Starter Discussion & Thread

[Endless]

Do you guys think that maybe liften will look better in game with animations? The leaked concept art is meh...

Probably. As other users have mentioned GF has already said that they put a lot of attention to movement when designing the new pokémon.
That said , we aren't comparing to regular stock art this time, but to reference art which also has the purpose of showing off movement.

Very true. They are designing with 3D in mind. We got a bit of that in XY, but that was still a transitionary period for them.

It's funny. In Gen 1, they made the sprites first, then Sugimori based his official artwork on those. Now we get in-depth Sugimori art, which is the basis for these 3D models.

Do you have any source of that? Basing character designs on sprites seems like an incredibly odd move, and we already have a bunch of old concept art that never made it into the games.
I don't mean that the sprites couldn't have been made before the final art, but I find it very hard to believe that the final art wasn't based on rough sketches that would predate the sprites either way.

 

[JVLightningLover]

Probably. As other users have mentioned GF has already said that they put a lot of attention to movement when designing the new pokémon.
That said , we aren't comparing to regular stock art this time, but to reference art which also has the purpose of showing off movement.

Do you have any source of that? Basing character designs on sprites seems like an incredibly odd move, and we already have a bunch of old concept art that never made it into the games.
I don't mean that the sprites couldn't have been made before the final art, but I find it very hard to believe that the final art wasn't based on rough sketches that would predate the sprites either way.

I know that I heard that somewhere before, but I've been searching and can't find anything to support it. My bad.

And I meant that the official artwork came last, not that there weren't any sketches ahead of time.

 

[Dragon Pulse]

I still hope Rowlett follows the flightless bird concept and becomes Grass/Ground in the end
It should go grass/flying -> grass -> grass/ground
Like how cool would that be

Simply becoming pure Grass in its secondary stage would not make any sense. If it were to change typing from Flying to Ground (which I'd like for Rowlet's second split evolution if the rumors are true), it'd likely to be: Grass/Flying → Grass/Flying → Grass/Ground.

 

[Sabre_King]

I honestly do not expect the starter evo's until October. In the past the evo's are normally saved for the month before the game comes out or the month the games come out. Corocoro seems to be focused on rockruff next month, which still leaves a chance for the starters in the trailers, but the company likes to leave the starters til the very end. Most likely we will learn about rockruff, and possibly more trial captains and another Kahuna, as well as a couple new pokemon and Alolan forms in September, leaving the biggest secrets of the games for October and November. Personally I think the company has done a lot better marketing then they did back when X/Y were coming out.

 

[shadowF]

Assuming this leak: http://pokejungle.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/image.jpeg

is real then could Litten3 be fire/dark or fire/fighting? Which one do you guys think would make much more sense? I mean Litten3 is a wrestler so it corresponds with fighting but it does give a dark vibe as well. Also do you guys think it would be cool if all 3 starters were good for competitive battling? I can see Popplio3 being used in competitive fighting but that is because water/fairy. Here's hopping Liten3 and Rowlet3 are very good in the competitive battling scene and are OU in the smogon rankings.

 

[B. Thunder Tiger]

Assuming this leak: http://pokejungle.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/image.jpeg

is real then could Litten3 be fire/dark or fire/fighting? Which one do you guys think would make much more sense? I mean Litten3 is a wrestler so it corresponds with fighting but it does give a dark vibe as well. Also do you guys think it would be cool if all 3 starters were good for competitive battling? I can see Popplio3 being used in competitive fighting but that is because water/fairy. Here's hopping Liten3 and Rowlet3 are very good in the competitive battling scene and are OU in the smogon rankings.

Everyone says that Litten3's final evo is likely a Fire/Dark due to its concept showcasing a Heel theme.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

I'm probably not going to use a starter this time around. I'm not a fan of the leaked designs and there is already a fire and grass pokemon I want to use, and potentially a water I'd probably use

 

[Wadeledge]

I loved Rowlet when he was first revealed and I must say I'm also in love with Robinhoot.

 

[BlitzGirl41]

You do realize that it would be extremely difficult to incorporate Hawaiian into the names of every starter right? Hawaiian doesn't have many letters in it and is mostly made up of vowels. Take owl for example, which is 'pueo' in Hawaiian, or archer which is 'pana pua'. Sure they can make it work, but the likely-hood of them giving the Hawaiian theme to all the starter's final evolutions names isn't really high. Plus, the only starter with french in it's name in 6th gen is Greninja, I believe. Coming from 'Grenouille' which is french for frog, and ninja. The others are mostly English. Nor did the Unovan starters have completely English name origins in other languages despite being in a region based on America.

