Starters Discussion/Speculation

[blitzle stan]

Y’all need to temper your expectations for Sprigatito so that so many people aren’t devastated when it becomes a slender, feminine humanoid gardener.

 

[Mr. MoonStone]

Quaxly is my long-lost child, my supernatural progeny that I must throw my life out to protect, at all costs.

 

[Joker901]

Quaxly is my long-lost child, my supernatural progeny that I must throw my life out to protect, at all costs.

It don't know why but it's the closest thing to that Platypus we have all been waiting for the last 25 years.

 

[Zweilous]

Y’all need to temper your expectations for Sprigatito so that so many people aren’t devastated when it becomes a slender, feminine humanoid gardener.

It'll become Grass Puss in Boots, mark my words!

 

[vivian20]

I think Quaxly looks too much like Ducklett. Springatito is the best for me. Its a cat , but its different enough from other cats. Fuecoco looks like gible, it might evolve to a fire/dragon.

I think Springatito evolutions might be Springato e Springaton.

 

[Mr. MoonStone]

It don't know why but it's the closest thing to that Platypus we have all been waiting for the last 25 years.

They're saving that one for the Australian and New Zealand-based region of course

 

[blitzle stan]

It'll become Grass Puss in Boots, mark my words!

I just looked it up- that’s Italian in origin. Doable if they go less strict in the regions theme than they did with SwSh. That was so extremely British with all three, but no other region was like that yet.

Okay so Puss in Boots, a pirate (Captain Hook? Lol)… now we just need a kids story character for Fuecoco!

 

[SUP3RN0VA]

I'm not all that into the designs of the starter Pokémon this time around, although fortunately I do like the fact that the fire type starter looks somewhat like a dinosaur/dragon. If the fire type starter actually becomes part Dragon, I'd be very happy with that, as Dragon is my favourite type of Pokémon (Fire is my second, which would make a Fire/Dragon starter even better).

I'm excited to see the evolutions of Fuecoco in time.

 

[Alola]

Now that I've looked at them quite a bit:

Sprigatito

The obligatory cutie of the Starter Group. Design-wise, it's as if Chikorita and Fennekin bred and had a love child; Chikorita's color scheme, typing, and expressive eyes (as well as multi-syllabic name) with Fennekin's general body structure (I just can't stop seeing Fennekin in it). I find it interesting that the species appears to be pretty gregarious, as Grass-type Starters are usually docile or laid back. A subversion of that trope is nice to see! Like a lot of people, a part of me is interested to see Sprigatito remain quadruped in its final evolution, which I feel will be based off of the Iberian Lynx. I feel like it will be a speedy physical attacker, equipped with moves such as Leafage, Razor Leaf, and Leaf Blade. I've seen it float around that it becomes Grass/Fairy by its final evolution; given the rarity of Iberian Lynxes and Sprigatito's capricious personality, I think that'd be fitting.

Fuecoco

This little one has got quite the design going on! Looking at it brings several images to mind, such as an apple, a dinosaur, a reptile, and a chili pepper; no wonder a lot of people can see it as a Fire/Dragon type! By that alone, I would say that Fuecoco is one of the more uniquely designed Starters in the franchise. And also given all of that, it will probably have the most diverse movepool of the three. It's also giving me Totodile energy, to compliment Sprigatito's Chikorita qualities. I also find it interesting that it similarly subverts its types usual hot-blooded nature as it appears to be quite lax. I'm assuming it'll be the physical attacker of the group. As far as I know, crocodiles are not native to Spain, so I'm not too sure of the connection here with the region assuming there is one.

