Gen 9 Starters - Discussion/Speculation Thread

[MrJechgo]

Not all bird Pokemon have to be Flying type.

There's also a big problem: Sprigatito would be nerfed... HARD.

Flying is both resistant AND strong against Grass, so Grass's effectiveness to Water would be canceled by the Flying type. Also, Ice is canceled by Water, Rock moves aren't common for Grass Pokémon and Electric moves are pretty much non-existant for them as well ^^;

The idea of starters is to offer a basic type triangle. If one cancels the other's effectiveness, that's not going to work well.

 

[Pokemon Power]

So, in my first Alola playthrough, I chose Litten, and in my first Galar playthrough, I chose Grookey. So I think I'll complete a trio and choose Quaxly.

 

[Endless]

Sprigatito: My favorite so far. Not much to go on besides it being a kitten and leaf-based. I doubt it will stay a house cat throughout the line though. A lynx would be cool although I don't think we should put too much emphasis on the wildlife of Iberia when discussing the possibilities. More than anything I hope it just stays quadrupedal.
Fuecoco: By far the weirdest one. I have no idea why a crocodile would be Fire nor why GF decided to combine a croc with a pepper. I also wonder why they made the face so distinctively apple-shaped in that case. Evolution wise I feel like Fuecoco has the most paths open to it, but I do hope it stays somewhat crocodilian throughout the line when they first decided to make it a croc.
Quaxly: My least favorite at the moment. I don't think it does anything interesting that hasn't been done by other duck-like Pokémon. I don't think it will stay a duck, but rather turn into some different kind of waterbird(not limited to waterfowls). The sailor cap-like crest makes me worried that it will become fairly anthropomorphic as it evolves, something I'm very tired of when it comes to starters.

 

[Lord Godwin]

I'm very surprised that it appears that they finally broke the Chinses Zodiac trend for the Starters. I love Fuecoco, he's the only good starter this gen, however he doesn't fit with any of the remaining Zodiacs other then maybe snake. Time will tell on it's evolutions

Wait for Fuecoco to become a Snake

 

[Beloberto]

Sprigatito: My favorite so far. Not much to go on besides it being a kitten and leaf-based. I doubt it will stay a house cat throughout the line though. A lynx would be cool although I don't think we should put too much emphasis on the wildlife of Iberia when discussing the possibilities.

It is a lynx already, not a house cat. The tail is a dead giveaway, since it doesn't have the typical long tail felines usually have (and every cat pokémon so far has). It has a stub tail, so already lynx/bobcat-like. Since the smilodon had a similar tail, they could end up mashing up both, I guess.

 

[RileyXY1]

There's also a big problem: Sprigatito would be nerfed... HARD.

Flying is both resistant AND strong against Grass, so Grass's effectiveness to Water would be canceled by the Flying type. Also, Ice is canceled by Water, Rock moves aren't common for Grass Pokémon and Electric moves are pretty much non-existant for them as well ^^;

The idea of starters is to offer a basic type triangle. If one cancels the other's effectiveness, that's not going to work well.

Well, this already happened in Gen 4 against Empoleon. Torterra got the Ground type and Infernape got the Fighting type, both of which are super effective against Empoleon's Steel-type.

 

[Endless]

It is a lynx already, not a house cat. The tail is a dead giveaway, since it doesn't have the typical long tail felines usually have (and every cat pokémon so far has). It has a stub tail, so already lynx/bobcat-like. Since the smilodon had a similar tail, they could end up mashing up both, I guess.

I can see where you are coming from but I would not go as far as calling it a dead giveaway, since it is still much larger and significantly more fluffy than any lynx tail. It's shaped quite a lot like Fennekin's tail actually, although smaller.

 

[MrJechgo]

Well, this already happened in Gen 4 against Empoleon. Torterra got the Ground type and Infernape got the Fighting type, both of which are super effective against Empoleon's Steel-type.

You would need a Grass/Rock starter, but doing so would give an extra edge to it by giving it a strong type against Fire...

 

[Ultra Beast Lover]

You know, the starters are starting to grow on me a bit, they're all pretty cute. Guess it'll come down to their moves and types. Fuecoco is kind of like a baby chilly pepper so it'll probably keep that theme.

 

[DannyDiglett]

Not to insult anyone but my first impression about Sprigatito was it looked very fan made. It's feels like I've seen it before, but it seems to grow on me now. Its pink eyes makes me think its final evolution could be Grass/Fairy with a theme around harvest and herbs, in a similar way as Meganium. Like I said in a different thread, I really hope its evolutions stay quadruped. But eventually, I'll pick Quaxly though. It immediately was my preference. I'm also very positive about Fuacoco. It looks so funny!

 

[Ultra Beast Lover]

Sprigatito might be either grass/psychic or grass/fairy, grass/psychic specifically because I believe lynxes were said to have mystical powers. Quaxly could be water/steel, water/dark because maybe it goes rogue, could also be water/fighting. Fuecoco could be just fire, fire/ground, not really sure on this one. I'm kind of hoping Quaxkly's not a water/dark type because we just got Samurott.

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

The water starter seems to be a blue-footed booby rather than a duck. So I think it's final evo could potentially be a navigator/pirate/navy-themed booby.

Wouldn't that mean female Quaxly would lack blue-colored feet? Pursuing the nature of the animal, of course.

 

[DSDark]

Sprigatito might be either grass/psychic or grass/fairy, grass/psychic specifically because I believe lynxes were said to have mystical powers. Quaxly could be water/steel, water/dark because maybe it goes rogue, could also be water/fighting. Fuecoco could be just fire, fire/ground, not really sure on this one. I'm kind of hoping Quaxkly's not a water/dark type because we just got Samurott.