Obviously I need to clarify my statement. I love the fact that we are getting an owl starter. I've never had any issues with the animals that the starters are based off of versus the inspiration for the region. My issue is names. "Robinroot" just is god-awful to me and I hate that it sounds like "Robin Hood". Design is one thing. Names are another matter entirely. I never once said that the Alola Pokemon need to be given Hawaiian names - many human characters are given them, however, which makes more sense.

 

[clbgolden12]

Obviously I need to clarify my statement. I love the fact that we are getting an owl starter. I've never had any issues with the animals that the starters are based off of versus the inspiration for the region. My issue is names. "Robinroot" just is god-awful to me and I hate that it sounds like "Robin Hood". Design is one thing. Names are another matter entirely. I never once said that the Alola Pokemon need to be given Hawaiian names - many human characters are given them, however, which makes more sense.

I don't get it. Then why don't you like the name "Robinhoot"?

 

[Nunn]

Obviously I need to clarify my statement. I love the fact that we are getting an owl starter. I've never had any issues with the animals that the starters are based off of versus the inspiration for the region. My issue is names. "Robinroot" just is god-awful to me and I hate that it sounds like "Robin Hood". Design is one thing. Names are another matter entirely. I never once said that the Alola Pokemon need to be given Hawaiian names - many human characters are given them, however, which makes more sense.

Since when was the name confirmed?

 

[JVLightningLover]

Obviously I need to clarify my statement. I love the fact that we are getting an owl starter. I've never had any issues with the animals that the starters are based off of versus the inspiration for the region. My issue is names. "Robinroot" just is god-awful to me and I hate that it sounds like "Robin Hood". Design is one thing. Names are another matter entirely. I never once said that the Alola Pokemon need to be given Hawaiian names - many human characters are given them, however, which makes more sense.

Robinhoot isn't its name, or at least we can't confirm that it is. Also, I don't see why the Starters need Hawaiian names. Pokemon names are usually localized to fit the target country(s), not necessarily the Region the games take place in. I mean "Blastoise" isn't derived from Japanese, now is it?

 

[BlitzGirl41]

Robinhoot isn't its name, or at least we can't confirm that it is. Also, I don't see why the Starters need Hawaiian names. Pokemon names are usually localized to fit the target country(s), not necessarily the Region the games take place in. I mean "Blastoise" isn't derived from Japanese, now is it?

Even if "Robinhoot" is not canon/real, I still don't like it. And, again, I not once said that Alola starters needed Hawaiian names. At all. So I don't get where that is coming from.

 

[Lykouros]

I mean "Blastoise" isn't derived from Japanese, now is it?

No, but I think their point is that some names sound incredibly forced, and they are hoping the official names aren't so. Robinhoot, while obviously a fan term, sounds painfully like Robinhood. Meanwhile, Blastoise is a combination of Blast and Tortoise in a way that doesn't sound obvious. Charizard is a combination of Char and Lizard. Venusaur is a combination of Venus Fly Trap and the -saur suffix. Swampert. Sceptile. Blaziken. All of these sound relatively natural.

We don't have Blastoise being called Waturtle, Oshawott being called Wotter, or Charizard being called Blazeard. Although, we do have Talonflame which I'm still not used to. Puns are fun but they have to be done right lest everything starts to sound like a Fakemon game.

They also literally just said this:

I never once said that the Alola Pokemon need to be given Hawaiian names - many human characters are given them, however, which makes more sense.

 

[clbgolden12]

And, again, I not once said that Alola starters needed Hawaiian names. At all. So I don't get where that is coming from.

Well, I'm pretty sure your initial complaint on Robinhoot was that Robin Hood isn't a Hawaiian tale, so...

 

[League]

Everyone says that Litten3's final evo is likely a Fire/Dark due to its concept showcasing a Heel theme.

I looked up "heel" to see what this had to do with anything. Glad I did.

Personally I liked the name "Beltigre" that went around and was pushed by the faked leak-dex.

