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The infamous RootHoot leak, a mystery?

QBERTP

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Hi guys!
During this season of gen 8 leaks, I thought I could stay really on top of what's current posting this speculation about an alleged gen 7 leak aka the RootHoot mystery ...

(which is totally against the tide, and for many of you - I understand - it's not even a mystery)

Anyways, if you like, tell me what you think about it, and if you happen to have more info, please share :D


I’ve been researching beta Pokémon and Pokémon-related trademarks for a couple of different reasons lately and a very old Sun & Moon “leak” struck me as it crossed both paths.

Of course, I’m talking about the RootHoot leak posted on 4chan and 2ch (unfortunately, the page is now unretrievable) on March 6th, 2016

tumblr_inline_p8noccLqWt1t6hu7h_1280.png
tumblr_inline_p8mae37BOb1t6hu7h_1280.jpg


The 4chan thread originally featured the two pics above plus a line-art of the owlet accompanied by the caption “おはようございます“ (Good Morning) and a couple of coloured details of the “fire starter” along with the line “準備はいい” (Are you ready?), I’m posting another screenshot of the original page below, as I luckily found a user who suggested this same theory back then and took some snaps while the thread was still on.

tumblr_inline_p8mb8oZUnf1t6hu7h_1280.png

The “leak” was allegedly posted by a Japanese user and reveals a grass Owlet, (initially nicknamed RootHoot by the users!) a water Dolphin/Seal creature and a rocky fire creature with feline ears serving Ultra Beast vibes.

The “leak” was quickly dismissed as fake… just like many other seal/cat/owlet fake trios that kept popping up back in those days… but the weird thing is … this one in particular, was posted ONE MONTH before the starters’ names were posted on trademark_bot essentially revealing to the general public which real-life animals they were based off (that’s why many subsequent fake leaks got the three creatures right)

The first starter’s trademark (Nyabby/Litten) was posted on March 27th 2016, while the other two (Rowlet and Popplio) on April 18th 2016! The starters were then officially revealed on May 10th 2016.

So how could the leaker have possibly predicted what creatures they were going to be based off , before even knowing their names? Furthermore “RootHoot” has the exact same palette as Rowlet, and I have the feeling no fake leaker back in early 2016 would’ve imagined Game Freak going for the Ultra Beast look.

In conclusion, if this “leak” is fake, the artist got extremely lucky, as he correctly guessed the real-life inspiration of the starters, their general theme and Rowlet’s palette 2 months before the official reveal and 1 month before the trademarks were discovered.

A quick breakdown:

PROs

1. The art, though not Sugimori-ish in style, is clearly done by a professional artist and it has also been posted on 2ch, hinting at a japanese leaker.

2. the general concept is the same: grass owl, fire feline, water sea-lion. You might say the fire one is not really a cat, and that's a valid point, however - in hindsight - the ears and eyes convey a feline ultrabeast look in my opinion. The water one might look more like a dolphin, but the shape of its eyes and the general posture is quite reminiscent of Popplio.

3. The grass starter’s palette is the same

4. the pics were “leaked” before the (unofficial) name reveal, when nobody had a hint about the starters' look

5. In a way, the fire starter “predicts” the Ultra Beast look, or at the very least shows Game Freak’s intention to go for Pokémon with unusual designs in gen 7.

CONs

1. Anyone could post on 2ch through a VPN, furthermore the original thread was deleted and the japanese captions are very basic. The OP could be a fake leaker pretending to be japanese to add credibility to its claims.

2. The fire and water starter don't really scream "cat" and "sea-lion", the water one looking more like a dolphin.

3. The drawing style is weird, and not Pokémon-ish enough.


So

+ To your knowledge, was the community already speculating about a grass owlet starter in early 2016? (In the form of riddles, leaks, patterns... or something)

+ Is it possible the artist got so lucky, he correctly guessed the real-life inspiration of the grass starter, its pallette and the starters' general theme, one month before the trademarks were discovered?

+ Could the artist be a legit leaker who posted the actual concept art for the alolan starters?

+ Who were the Pokémon designers for Sun and Moon? Do they have online portfolios? We could try and match their style to the "leaker" style.


+ IF that’s the real beta-Litten, was he supposed to be an Ultra Beast?

+ Could this idea of an Ultra Beast starter have been saved for gen 8? Would you like to get an Ultra Beast starter?