Quaxly

My favorite! I find it just as cute as Sprigatito. I also really love its design - the teal and white go very well together, and plays off the other Starters nicely, and that tuft of teal fur on the top is adorable; I'm weird, but I bet it feels cool and moist to touch. And yes - it looks like Donald Duck! I'm glad that the comparison is trending on the internet, haha. Between its pose and brief description, Quaxly looks like the most dignified and composed of the group, which I am here for. Curiously, they kept it pure Water rather than Water/Flying; I would assume it can fly given its avian wings, unlike say, Psyduck. But then again, we already have a number of Water/Flying types. And actually...when I think about it, they probably did that to keep the type triangle balanced between the three, as Quaxly would lose its Grass weakness (and thus Sprigatito's only advantage over it) if it was part Flying. Speaking of eventual typing though, I feel like Quaxly's line may be based off Spanish conquistadores or a reference to Don Quixote (we may even see a name reference akin to Empoleon and Napoleon) - thus I see Water/Steel (gasp) or Water/Fighting as possibilities. This is assuming we get secondary typings at all, though.

Overall, I really like this squad - all of them. Gosh, they're all super endearing and reflect the colorful nature of Spain. I don't know about you all, but I feel Game Freak has been knocking it out of the park lately with the base forms of Starters; I haven't not liked an entire group since Kalos. I also appreciate the Spanish words they incorporated in Sprigatito and Fuecoco's names - words of a culture are powerful when respectfully represented, and I think they did a good job promoting their future region through that alone. At the moment, I intend to pick Quaxly, but I can see myself with any of them to be honest! Time will tell with their evolutions, move-sets, Abilities, stats, and final typing.

 

[Fairy Wind]

I like them all, but Sprigatito's my favorite of the three! I'll wait to see their final evolutions before I decide which one I'll choose, though.

 

[SeanWheeler]

Sprigatito is #906, Fuecoco is #907 and Quaxly is #910 or are we going to assume there'd be a Mythical Pokémon preceding them like how Victini was inserted before the Unova starters?

 

[PinkIceFox]

puts on green T-Shirt I am a filthy type traitor. I'm gonna sit over here with my grass cat and giant plant gecko. Along with my hoard of fire babies who are just kind of confused at this point. Sorry water types you still can't win.

I am sold on any cat immediately. Sorry, fire types. You just can't compete with a cat.

Thoughts on the other two: I love checks notes Baby Red Yoshi and Baby Donald Duck.

For real though their designs are pretty cute. But the cat is cuter. My friend joked that everyone would lose their minds if it grew up into a panther luchador wrestling partner for Incineroar and I'm like. I'm right here for that salt, my dudes.

Though I theorize that the cat's most likely gonna be this generation's starter waifu. Because nice things aren't allowed when humans are involved. Gotta have at least one pokemon everyone makes lewd jokes about because it looks even remotely female coded.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I think people try too hard to link the starter's literal appearances to the region. I like the Unova starters in concept because they're not MURICA!, but instead reflect the region's multicultural design philosophy.

 

[Cute Charm]

I think people try too hard to link the starter's literal appearances to the region. I like the Unova starters in concept because they're not MURICA!, but instead reflect the region's multicultural design philosophy.

I don't know, it seems like Game Freak are really trying to connect the starters post-XY to the culture of the regions more. I mean for example Galar had a spy lizard, a soccer bunny, and the Cadbury gorilla. James Bond, football, and rock music are associated with the UK.

So it's kind of reasonable to make the connection between Spain and what the starters are based off of. Like Fuecoco being a pepper or how Sprigatito could grow up to be an Iberian Lynx. It's probably one of the more mundane and possibly true therories.

 

[nickdt]

What i have noticed since gen 6 about the starters, is that you can deduct the role they will be playing in the games based on the base stage. The more stocky starters, become the tanks of the region, the sleekest starters become the sweepers and the other starter is a mix of both. This is especially visible from gen 3 onwards.
Gen 3
Sweeper - Treecko
Tank - Mudkip
Mix - Torchic

Gen 4
Sweeper - Chimchar
Tank - Turtwig
Piplup - Mix

Gen 5
Sweeper - Snivy
Tank - Tepig
Mix - Oshawott

Gen 6 -
Sweeper - Froakie
Tank - Chespin
Mix - Fennekin

Gen 7
Sweeper - Rowlet
Tank - Popplio
Mix - Litten

With gen 8, it isn't as visible with the Sobble and Scorbunny, but it becomes more visible with middle stage
Sweeper - Drizzile
Tank - Thwacky
Mix - Raboot

Gen 9
Sweeper - Quaxly
Tank - Fuecoco
Mix - Sprigatito

As for the secondary types (If they get them that is), i can see Grass/Fairy, Fire/Poison (The Chili Pepper and Apple inspiration that seems to be going on) and Water/Fighting.