Obviously I need to clarify my statement. I love the fact that we are getting an owl starter. I've never had any issues with the animals that the starters are based off of versus the inspiration for the region. My issue is names. "Robinroot" just is god-awful to me and I hate that it sounds like "Robin Hood". Design is one thing. Names are another matter entirely. I never once said that the Alola Pokemon need to be given Hawaiian names - many human characters are given them, however, which makes more sense.

I don't get it. Then why don't you like the name "Robinhoot"?

Robinhoot isn't its name, or at least we can't confirm that it is. Also, I don't see why the Starters need Hawaiian names. Pokemon names are usually localized to fit the target country(s), not necessarily the Region the games take place in. I mean "Blastoise" isn't derived from Japanese, now is it?

Even if "Robinhoot" is not canon/real, I still don't like it. And, again, I not once said that Alola starters needed Hawaiian names. At all. So I don't get where that is coming from.

No, but I think their point is that some names sound incredibly forced, and they are hoping the official names aren't so. Robinhoot, while obviously a fan term, sounds painfully like Robinhood. Meanwhile, Blastoise is a combination of Blast and Tortoise in a way that doesn't sound obvious. Charizard is a combination of Char and Lizard. Venusaur is a combination of Venus Fly Trap and the -saur suffix. Swampert. Sceptile. Blaziken. All of these sound relatively natural.

We don't have Blastoise being called Waturtle, Oshawott being called Wotter, or Charizard being called Blazeard. Although, we do have Talonflame which I'm still not used to. Puns are fun but they have to be done right lest everything starts to sound like a Fakemon game.

They also literally just said this:

Well, I'm pretty sure your initial complaint on Robinhoot was that Robin Hood isn't a Hawaiian tale, so...

Her claim is ultimately that "Robinhoot" feels to her quite forced. I agree but think that, if they want to go with a "Robin Hood" motif, they could profitably do so if they focus on the "Hood" part, a hood being a necessary element in falconry (which is simply the training and employ of birds of prey including owls), which could very well be a thematic and design element for Owl3, would not (necessarily) be as forced, and would sound like "hoot" to boot.

 

[BlitzGirl41]

In the end, I suppose my least favorite Pokemon names are those that are heavily referencing an individual's name. For example, I hear that Empolean is supposed to reference Napoleon. So, not a fan of that. But I love the punny ones that reference their type and the animal they are based off of. Just...no fictional character/historical individual references, please. That's really my only complaint.

 

[Alexander18]

In terms of the starters BST in their final forms, it should be at least 500 and I estimate it be about 540-560 BST. I be sincerely glad when Rowlet remains part Flying in it's final form.

 

[Inconspicuosaurus]

In the end, I suppose my least favorite Pokemon names are those that are heavily referencing an individual's name. For example, I hear that Empolean is supposed to reference Napoleon. So, not a fan of that. But I love the punny ones that reference their type and the animal they are based off of. Just...no fictional character/historical individual references, please. That's really my only complaint.

So you don't like Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee or Kangaskhan either? Even Snorlax's Japanese name is partially based on a nickname Kōji Nishino had before its creation. Pokemon has always drawn inspiration from the real world. Real animals, real places, even real people. I don't see what the difference is between making a pun on an animal that doesn't exist in the Pokemon world, and a person. Neither should make in-canon sense, but they're still awesome.

Personally, I love the name Robinhoot, and whilst it's unlikely it will be, I'd be happy if that was Rowlet3's official name. I mean, it is clearly at least partially based on Robin Hood, and as a Brit I'd love some English lore to find its way into Pokemon.

 

[BlitzGirl41]

So you don't like Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee or Kangaskhan either? Even Snorlax's Japanese name is partially based on a nickname Kōji Nishino had before its creation. Pokemon has always drawn inspiration from the real world. Real animals, real places, even real people. I don't see what the difference is between making a pun on an animal that doesn't exist in the Pokemon world, and a person. Neither should make in-canon sense, but they're still awesome.

Personally, I love the name Robinhoot, and whilst it's unlikely it will be, I'd be happy if that was Rowlet3's official name. I mean, it is clearly at least partially based on Robin Hood, and as a Brit I'd love some English lore to find its way into Pokemon.

Technically speaking, "khan" is a title, not someone's name.

Not sure why people are giving me a hard time about this. We are all entitled to our own opinions and likes and dislikes. I only listed a name that I don't like, regardless if it is fake.