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POTW Pokémon of the Week #31: Litten, Torracat & Incineroar

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In the World of Pokémon, there lives a vast number and variety of amazing creatures to befriend and collect. Every week, we will be focusing on a single one of these Pokémon or evolutionary line and talking about what makes it special. This week's Pokémon of choice is the Litten line!

240px-725Litten.png
240px-726Torracat.png
240px-727Incineroar.png

The Fire-type starter of Generation VII, Litten is introduced in Iki town as a beginning choice for new trainers. The first feline starter, Litten's strong points stand in it's speed and attack. And, like most cats, it's noted that Litten tend to be rather emotionless, only displaying snippets of its feelings in certain situations. Litten also groom themselves like most cats do, and of course have the typical trouble with hairballs - however, instead of simply coughing it's hair up, it collects the hair in its stomach and uses it to ignite a fiery attack on its opponents.

Torracat, Litten's evolution, is a little less reserved than it's pre-evolution. Around it's neck is not a bell, but instead a flame sack that spews and rises when Torracat's emotions are heightened. When it releases these flames, it does make the sound of a bell however, adding to it's imitation. Torracat has another organ hidden in its mane, allowing it to sense foes and prey in dark areas. With that ability and Torracat's love of fighting, surely there's place it can't pick a fight in!

Incineroar, Litten's final evolution, adds the Dark-type to its line. With its high attack and violent outbursts, Incineroar are known for their destructive and disobedient tendencies, even with trainers they're close to. Much like Torracat, Incineroar also has a notable flame organ in its naval, being able to shoot flames from the area when incited. The flames of course come from within its body, and become more powerful when Incineroar becomes agitated.

Overall, Litten goes from a reserved kitten to an outlandish fighter fairly quickly in the game. In other words, Litten goes from 1 to 34 real quick. B)

Here are some questions to consider to get conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.
  • Do you like or dislike these Pokémon? Why?
  • How are thesePokémon in-game?
  • How are these Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
  • Do you like these Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
  • How do you think these Pokémon would interact with our world?
  • If given the power to, would you change anything about these Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
  • How do Litten and its evolutions compare to previous Fire-type starters? Were you happy with a new final type combination?
  • How does Incineroar's final design fit in with the rest of the starters?
  • Do you think Incineroar received a fitting (and well-animated) Z-Move?
If you have any suggestions for Pokémon you'd like to discuss in the future just leave your ideas at the bottom of your post. Make sure you give your thoughts about the current Pokémon first!

Thanks to @PkmnTrainerV for suggesting this Pokémon of the Week!

Previous Pokémon of the Week:
 
Do you like or dislike these Pokémon? Why?
Yes. Starter Pokemon, Incineroar's final typing is nice.
How are these Pokémon in-game?
They're generally fine, all starter Pokemon are somewhat balanced in Sun/Moon. However Lana's trial being the first in Akala doesn't help its case.
How are these Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
Haven't checked yet.
Do you like these Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
Yeah, the anime's recurring Litten is already shaping up to be an interesting character.
How do you think these Pokémon would interact with our world?
Some people wouldn't like Litten because of it not wanting to show feelings; others would love it as it is a Starter Pokemon. Incineroar would generally be well liked and maybe even used for wrestling, while others wouldn't like the Dark typing.
If given the power to, would you change anything about these Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Better stats; pretty much no Special Attack and maybe better Speed? Or even worse of a Speed, that would be more of a niche. A unique Hidden Ability for Incineroar would help too; Intimidate might be good, but not nearly as special as Decidueye/Primarina's ones.
How do Litten and its evolutions compare to previous Fire-type starters? Were you happy with a new final type combination?
If we compare them by having them battle each other, they'd lose to all the Fire/Fighting-types we got over the years. I was definitely happy to see that combination, especially since I was afraid we would get more Fire/Fighting. I still like Charizard and Blaziken more, but Incineroar's already #3 for me.
How does Incineroar's final design fit in with the rest of the starters?
I think it fits just fine; nothing too strange about the design itself, although it was not what I would except Litten's final evolution to be.
Do you think Incineroar received a fitting (and well-animated) Z-Move?
Yes. I like how Moonsault is part of the name; Incineroar would be the starter more close to the sun because of its Fire typing... but then the part-Dark and this move make it as much representing the moon.
 
  • Do you like or dislike these Pokémon? Why?
It's my least favourite of the three Alola starters, but I don't really dislike Incineroar as a Pokémon. I merely prefer its competition.

  • How are these Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
Once Intimidate is available on it, I'd use that with Bulk Up/Will-O-Wisp and Leech Life.

  • Do you like these Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
Ehh, it's too early to say what I think of that recurring Litten. There's surely lots more of it to come.

  • If given the power to, would you change anything about these Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Give it Sucker Punch and other moves more befitting of a Heel. There's nothing in its typing, abilities, or stats that I'd want to change but the movepool is another story.

  • How do Litten and its evolutions compare to previous Fire-type starters? Were you happy with a new final type combination?
Typhlosion still tops my list of Fire-type starters. Fire and Dark is ok but I'd rather be using Houndoom. I actually would have been fine with Fire/Fighting again, my problem is just that they kept repeating it.
 
