Locormus, I actually thought they were real since the Mallow leak... Or at least for a while now. But those details in the descriptions basically confirm it for certain.
Keep in mind lots of starters have bigger leaps from second to third stage than first to second. Charmander, Piplup, Snivy, Oshawott, Chespin, Froakie... The fact that these guys are moving towards what the leaks look like is enough to prove it in my opinion, even if it isn't perfectly in the middle.
Yeah, I was thoroughly convinced months ago. I don't think that Charmander, Piplup, Snivy or Froakie took all too big of a jump from stage 2 to stage 3. Charmeleon basically only grows larger, changes color a bit and grows a pair of wings, Serperior is just a more refined snake compared to Servine. Empoleon is a refined and larger upgrade to Prinplup, with the crest becoming a trident. I think from the ones you mentioned only Oshawott and Chespin deserve to be on that list, as Chesnaught is not chubby like Quilladin and we all know that Samurott looks nothing like Dewott aside from having whiskers.
but they don't for starters. That's more of a think for electric rodents and some legends, and also in those cases it's not that they're sticking random Japanese words in the english where they're not in the Japanese, but just keeping the japanese name. Also, pikachu is more onomonapeoia, not proper words. pika=sound effect for electrecity chuu=kiss sound effect. not sure off the top of my head what pachirisu's from.
Pachi is a sound effect iirc, but risu means squirrel. And whether it is a sound effect or not, it's still a Japanese sound effect..
Not really seeing the connection between Torracat and Tiger Mask, but the other two are plain as day. This easily the best batch of starters since Hoenn, design wise.
Now the question remains if they'll have day/night forms.
Torracat has:
- Extremely powerful cat-punches.
- A will to fight, will battle relentlessly and causes opponents to lose the will to fight (Litten3 has the "Come at me bro!"-stance in the leaked art).
- Torracat's forepaws are very big like Litten3's and its forelegs are
toned with a bit more muscle.
- It fires off attacks from the flame-sack
bell, much like how Litten3 fires off attacks from the flaming part of its
belt. It would probably be the same organ doing the attacking.
As for day/night exclusivity, I'm beginning to doubt that. These just work so perfectly with the ones that we've gotten that I almost can't see them thematically branching into two different sets. Everything about Torracat leads to Litten3 and everything about Brionne leads to Popplio3. There's barely anything that suggests that
thematically, there could be a flipside, when the groundworks for those should already be present in these forms.
Look, with Dartrix, I could see that "snobbiness/birdbrain" paragraph meaning something thematically, but other than that, it gets a lot of focus on "it's a great knife thrower, look at how everything it does with its precision projectiles is awesome!" That's the clear theme. Torracat has a small bit about having its mane being a sensatory organ.. but is that enough to warrant a split evolutionary form, it's not a thematic difference? Brionne is all about the dancing, but has a small bit about how it's always cheery and positive, which I also don't think is enough thematically to completely warrant a split evolution. But what if they are? Who knows, I don't. But I just don't see it at the moment.
- Snobby Owl vs. Archer Owl.. I don't know what Snobby Owl would be like thematic-wise.. Bland really..
- Sensative mane Litten3 vs. Wrestler Tiger.. Perhaps Sensative Mane Litten3 could be Fire/Psychic.. Would be a drastic change, but thematically it isn't there in Torracat.
- Cheery positive Popplio3 vs. Dancer/Singer/Popstar Popplio3. Perhaps Cheery/Positive Popplio3 could be a clown? But I doubt it, the theme isn't there in Brionne.