In that case, Sprigitatito most likely becomes a Mixed attacker, while Fuecoco solely focuses on Special and Quaxly on Physical to make the best use out of their secondary typings.

What i have noticed also is that we only have one sweeper and tank fire type so far from gen 3 onwards (Although obviously, Charizard fullfils that role as well).

Grass on the other hand, has had the most tanks (With 3, technically 5 if we count Venusaur and Meganium, but design wise, especially in the final evolution, Blastoise and Feraligatr can also be counted as tanks, so i don't count Venusaur and Meganium in this argument, since the pattern wasn't as obvious in the first 2 gens). We have the least amount of mixed, with 0 at this point.

While Water has the most sweepers (With 3), water is also the most balanced in general taking everything in mind, since we also have 2 tanks (Mudkip and Popplio) and this is not taking into account Blastoise (Who can be a tank as well, just as being a mix) and Feraligtr (Same argument as with Blastoise) and 2 mix, with Piplup and Oshawott.

So while i feel like having a sweeper Water type is bad (Since we have gotten 3 in the last 4 generations (Froakie, Sobble and now Quaxly), Grass and Fire being the Mix and Tank respectively isn't a bad thing and while Quaxly is my favorite design so far and water being my favorite starter type in general, it makes me lean towards using Fuecoco (Which is rather funny, since fire is amongst by least favorite types and its my least favorite design out of the three), because i am honestly sick of getting sweeper Water types.

 

[UltraDoyle64924]

I think people try too hard to link the starter's literal appearances to the region. I like the Unova starters in concept because they're not MURICA!, but instead reflect the region's multicultural design philosophy.

You have a very good point

Part of why people really disliked Galar pokemon, was probably the ugly graphics and this is a step up. You gotta appreciate the graphics if you gotta appreciate the Pokemon imo.

I think the starters will look better once the origins are more transparent and the animations are shown off

 

[Zweilous]

I don't know, it seems like Game Freak are really trying to connect the starters post-XY to the culture of the regions more. I mean for example Galar had a spy lizard, a soccer bunny, and the Cadbury gorilla. James Bond, football, and rock music are associated with the UK.

So it's kind of reasonable to make the connection between Spain and what the starters are based off of. Like Fuecoco being a pepper or how Sprigatito could grow up to be an Iberian Lynx. It's probably one of the more mundane and possibly true therories.

I'd say only Galar really did that. With Alola Incineroar takes a lot of inspiration from Tiger Mask which is a Japanese manga and major cultural icon, Decidueye seems to take cues from Robin Hood, which is English Folklore, and Primarina is a mermaid, which has ties to multiple cultures rather than just Hawaii.

These Starters could follow Galar's lead, but we should keep in mind there's only been one instance of that happening so far. The other groups don't exclusively draw from their region's origin and drew from other sources in the concepts they used.

 

[blitzle stan]

Yeah, they likely went full British with the Galar starters because the designers were able to think up three that worked. This also means that perhaps they are planning things out farther in advance, allowing designers time to create three that work, and this is the norm going forward. They could have decided upon Spain 5+ years ago and have had their design team perfecting extremely Spanish starters for the last 5 years. You never know. It’ll be interesting to see.

Also yeah, I just realized myself that all we have are that single drawings of them. That is so STRANGE and hasn’t happened in years for Pokémon designs. Maybe that’s why they felt like fan art to me. I’m sure, like literally every design since XY when 3D models were in mind during the design phase and not sprites, that these three will jump to life and look awesome in motion.

