First off, can you please tell us about the starter's final evolutions that were revealed?
I'd like to make a note here:
Yes these are real because of the Chinese Leaks. But please listen when I say this, the Chinese Leaks are 100% true
for the starters not always true everything else because when you look at the discord leak headings, they're different for other "leaked" information.
Decidueye
Well, much of us were surprised about Decidueye in the end because its typing changed from Grass / Flying to Grass / Ghost. We all expected it to keep its secondary typing and I thought it'll just get hammered down by Ice Shards or whatever. I guess many wanted it to keep its Flying typing but I do think that Ghost benefits it more than some realizes. I also love its animation: Spirit Shackle and I understand that the arrow launches right onto the Pokemon's shadow to trap them. This Pokémon is able to move about while completely masking its presence from others. Once an opponent has lost sight of it, Decidueye seizes the chance to attack it unawares. In a tenth of a second, Decidueye plucks an arrow quill from within its wing and sends its hurtling toward its target. "Its
speed is astonishing, but not more so than its precise aim, which enables the arrow quill to pierce a target through and through from half a mile or more away!" Let's take a look at its qualities firsthand:
- With its Flying typing gone, Decidueye loses its Stealth Rock weakness.
- It loses its 4x weakness to Ice-type attacks.
- In exchange of having an immunity to Fighting- and Normal-type attacks now.
- Now neutral to Poison and Rock-type moves.
- There is most likely a chance it'll have access to recovery and of course, I'm thinking that it'll get Roost anyway.
- It is likely that Decidueye will be a fast Pokemon based on its description on the Pokemon website. I'm assuming that by "astonishing," we're talking about around base 115 Speed stat if not, then around Gengar's Speed instead. But nonetheless, it's hinted this thing will be quick and we certainly don't have many fast Ghost-types other than Gengar and Rotom right now.
- We all know that it gets a typing just like Gourigest and Trevenant, but I think this Pokemon "might" serve its purpose of being more useful against Ground, Water, and Rock matchups for Ghost.
- It seems to be a physical attacker as we know so far. GameFreak did reveal Spirit Shackle to be a physical attack so I guess there's a big chance that'll be a physical Grass / Ghost Pokemon. I do hope it's mixed so you can utilize more than just a physical set so you don't have to be "completely" vulnerable to burns and Intimidate.
- Such a nice design.
Interviewer: Are there any possible downsides you see with this Pokemon?
Misaka: There's a couple. If not, there's a few.
- While Decidueye looks good on paper, Spirit Shackle isn't all that "great" because it's more like a dumb-down version of Shadow Tag. The opponent is still able to switch into a more threatening Pokemon that can counter Decidueye because switching has priority over the move. If it was more of Pursuit + Shadow Tag together, then that I can understand. Or even make it something to the fact that the move even prevents other Pokemon from Volt Switching or U-turning out as well. The move is just...like any other attack I suppose. You'll just end up luring in a Pokemon that'll enjoy getting trapped by the move (check / counter). All I'm going to say is, I hope it gets Perish Song or something because that would come in handy with Spirit Shackle and the opponent can't switch out the same turn as Decidueye can.
- Um, I'd say that even though Grass / Ghost has "almost" perfect coverage. I said almost because it still gets heavily walled by the likes of Bisharp, which is no bueno.
- Well...many Dark-types will crap on it anyway but let's see what happens when the metagame for Gen 7 comes out.
- I hope it gets something such as Tinted Lens...or some other relevant ability like Super Luck or Sniper (two abilities that are actually fitting for a Pokemon that utilizes arrows).
Incineroar
Those of you who said it'll be Fire / Fighting or Fire / Ground (laughing), you're completely wrong of course. Like, can you not? I did know its typing was Fire / Dark because (I don't remember which site I found it on despite me listening to more credible sites such as Serebii and the Pokemon website) but they did say that
"It likes to play dirty and use cheap tactics to defeat its opponents." Definitely sounds like a Dark typing to me. If that's not it, I have no idea what else it would be and I was entitled to this for a few months. I did wish for it to be Fire / Poison as well (even if we do have Salandit; we have Primarina and Tapu Fini with th same revealed Water / Fairy typing so I don't think it matters what other Pokemon have that typing already). My goodness Incineroar is so cute. It's like nurturing a a tiny pet cat into a big cat! I might name him Flame Kitty. Anyway, back on the real topic at hand:
- Darkest Lariat mainly acts like a Sacred Sword / Chip Away attack.
- Ugh, I can't wait to use this starter In-Game.