Food for thought

So these are the bare facts, for more speculation, pics, and the various links to the original sources you can visit

https://qbertp.tumblr.com/post/173829871651/the-roothoot-mystery

I'd love to hear your opinion
 
Last edited:
+ Is it possible the artist got so lucky, he correctly guessed the real-life inspiration of the grass starter, its pallette and the starters' general theme, one month before the trademarks were discovered?

That seems incredibly improbable. Almost as likely as someone posting a few fully evolved starter Pokemon with a character that just completely coincidentally looks just like one we would only learn about way later. However there have been ridiculously close predictions like this before from Fakemon makers on Deviantart. The main thing that makes this seem like possible concept art to me is that it was posted as an actual leak.

+ Could the artist be a legit leaker who posted the actual concept art for the alolan starters?

I think that's actually very believable.

Nice job paying attention to when things actually turned up with these leaks and trademarks and thanks for bringing it up! I never would have thought about that Rowlet lookalike again myself. It's crazy and interesting as hell to imagine that these could be early designs for the starters we actually got. Sorry I can't contribute much to the conversation besides that.

Also I would love an Ultra Beast starter! I think I was in the minority when they were new when I said I'd love to get even more of them in later gens. I sorta doubt that we will see any more of them though, let alone starters (unless they try to imply Mew and/or the Lake and Creation Pokemon are UBs), who knows though?
 
That seems incredibly improbable. Almost as likely as someone posting a few fully evolved starter Pokemon with a character that just completely coincidentally looks just like one we would only learn about way later.
Ihihihi! xD I see what your doing!
Thanks eggs! I'm currently trying to understand whether there were already theories about grass owls in early 2016, I'm watching some old videos and asking some leak experts, but it seems we knew about the grass owlet only after the trademark reveal °0°
i'd looove to get a super badass UB water starter :D
btw is your nick inspired by RPDR?
 
Ihihihi! xD I see what your doing!
Thanks eggs! I'm currently trying to understand whether there were already theories about grass owls in early 2016, I'm watching some old videos and asking some leak experts, but it seems we knew about the grass owlet only after the trademark reveal °0°
i'd looove to get a super badass UB water starter :D
btw is your nick inspired by RPDR?
That sounds disappointing. Maybe try looking into some of the early leak articles that used the image? And by nick do you mean my username? I just went with that cause Alola Exeggutor was new around the time I joined.
 
I'm pretty sure "Roothoot" thing was just a shitpost.

"Litten" does'nt look feline and does'nt look like an Ultra Beast either. It looks like it comes from another monster battling franchise. Like Monster Hunter or Monster Runner.

"Popplio" does'nt look like a seal it is clearly a dolphin.

"Rowlet" does'nt even look like a bird, its wings look more like leaves than bird wings, and the face just looks odd, it looks like a cereal mascotte or a character from those cartoons that were tied with toys sold alongside children's snacks.

If it is'nt a shitpost is most likely just a very vague leak.
 
I'm pretty sure "Roothoot" thing was just a shitpost.

"Litten" does'nt look feline and does'nt look like an Ultra Beast either. It looks like it comes from another monster battling franchise. Like Monster Hunter or Monster Runner.

"Popplio" does'nt look like a seal it is clearly a dolphin.

"Rowlet" does'nt even look like a bird, its wings look more like leaves than bird wings, and the face just looks odd, it looks like a cereal mascotte or a character from those cartoons that were tied with toys sold alongside children's snacks.

If it is'nt a shitpost is most likely just a very vague leak.

So you're saying is not even a lucky guess?

I understand your objections for the water and the fire one, in fact, I had listed them among the cons, but I wouldn't doubt Roothoot being a grass owl though xD I mean its wings are in fact leaves and it has a heart-shaped face which is clearly inspired from a barn owl.
So it's safe to assume, if the leak is fake, the artist got at least that right :D
 
Fans wanted a grass bird starter since Gen V, and a cuadruped Fire starter and mammalian Water starter weren't too hard to predict either. However, the colors are indeed suspicious as no one expected a non-green Grass starter, so maybe it was made on purpose by someone who has played the game.
 
Fans wanted a grass bird starter since Gen V, and a cuadruped Fire starter and mammalian Water starter weren't too hard to predict either. However, the colors are indeed suspicious as no one expected a non-green Grass starter, so maybe it was made on purpose by someone who has played the game.

Bulbasaur is teal not green.
Cyndaquil is blue and yellow not red or orange.
Chimchar is light brown not red or orange.
Fennekin is yellow not red or orange, and Chespin is brown not green.

Actually the only two fully green starters are Chikorita and Treecko.
 
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