Do you think Grass Starters have fallen off in the Anime?

[Alola]

I don't really agree about the Delphox in XY015. It might have been called off, but it still counts to me. There was enough going on to call it a battle, even if it had no conclusion. But even still. Its not a lot, but that's at least three proper battles that didn't involve the TRio. Its still significantly more than Grookey has ever done.

Then we can agree to disagree. I don't think exceptions should be made or the bar be lowered when complete battles occur often in the series as a whole, with all the Grass Starters prior to Chespin all having fought several (certainly more than three, for each of them).

Journeys isn't over yet and there's still an opportunity for Grookey to properly battle (or even participate in an unfinished battle like the Delphox one). In which case, Chespin would only have one proper battle over it at the minimum, which wouldn't be a significant difference. That said, that's pure speculation. Yet, a possibility nonetheless.

Chespin at least has had a much better showing in terms of his battle skills and usefulness than Grookey ever has.

I'm not refuting that, nor could I. But since we're being critical of the Starter whose series is still ongoing, it warrants mention that both Snivy and Rowlet have done more than Chespin, which is saying a lot given the lack of development (and sometimes screentime, due to a rotating party) for the former and the gag status of the latter.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I'm not refuting that, nor could I. But since we're being critical of the Starter whose series is still ongoing, it warrants mention that both Snivy and Rowlet have done more than Chespin, which is saying a lot given the lack of development (and sometimes screentime, due to a rotating party) for the former and the gag status of the latter.

There's no arguing that Snivy and Rowlet did more. They were used quite a bit in battle. I think a big part of that is that they're owned by Ash. Chespin did stuff, but not a lot compared to Rowlet or Snivy, but has so far done a lot more than Grookey. If Chespin or Grookey were owned by Ash, they probably would have been more involved in battles.

 

[Blob]

What I don't like about Snivy is that she kept the same moveset since episode 10! She didn't learn one move since then and didn't even replace any moves either and just kept the same 4!
I found this pretty annoying since Ash's Pignite learned Fire Pledge, so I though Snivy and Oshawott would learn the other pledge moves and use them in triple battles. The other two pledge moves haven't shown up in the anime yet either...

Of the three fully evolved Alolan starters, Decidueye was done the dirtiest, which sucks because it's the coolest one! I can't help but think the reason why Incineroar got in over Decidueye in Smash was because of how dirty it was done in the anime.

Regarding Torterra... yeah, I hate Ash's Infernape for stealing so many wins. I also hated how it appeared in Journeys and Torterra hasn't appeared since the end of BW, outside of a LOSING flashback!

I really hate the anime treats a lot of starters, especially since Charizard (base) is one of the worst starters and overlooked ones like Serperior are way better.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Torterra was the biggest disappointment imo. Nothing can top what they did to my tortoise.

 

[Kingsusiepen]

I think Snivy should of evolved twice into a Serperior off-screen. Maybe at the end of Journeys or if Goh returns in the Gen9 Anime, Grookey could evolve.

 

[Nichole the Otter]

I feel the Grass-type starters are definitely mixed bag. They did get solid focus on earlier series (Bulbasaur, Bayleef, Sceptile) but then with Torterra they dropped the ball. It had such promise as a Turtwig, but then it evolved and changed shape, meaning it couldn’t rely on speed anymore. That failure to adjust is why Torterra kept losing.

Snivy’s supposed backstory of dumping her previous trainer went nowhere. And then every Grass starter since (Chespin, Rowlet, Grookey) has been nothing but comic relief. Such a downfall for the Grass-type. Sprigatito I fear will be another non-evolving Grass starter, because of the scars Torterra left on the writing staff.

 

[Kingsusiepen]

Sprigatito I fear will be another non-evolving Grass starter, because of the scars Torterra left on the writing staff.

I'm pretty sure that Sprigatito will probably evolve. If so, Then It would be the first grass-type starter to evolve since Torterra.

 

[Nichole the Otter]

I'm pretty sure that Sprigatito will probably evolve. If so, Then It would be the first grass-type starter to evolve since Torterra.

I hope so, but I still think the writers are forever scarred by the poor reception towards Torterra’s horrid post-evolution battle record. It depends on how marketable Sprigatito’s evolutions are in the eyes of the developers.

 

[Kingsusiepen]

I hope so, but I still think the writers are forever scarred by the poor reception towards Torterra’s horrid post-evolution battle record. It depends on how marketable Sprigatito’s evolutions are in the eyes of the developers.

Yeah. I am also thinking that Snivy evolves twice off-screen into a Serperior! That would be cool to see!