I would think that Quaxly would not become Water/Dark because of sam. I'm hoping Water/Fighting however I'm not starting with it so I don't care. Fuecoco is my starter and I just don't know. I don't want Fire/Ground or Fire/Rock because those would get rocked by Quaxly. However I want Fuecoco to stay a fat croc.

 

[Paraqua]

I'm currently leaning to Fuecoco (I have a soft spot for crocodillians, hence why I like the Feraligatr and Krookodile lines)


My theories for the final evo of this batch of starters go as followed:


- Sprigatito

If the extinct animal trend continues in the grass starters, I could see Sprigatito's final evo being either a sabertoothed cat (Something like Smilodon) or a cave lion that is either Grass/Steel or Grass/Rock type.


- Fuecoco:

While it seems that Fuecoco has broken the Chinese Zodiac tradition since there's not a crocodile in that zodiac group, there's one way it could still represent the snake, which is it's final evo being a combination of the serpent that tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit (Explaining the apple-like features on Fuecoco), the Quetzalcoatl (The feathered serpent deity from Aztec mythology), based on the feather-like protrusions on it's head and some caiman and pepper features. This final evo could be Fire/Flying or Fire/Fairy type.


- Quaxly:

Quaxly's final evo might be a combination of a sailor or admiral and, based on it's blue feet. the blue footed booby from the Galapagos islands and the west coasts of Central and South America. It's final typing could be Water/Flying or Water/Fighting type.

 

[Drake Pokétrainer]

I absolutely adore Sprigatito and Fuecoco. Quaxly is alright but it makes me think too much of a Ducklett with fancy hair.
Then again, it's all about the final evos, so I'll see which one I'll pick. Currently I'm mostly leaning towards Fuecoco though.

 

[Bus]

I'd like to make a longterm prediction that I can circle back to see how wrong I was later. There's not a ton to go off of for these starter pictures, so fair warning that all these will likely be HUGE stretches in terms of reasoning.

Sprigatito - Guessing this guy may end up being Grass/Fairy. It's not a lot to go off of, but I'm taking that 'Sprig' part of his name and thinking its referring to 'Spriggan', a type of forest spirit/creature. Granted, the mythology it springs from is more Irish/Scottish, but I did preface this by saying my guesses would likely be stretched for reasoning. (Keeping my fingers crossed it stays quadrupedal and becomes a sleek Lynx of some kind).

Fuecoco - aka the newbie everyone is immediately attached to. I initially thought he looked like an apple (which seemed strange since we JUST got Appltun) but some people have pointed out he looks like a Pepper which makes a lot more sense. With a more aggressive species its based on, maybe it'll become based on a Conquistador, in which Fire/Steel would be my guess for final evo.

Quaxly - Nobody cares. Ok, I'm kidding, I'm sure a few people are smitten with him lol. Some people are thinking Conquistador for him due to his hat looking like a sailor's hat, but a Conquistador wears a metal helmet that looks nothing like that, so it would have to shift QUITE a bit to go from hat to helmet. I'm inclined to go with my friend's initial opinion that it looks like a bull fighter's hat. In which case, Water/Fighting would be my final guess.

 

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Honestly I hope all the starters are mono type but their HA give them secondary stab instead. Or at the very least avoid bad defensive typings for second type like Fighting.

In terms of the actual starters? Initial impressions all of the Cat, the fire one looks a bit too goofy looking and the Duck is fine I just want a really cool looking water bird for the final evo

 

[Thornmacen]

I think it might be possible for Fuecoco to evolve into a Baryonyx. They were a dinosaur species discovered in Spain that looks like croc mixed with a trex.

 

[Nave]

So I've been thinking about the popular theory around starter themes; with fire corresponding to the Chinese Zodiac, Grass corresponding to prehistoric or extinct animals, and Water corresponding to warrior/soldier archetypes.

Now, there are some starters that don't quite fit, particularly with Water with Primarina and Feraligatr. But it's cool they seem to have a loose theme for each of the types.

Looking at it now, the way Quaxly holds its wing reminds me of the cape of a matador. Maybe when it evolves, the wing will look more like the muleta. Like some people have said, the hair of the Duckling looks like a matador's cap, but it could also evolve to look like a sailor's hat or conquistador's helmet. Whether it becomes a bullfighter, Navy sailor, or conquistador, that fulfills the warrior/soldier archetype.

It would be pretty cool if Sprigatito evolved into a lynx for its second stage, and a sabretooth tiger for the final stage. That way, it would turn from a house cat (area of least concern) to Iberian lynx (endangered) to sabretooth tiger (prehistoric/extinct). That would fulfill the prehistoric/extinct animal archetype.

Fuecoco probably has the most potential for going in a different--unexpected--direction, and not fitting the Chinese Zodiac archetype. So far, the only animal signs that have not been used are Ox, Snake, and Sheep/Goat. They could have used a fire-breathing bull to foil the matador, but it looks like they didn't go in that direction (that's not to say we won't see a fire-breathing bull in this region). So the only logical option seems to be that it loses its limbs, and becomes a Snake. However, they already did that with the Serperior line, and we've already had a crocodile starter with Feraligatr. So, while the Fire starter has the most potential for trying something new and creative, it also has the highest probability for a retread.

 

[MrJechgo]

Honestly I hope all the starters are mono type but their HA give them secondary stab instead. Or at the very least avoid bad defensive typings for second type like Fighting.

Gen 8's starters were... kinda hated due to being mono-typed ^^;