- "If a crowd watching it battle is pumped up, Incineroar’s fighting spirit will burn brighter." Learning possible Fighting-type moves? If so, please give it Bulk Up + Drain Punch.
- Of course Incineroar looks to also be more of a physical orientated Pokemon as well.
- Could be used to also help Fire-types with a couple of their matchups? *Shrugs*
What are some issues I have with it?
- I don't really think that Incineroar will be able to have its place on a team because Fire- and Dark-types have a lot of relevant Pokemon that are needed against some matchups.
- I don't see it having any sort of impact on the metagame honestly.
Primarina
Even by looking at designs you can tell what kind of typing it'll have, as we know that Primarina was meant to get Water / Fairy typing. I would say that Primarina will be more of a defensive Pokemon. As you know, the majority of Fairy-types have a great Special Defense so I can expect that this siren will be able to tank some special attacks. I guess it's nice but then you're giving a Pokemon competition with others *cough*
Azumarill but there isn't really much I can say about this thing here. I would say that its description could hint us to a couple of speculations on what we might have or get in the future.
"Since Primarina controls its balloons using its voice, any injury to its throat can become a grave problem. Its greatest enemies are arid environments and the overuse of its voice during back-to-back battles." Hyper Voice + Pixilate anybody?
- Sparkling Aria.....I literally have no idea what goes through your mind GameFreak. Nobody wants to heal their opponent's burn condition.
- Its description on Serebii and the Pokemon website kind of hint us that its hidden ability may be Pixilate? I mean, it does tell us that Primarina about it singing and using its voice so I'm pretty positive that it'll get Hyper Voice.
- Can possibly considered to be specially defensive and have a good HP stat.
- Not sure but its offensive presence might be pretty decent.
Problems
- Primarina looks to be pretty slow. I'm not expecting this siren to be fast.
- Seriously going to be facing competition with Azumarill and Tapu Tini for a spot on a team and I can safely see it losing. I mean, I fear Huge Power + Choice Band Azumarill on Water and Belly Drum Azumarill on Fairy more than I do this so I can still kind of see Azumarill overtaking Primarina's role as a Water / Fairy.
- If you're going to be specially defensive, then there's a chance that you're not going to be bulky physically. Then again, I'm subject to be wrong about it.
Just nothing much to really say about these other starters and their impact on the game.
Interviewer: Can you please tell us about your opinion on the Island Guardians?
Tapu Lele
Congratulations GameFreak! Good job making Psychic-types even more annoying and hateful to me. You don't surprise me with with this at all because they're a popular type with like 8 newly released Psychic-types this generation and my god you just broke the barrier when you released this thing. I do like the fact that terrains are being utilized more often but this is kind of ridiculous that Psychic-types are getting a lot of very good tools to make use of and certainly, I wasn't expecting this at all. "
Tapu Lele scatters glowing scales that physically affect others—providing stimulation to their bodies and healing their illnesses or injuries." Sounds like it can be a potential cleric with Heal Bell, Healing Wish, etc. Judging from other descriptions that it has, this Pokemon will definitely be an annoyance on Psychic-type teams. I would assume it could possibly...replace Mew on and off and you'll see why below. It does have a cute design so I can't complain about that!
- Tapu Lele's ability: Psychic Surge stops priority moves from happening. That means Bisharp's (along with others that tend to use Sucker Punch) is nullified and that really helps Psychic-types against Dark matchups. It'll have to rely on Knock Off now and because of that Bisharp can't check those that have Choice Scarf like Victini, Mega, Hoopa-U, and Medicham. It makes Bisharp easier to get around. Doublade can't use Shadow Sneak against them on Ghost or Steel. Mega Scizor is unable to use Bullet Punch to pick off any weakened foes either. This also applies to Fairy-types as well (in my opinion is kind of needed on that type to check Mega Scizor). Azumarill can't use Aqua Jet after setting up Belly Drum if it was a Psychic vs Fairy matchup. Mega Pinsir has to rely on Aerilate Frustration over Quick Attack against them. Mega Lopunny can't use Fake Out for chip damage. Diggersby also utilizes Quick Attack too (because I like Choice Band so much). Weavile and Mamoswine can't use Ice Shard either. I think that Psychic Surge only affects moves that have increased priority. It's certainly unknown if it affects Pokemon that have access to Prankster. But I think it's just priority attacks that deal damage in general and this could really turn over some Psychic matchups.
