Judge a Pokémon Express: Gen 9 Starters
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heritage
Pokémon generation nine, Scarlet and Violet, are upon us! And with that, people are prepared to make the oh-so difficult choice of choosing one of three adorable Pokémon hoping to be your loveable partner! This is a decision that will probably never be easy. What did our panelists pick?
| Sprigatito | Fuecoco | Quaxly |
| Click on the images to reveal everyone's thoughts! | ||
zee
I have never really been big on cat Pokémon. From Meowth to Purrloin to Litten, it's just never really been my thing. However, someone at Game Freak must've known, so they said: "Lettuce make it a Grass-type because that will certainly get Zee to pick it". Well, Mr. Game Freak, you win this round. Jokes aside, it really is adorable, and I love the simple and goofy design it has. There are absolutely no thoughts in that head, which is exactly what I think of when I think about how cats behave in the real world. I imagine domesticated Sprigatito are hard to keep off the couch though, since the spray bottle will only be half as effective. For the love of god, just let this thing stay cute and don't make it stand up and I think it'll grow to be one of my favorite starters in recent generations. Not gonna speculate too much competitively, but cat Pokémon are known for getting Fake Out, so maybe a chance we'll be seeing its final form in doubles play this year?
Band
What really stands out to me about Sprigatito is the name. First of all, it's just cute to say, especially in my native language. Gatito sounds a lot like "gatinho" in portuguese, which means "little cat". I also really like the association with spring, which indicates its evolutions might have flowers incorporated into their designs, which I'm all for. Flowers are super morphologically distinct from one another, and it's one of the main ways species are differentiated and classified taxonomically. Any flower is fair game here, but I can see Sprigatito's evolution two main paths: a sneaky, mischievous, almost seducing path, or a more friendly and playful route. A rose would be perfect for the first one, as roses are associated with love and passion and are one of the most iconic flowers out there. With the cute route, Sprigatito could incorporate more friendly-looking flowers like daisies into its design, which I would love. But my favorite idea is probably the least original of all: make it grow cattails! It's just the perfect pun in my opinion, and would bring a fun twist to the otherwise basic ideas of roses and daisies.
Itchy
Contrary to popular belief, I am NOT a catgirl, or even a cat person. But, if I were a Paldean child, I would have chosen Sprigatito without question, since it was the one starter that appealed to me in the initial trailer. I always go for the cute starter, which has not always worked out in the past—looking at you, Emboar and Delphox. I hope that it gets the Popplio treatment and gets a glowup when it evolves, but that might be asking too much of the Game Freak design lottery. If they do mess up Sprigatito's final evolution, I'm open to jumping ship; now that I have had time to process all of the starters, both Quaxly and Fuecoco are growing on me already.
churine
When Sprigatito was first shown off in the trailer, I immediately thought to myself that Game Freak literally just took Fennekin and made it the Grass starter, so much that I legitimately didn't realize that it was supposed to be a cat, not a fox or canine. Out of the three starters this generation, this one is probably the most boring, and it feels a little too soon for another cat starter; we literally received Litten two generations ago, and I'm speaking as someone who spams cats with meows and nyas everywhere. However, Sprigatito is easily the most worrisome starter, as if the comparison between it and Fennekin was not enough, the question on seemingly everyone's mind including my own is whether or not Sprigatito will stay on all fours. While I didn't bet my profile pictures or any material possessions, I truly hope that Sprigatito stays on all fours like a real-world cat or at least won't turn into some anthropomorphized college sports mascot animal like some of the past few starters have been like Cinderace or Inteleon. If Sprigatito becomes a jaguar of some kind, that would be best case scenario, as those are top-class animals, and we don't really have a jaguar Pokémon as far as I'm aware; the closest might be Landorus-T. Like with any first-stage starter, there's lots of potential with this Pokémon, but there's also so much that can go wrong here, especially if recent trends with starters are any indication.
Aaronboyer
Sprigatito seems like the most generic starter Pokémon we've had for at least a decade. You swap Sprigatito's green color palette for any other color, and I guarantee you couldn't correctly guess it was a Grass-type. All of that aside, Sprigatito is all about playfulness and pure heart, unlike most other cat Pokémon (Meowth, Glameow, Purrloin, Litten), which are more sinister. I'm hopeful that portion of its design carries through with the rest of its evolution line and given a unique secondary type; otherwise, Sprigatito will be the umpteenth Grass starter to be tossed aside in lieu of the much more imaginative and lovable Fire and Water starters.
