types repeat 1 type combo 3 times, thus far. For Grass and Water, it's mono Grass and mono Water respectively. For Fire it's Fire/Fighting.

Personally I want to see new unused combos in starters for starters. Hence my frustrations with all the fake rumors and leaks about a Grass/Ground Grookey Evo. That type combo is already a starter (and sadly only is only used in that one starter).

 

[silicon]

While I agree I’d probably eventually like it to even out with each starter having a dual type repeated three times and all having 3 monotype lines, I’m much more annoyed by fire starters lacking monotype lines. Saying “it’s okay that fire has fewer monotype lines in the starters because they have had three fire/fighting lines” is utter bull to me, as dual types have an intrinsic advantage over monotypes. That’s why I continue to hope for the fire starters to stay monotype each gen. I never think they will, but I can hope until the reveal that they are dual type comes.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

If dual types have an intrinsic advantage of over mono types then why would you want any of the starters to end up with them? Its not like making a Fire line pure Fire now will do anything to the fates of past mono starter lines that ended up not being very useful competitively.

 

[paipr_christian]

Exactly where are you finding those suggesting Grass/Ground for Grookey?

I'd say most of the 'leaks and rumors' I hear about from various youtubers mention Grass/Fighting or Grass/Ground.

Honestly it's frustrating even if they are fake. Cause most of them suggest Fire/Electric or Fire/Fairy for Scorbunny and Water/Dragon or Water/Ghost for Sobble.

It's like why do Scorbunny and Sobble inspired fun type combos. But Grookey only gets rehashes of already used Grass starter combos.

 

[Golden_Latias]

I'd say most of the 'leaks and rumors' I hear about from various youtubers mention Grass/Fighting or Grass/Ground.

Honestly it's frustrating even if they are fake. Cause most of them suggest Fire/Electric or Fire/Fairy for Scorbunny and Water/Dragon or Water/Ghost for Sobble.

It's like why do Scorbunny and Sobble inspired fun type combos. But Grookey only gets rehashes of already used Grass starter combos.

I mean, people can only speculate in what's been shown, and so far, there hasn't been much suggesting it would be anything else other than Grass/Rock or Grass/Fighting. Unless maybe you want to fixate on the whole Grass growing back thing, which could point toward Grass/Psychic or Grass/Fairy.

But I think there could be some bias in play, as well. While all three starters seem pretty well-liked, Grookey is definitely the least popular of the three by far. Also, the fact that twe've already had a primate starter in Chimchar may be diminishing some excitement for Grookey. Naturally, people are going to fixate on their favorite starter and show some favoritism, so more people liking Scorbunny's and Sobble = more people speculating exotic type combinations for them.

FWIW, I think Grookey has also had by far the best fake evolutions of the three. Like... I legitimately have yet to see a good fake Scorbunny's evolution, and I've seen a few good ones for Sobble, but not as many as Grookey.

 

[LeHarrt]

Im hoping that Grookey's evolution keeps the tail.
But i can see it evolving into Grass/ Fairy being a Pygmy Marmoset and would fit the theme that this gen will have a feminine Grass Starter, but might not fit the music theme.

 

[paipr_christian]

I mean, people can only speculate in what's been shown, and so far, there hasn't been much suggesting it would be anything else other than Grass/Rock or Grass/Fighting.

A: that's what I'm getting at. Fake leakers are speculating beyound those two types with many suggesting Grass/Ground for some reason, more often than Grass/Rock.

B: Additionally why is Grass/Fighting an option to speculate on based on what's been shown? I mean it's not like Grookey fights something at any point. It doesn't use it's stick as a weapon, it uses it as a tool to either scare Sobble and/or make grass grow. And the small description we have says it's mischievous which sounds almost more /Dark type to me than /Fighting.

 

[firepanda]

B: Additionally why is Grass/Fighting an option to speculate on based on what's been shown? I mean it's not like Grookey fights something at any point. It doesn't use it's stick as a weapon, it uses it as a tool to either scare Sobble and/or make grass grow. And the small description we have says it's mischievous which sounds almost more /Dark type to me than /Fighting.

Like I said, people are guessing Grookey is going to be the 'bulky' starter. There's usually one in every generation, and it's obvious how a monkey can bulk up (i.e. into a gorilla).

If you have to give a secondary typing to a bulky gorilla, Fighting, Ground and Rock are obvious choices.

• Pokemon of those types often have decent defensive stats.
• Gorillas are muscular, terrestrial animals.

I think it's really unimaginative thinking.