- "With this in mind, it tends to prioritize not losing a battle over actually beating a foe, and it's skilled at strategies such as inflicting status conditions on opponents." Definitely makes me think that Tapu Lele will have Thunder Wave and Will-O-Wisp (of course it'll have Toxic as well). This is going to be very annoying to those that are physical attackers and faster Pokemon.
- Psychic / Fairy typing does give it a neutrality against Dark and I can see it facing competiton from Gardevoir. But overall, I can see Tapu Lele replacing Gardevoir on Fairy-type teams. Even Psychic teams, now that Tapu Lele opens up a Mega Evolution spot for Mega Medicham.
- Also softens the Fairy vs Steel matchup a bit but Steel still poses a huge threat to it.
- Overall, Psychic gets strengthened with more support.
What problems do I see from this?
- Psychic clearly becomes more of a threat and have less fear against other Pokemon that poses a threat to Psychic like Bisharp.
- It makes some matchups a bit easier to get around.
- Doesn't look like it'll have a great Speed stat.
- I'm going to say once the metagame begins to set it, Tapu Lele will probably be suspected (and possibly banned) and I hope it does, it's ridiculous.
Tapu Fini
I was hoping for Tapu Fini to have a Ghost / Fairy typing. I wasn't able to see it in full view until the trailer was released. Would say it could have been more helpful on Ghost-types because of course, their matchup against Dark-, Dragon-, and Fighting-types will strengthen. Misty Terrain will definitely benefit Ghost-types because I assure you that (for some odd reason) Ghost is cursed or something because I get haxed a lot by status. x.x Its Fairy typing would have made it helpful I'm not sure how useful it'll be on Water-types but it can help with Swift Swim teams that don't enjoy status I guess? I can safely say that Kingdra wouldn't enjoy being paralyzed for example. Again, it'll pretty much face competition from Azumarill because (highly doubt) that many people would run two Water / Fairy Pokemon. I'm not sure how relevant its place will be but certainly we'll find out soon next month. Nothing in the descriptions that'll give us some hints on what it can possibly get.
- Misty Surge can definitely help Water- and Fairy-type teams avoid status moves. Can possibly be very helpful.
- Makes me think of a clam + sword fish mixed together.
- Another Pokemon that has a neutrality against Steel-types now.
What problems do I see?
- Its relevancy on the teams with Azumarill in its way. There's also Primarina as well.
- I don't see it'll be that fast either.
- Not Ghost / Fairy, I cry.
- Not sure whether the use of Dragon-type attacks on Water will really benefit anything (because Dragon attacks are cut in half). Not sure if Kingdra would like that anyway because it gets affected too when the user of Misty Surge uses a Dragon attack anyway.
- Nothing to really discuss about with this Pokemon.
Tapu Bulu
Figured this might have been Fire / Fairy but oh well, it's Grass / Fairy. Guess that's not a shocker. I think it's probably the worst the Tapu out of the others at first glance. Maybe
juleocesar can find some sort of use for it on Grass-type teams. Grassy Surge...I have a problem with that. I utilized Grassy Terrain on Monotype Grass (and Poison a little) during the X / Y era and it was okay. I find it annoying how Grassy Terrain's ability recovers
both you and your opponent's health 1/16 every turn.
"It can use this power on its own horns—which are made of wood—changing their shape or making them larger." Sounds like it can get Horn Leech. I think I saw that in the trailer anyway.
Because of this, it makes a loud ringing noise with its tail to alert those nearby of its presence. Sounds like it can possibly get some sort of sound move? Anyway, Whimsicott will still probably hold more use over Tapu Bulu because of Prankster and I would prefer it over this in my opinion.
- Grassy Surge increasing Grass-type attacks, giving them a bit of support at the cost of increasing health for both sides each turn.
- It looks like it has a sombrero over its head and its design reminds me of Mexico, which is neat.
Problems I see here.
- Whimsicott will most likely be used more over this.
- The problem here is that with Grass / Fairy, Tapu Bulu is more vulnerable to weaknesses compared to Whimsicott.
Interviewer: What about your opinion on the Cosmo Pokemon?
Cosmog
Good grief this thing is cute. I'm not totally sure what to think about this Pokemon but it's "rare" in the Alola Region so they say.
"At one time, it was known only by the kings of Alola and their heirs, and it was called “the child of the stars.” "The Aether Foundation is researching this unusual Pokémon." This make me believe that it'll have an important part to the Gen 7 Storyline (I know, it's not really relevant to the metagame but I can't necessarily think of anything until we get more information later on). But I do have this weird feeling it deals with Lunala and Solgaleo. Bur we'll have to wait and find out more about this Cosmog.
Right now no opinion on its impact to the metagame.