Swiffix
Pepper lizard! Truly an amazing concept. My only complaint is that it is very, very unlikely that Fuecoco's evolution will get the unique dual Fire and Grass typing (given that it's a starter and all), which is what I always thought a pepper-inspired Pokémon would be. Not the biggest deal—maybe Game Freak has other plans for a Grass- and Fire-type mon, and maybe they'll come to fruition this gen.
Back to Fuecoco. This Pokémon gives off such goofy vibes and reminds me of characters like Olaf and Donkey—it's probably the big front teeth, wide smile, and empty eyes. I'm going to deviate from the popular opinion and say that I really hope its evolutions remain bipedal. Just look at Krookodile and Feraligatr's epic design. I'm not too sure what a crocodile Pokémon that walks on all fours would resemble, but I'm not too thrilled by the idea. Whatever the outcome, this adorable little pepper is so precious, and I can't wait to use it in my second playthrough—I might just decide not to evolve it if I dislike the rest of the line u.u
Pikachu315111
Fuecoco gang represent! Anyone who knows me shouldn't be surprised; I always go with the Fire starters. "So, what are your thoughts about their final evolutions becoming bipeds?" One, Fuecoco is already a biped, if anything it'll be a surprise it becomes a quadruped. Two, Fire starters' final evos have always been bipeds. Tepig, Fennekin, and Litten may start quadruped (Cyndaquil too I guess), but if they're not bipeds by the middle stage, they are by the final. So, I'm not really concerned with that.
"If it wasn't a Fire-type would you still pick it?" Well, no, because I always pick the Fire starters. So, honest opinion on Fuecoco: it's average. It's cute, everyone has made the Bubble Bobble dragon protagonists comparisons, and it's an interesting idea to combine an alligator with a chili pepper. But it kind of feels like it's just a fatter Charmander that likely isn't going to evolve into a fire-tailed dragon; and with Charizard being my favorite Pokémon, another fire lizard doesn't really excite me. Also, I prefer my Fire-types fast, and I don't think Fuecoco is in any hurry unless there's food involved (that's what the site says, don't look at me). But I'm open to having my opinions change (well, except for Charizard being my favorite, that's not going to ever change), and usually the Fire starter's final evolution has that ferocity my style preference more leans to. Make it cool, make it interesting, and make fun to use in battle.
churine
IT'S BLAARG FROM SUPER MARIO WORLD. This was my first reaction upon seeing Fuecoco, and when comparing it to the other two, Fuecoco definitely stands out because it also reminds me of Bubble Bobble but definitely has the most animal-like properties of the three starters. Then I realized that this was a crocodile, and my thoughts could only think of Crocomire. Fuecoco's a Fire-type so I'd imagine it won't be too out of place and can probably manage living in Norfair just fine; and the similarities between it and Crocomire also make me really look forward to what Fuecoco will evolve into, as funny as that sounds, though I don't think they will force Fuecoco's flesh to dissolve in acid and make it a skeleton, so I think we are good there. This is easily the starter with the most interesting potential in my eyes; it has a chili pepper motif going on and so it's likely that as it evolves the chili pepper turns into spicier variants until finally becoming a ghost pepper with a possible Fire / Ghost typing. Unfortunately, Fire / Ghost is becoming quickly oversaturated with Ceruledge and that Typhlosion variant.
Shadowshocker
"Why is this a Fire-type? It's an apple!" Legitimately those were my first thoughts viewing the first Gen 9 trailer, and it took me a while to warm up to the starters for this generation. Visually, Fuecoco looks like what everyone thought a Fire / Grass type chilli pepper should be, and if Game Freak had to eventually implement that concept, a starter in Pokémon Spain was probably the best to do it, with arid temperatures and spicy foods being common in the Mediterranean country. What a crocodile has to do with Spain, I don't quite know—that fact feels like the crocodilian motif was just smacked on because there wasn't another animal who'd fit the jalapeno shape. But I have just as little idea what grass cats and ducks have to do with Spain either. Fuecoco to me feels like the most visually interesting starter purely because the others look pretty bland, and when you're essentially a slower, dopey version of Charmander, that's hardly a point in your favor.
Aaronboyer
Fuecoco's apple dinosaur design even as a first stage Pokémon trumps any of the Applin evolutionary family's designs. Having so few teeth like when a toddler first begins to get theirs adds to Fuecoco's cuteness and my unconditional love for it. Its rounded shape also makes Fuecoco easy to pick up and hug, and it'll be sure to om nom nom the opposition for my first playthrough. Although it's a Fire-type I'm really hoping it gets Apple Acid for all of flavor, coverage, and competitive purposes.