 

[Esiouqrut]

An Iberian Lynx for Sprigatito would be awesome! I would love it if it stays quadrupedal, since there are barely any starter who does that since gen 5. "Capricious" also made me think of dark type, but I enjoyed using fairy type ever since its introduction.

As with a lot of people, I think Quaxly will become a sailor/pirate and gain fighting type.

I don't have any idea how Fuecoco will evolve, since its base design is already pretty unique. Though I do think it will keep its pepper theme.

 

[Joker901]

What i have noticed since gen 6 about the starters, is that you can deduct the role they will be playing in the games based on the base stage. The more stocky starters, become the tanks of the region, the sleekest starters become the sweepers and the other starter is a mix of both. This is especially visible from gen 3 onwards.
Gen 3
Sweeper - Treecko
Tank - Mudkip
Mix - Torchic

Gen 4
Sweeper - Chimchar
Tank - Turtwig
Piplup - Mix

Gen 5
Sweeper - Snivy
Tank - Tepig
Mix - Oshawott

Gen 6 -
Sweeper - Froakie
Tank - Chespin
Mix - Fennekin

Gen 7
Sweeper - Rowlet
Tank - Popplio
Mix - Litten

With gen 8, it isn't as visible with the Sobble and Scorbunny, but it becomes more visible with middle stage
Sweeper - Drizzile
Tank - Thwacky
Mix - Raboot

Gen 9
Sweeper - Quaxly
Tank - Fuecoco
Mix - Sprigatito

As for the secondary types (If they get them that is), i can see Grass/Fairy, Fire/Poison (The Chili Pepper and Apple inspiration that seems to be going on) and Water/Fighting.

In that case, Sprigitatito most likely becomes a Mixed attacker, while Fuecoco solely focuses on Special and Quaxly on Physical to make the best use out of their secondary typings.

What i have noticed also is that we only have one sweeper and tank fire type so far from gen 3 onwards (Although obviously, Charizard fullfils that role as well).

Grass on the other hand, has had the most tanks (With 3, technically 5 if we count Venusaur and Meganium, but design wise, especially in the final evolution, Blastoise and Feraligatr can also be counted as tanks, so i don't count Venusaur and Meganium in this argument, since the pattern wasn't as obvious in the first 2 gens). We have the least amount of mixed, with 0 at this point.

While Water has the most sweepers (With 3), water is also the most balanced in general taking everything in mind, since we also have 2 tanks (Mudkip and Popplio) and this is not taking into account Blastoise (Who can be a tank as well, just as being a mix) and Feraligtr (Same argument as with Blastoise) and 2 mix, with Piplup and Oshawott.

So while i feel like having a sweeper Water type is bad (Since we have gotten 3 in the last 4 generations (Froakie, Sobble and now Quaxly), Grass and Fire being the Mix and Tank respectively isn't a bad thing and while Quaxly is my favorite design so far and water being my favorite starter type in general, it makes me lean towards using Fuecoco (Which is rather funny, since fire is amongst by least favorite types and its my least favorite design out of the three), because i am honestly sick of getting sweeper Water types.

I think Sprigatito will be a special sweeper. The last Grass sweeper is Sceptile (and it's totally not good) and I think it's about time to have a good one. It will probably gain the Fairy type which is meh competitively considering it will be frail af but it may get a good ability and great speed (100+).

Quaxly will probably be a medium fast (80-100) physical attacker. Inteleon and Greninja are too close to create another super fast water starter. The last three water starters are special, so It's safe to assume Quaxly will be physical. For its type, I will go with these: Fighting, Ghost (is it a little pirate maybe?), Ice or Steel. The more I think about it, the more I believe that if they wanted to make it part flying, they would have made it already.

Fuecoco is clearly the slow tank with great HP, defense and physical attack. For its secondary type I would go with ground, steel, poison, dragon.