Blitz
Thus dubbed "The Zodiac Killer," Fuecoco is one of many species this generation that I consider one of my sons. The fact that it is an endearing apple, jalapeno thing with Kraft cheese stuck on it makes it resemble an imaginary friend from that Cartoon Network show, awakening that inner child in us. It genuinely makes me want to traverse the Paldea region with just Fuecoco alone, with its evolutions potentially tainting that cuteness! From a usability standpoint, I wonder how it'll stack up to its fellow Fire-type brothers: we know for a fact it has a pretty high HP stat, so maybe it can stand out by taking a bulky attacker route while it exploits the defensive profile of its primary typing… hopefully in a better way than Emboar manages to!
Swiffix
Listen, if you know me at all, you know how I feel about Water-type starters that are inspired by birds—I LOVE THEM! Obviously, that means I am immensely biased towards Quaxly, and I intend to use it on my first and main playthrough. All bias aside though, how could you not love this adorable little duckling? I already was a huge fan of Ducklett, despite its mediocre typing and stats. Add a starter flair to that mon, switch the typing up to something more interesting (fingers crossed), and there's no way I'm not liking the result.
Regarding its evolution, if I had to guess, I would say that a Water- and Dark-type is likely. Something about Quaxly's stance in the official art for it reminds me of a pirate's demeanor, and although it currently appears too cute to receive the evil Dark typing, I wouldn't mind seeing a badass, buffed duck version of Greninja. That being said, I wouldn't mind a different dual typing, maybe something unique that no other Water starter has ever received. Just don't give it the Totodile and Squirtle treatment and keep it mono Water, please.
Band
Quaxly alongside Sprigatito keeps the tradition of the Water and Grass starters being my preferred choice over the Fire starter. The smooth lines, these specifics shades of blue, the little sailor hat, all make Quaxly my favorite starter of the trio by a long margin. Plus, ducks are just cute in general! From the video snippets we got for it, it kind of reminds of Snivy, with its very uptight attitude and constant need to keep its hair tidy, something I think we can all relate to when we want to impress someone. Maybe Quaxly just wants to impress its Trainer so it gets picked, poor thing! All I can say is that I'll be picking it for sure during my journey through Paldea!
Pikachu315111
Fuecoco is my pick, so why am I commenting on Quaxly? Is it my runner-up? No, I honestly feel Sprigatito has the best basic stage design of the Paldea Starters. Am I going to talk mulch about it then? Will sound like that, but I have my reasons.
"And what are these reasons?" Let's get to it then: what is my issue with Quaxly? It's just a duck, right? Right. It's just a duck. It may have blue feathers on its head that look like a sailor's cap, making it resemble Donald Duck, but that's not any more original. At the very least with Fuecoco and Sprigatito, even if I can't predict where its evolutions are going to go, as their typing does have an influence on their design that makes them visually interesting if nothing else. I'm curious to see in what way the grass cat branches out and what other parts of the pepper gator will be set aflame (and/or how will the flame hairs expand). But Quaxly? What is there for my imagination to latch onto? Sure, you could maybe say that just means it has more room to spread its wings. But, judging from past starters, the wilder the final evolution, the more strenuous it becomes for the middle stage to try to connect the basic and final stages. Either Quaxly's evolutions are going to hit it out of the pond, or it's going to be one big mess of wet feathers.
Shadowshocker
So let's be honest, I don't feel much for the starters of Paldea. I have nothing against Pokémon retreading old ground; we had Popplio versus Seel, Snivy versus Treecko. But when all three of your starters do this, it just makes for a lackluster introduction into a new generation. That leaves us with a Pokémon's personality, which is also the sort of thing that gets you absolutely torn apart online after discussing design sense, so here we go. Cats are always either overly saccharine or spiteful regardless of what type you slap on them, and making Charmander fat and dopey doesn't win me over. That leaves us Ducklett 2.0, and I could easily see this prep school "Sir Bubblebirb" becoming something posh and proper with its diligence towards keeping clean, perfect for a Spanish student on the go. Of course you could argue that we've already had posh little birbs in the princely Piplup and Rowlet's bowtie gimmick, and you'd be right. I'm sorry, but I'm sticking with Team Quaxly this generation. Mash the dislike button over my head in the comments below.
heritage
That concludes this edition of Judge-a-Pokémon-Express. Hopefully you got a few laughs and were perhaps swayed to one starter or another. We hope you all enjoy Scarlet and Violet as it begins to release around the world today. Which starter will YOU be picking?
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