Litten and Torracat are my favorite of the Alolan trio, but once they reach final form Incineroar drops from the radar and my favorite goes to Decidueye instead.

I don't quite like Incineroar's design. Not that it's bad, but ... seriously, a pro-wrestler design? Why not make it a Fighting type outright then? Oh yeah, maybe because you did that WAY TOO MUCH ALREADY.

And I especially don't like it when compared to its pre-evolutions. Torracat is speedy (the fastest of all Alolan starters, final evos included) and with roughly equal scores in physical and special attacks. Incineroar, though, drops that speed to bulk up on primarily its physical attack. Among other things this means although Bite now gets STAB it can't flinch as much anymore.
 
LOVE this line! Being the crazy cat lady that I am, it was love at first sight. Incineroar took a bit to get used to, but after using it, I learned to love it along with the first two kitties! Sure, it isn't a quadruped and I get the resentment about that, but hey, it's pretty cool once you use it. It just grows on you. =)

In-game, they are pretty good with Physical moves. Special moves.... not so much. Special fire moves barely knock out opponents and I had to rely on Fire Fang to do decent damage. Flamethrower looks really awkward when used by Incineroar, and to make it worse, the damage it does is nothing. It needs Fire Punch, BAD. I hate Flare Blitz because of the recoil damage. I don't know how they would fare in the competitive scene. For being cats, their Speed stat is pretty bad. It says something when a plump kitty like Purugly outspeeds Incineroar.

Litten is a cutey in the anime. I was really hoping Ash would catch it. Maybe in the future...

They're cats. I'd keep the whole line as pets. Again, I'm a crazy cat lady. ^^

If there's one thing I'd change, it's the Speed stat. A base speed of 60 is really bad. The defenses are good, but being cats, you'd think their speed would be like lightning. I'm surprised Torracat's speed drops, but I guess Incineroar becomes slower from that extra bulk.

I hate to say it, but compared to other Fire-types starters, there are better alternatives. The Fire/Dark combination is not the greatest, and I'd use Charizard before using these guys in competitions. Sorry kitties. I love you, but that 60 base speed is a huge downer.

The Z-Move animation is spectacular! I love using it just to watch Incineroar act like a total beast!
 
  • Do you like or dislike these Pokémon? Why?
Well I mostly like Litten and Torracat but I guess Incineroar is... okay at best.
  • How are these Pokémon in-game?
Won the Pokémon League with it, so no complaints. :p
  • How do you think these Pokémon would interact with our world?
In a similar manner to Skitty; a cute/cool pet of sorts for the first two stages. Incineroar would be a professional wrestler.
  • If given the power to, would you change anything about these Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Make Incineroar 4-legged. All I ask. :(
  • How do Litten and its evolutions compare to previous Fire-type starters? Were you happy with a new final type combination?
Well Torracat is my favorite Fire starter so there you go. Definitely happy that Incineroar wasn't Fire/Fighting...
  • How does Incineroar's final design fit in with the rest of the starters?
Eh. It makes sense and all, but I just don't like it.
  • Do you think Incineroar received a fitting (and well-animated) Z-Move?
Probably yeah. :p

For the next one... How about Regigigas?
 
It's was pretty great to get another Fire/Dark type after such a long time. Like the other starters this generation Incineroar can do some pretty interesting things despite its comparatively low speed. There'll be some fun times when it finally gets access to Intimidate!

The big issue concerning Incineroar when it was first leaked was that there was the possibility that it was gonna be another Fire/Fighting starter due to its wrestler theme. Even now after its type reveal there are still people who are dissatisfied with its design because it looks too much like a Fighting-type. This whole Fire/Fighting starter thing has got me thinking about why exactly did we get three of them in a row and another suspiciously similar looking one. I believe that the reason may simply be that Gamefreak really loves the Fire/Fighting combo. It is arguable the most "shonen" type combo of all! It has passion, drive, and spirit in its very essence which many anime and video game fans love and crave. A lot of fans and probably Gamefreak themselves love these types of characters so there is a drive see more of them. With Fire being a starter type it does make some sense to slot in those characters their since they get a lot of exposure and use. But then a conflict arose because in some aspects there kept being the same thing in the same slot for too many cycles. A big draw of Pokemon is the diversity in its ranks so of course seeing the same type again and again in an already generational standard upset quite a lot of people. With Incineroar it feels like Gamefreak wants to keep making Fire/Fighting types because of how much they like the idea of the type. The backlash from having done so many in a row though may has made Gamefreak give some thought and consideration into other ways they could express ideas they have already done before. Naturally a wrestler themed Pokemon would likely be a Fighting-type but going in further there are also the different wrestler alignments which call fall into other types that just Fighting. So going through all that process I'd say that Incineroar came out pretty well as a fire-breathing heel wrestler.
 
I don't dislike incineroar, but it's still fairly disappointing. Litten was my favorite of the starter first forms this time, and I was hoping it would evolve into some sort of fire/dark black magic using housecat, as I like housecats more than other kind of cats. A panther or something would have been okay too, as long as it stayed quadruped. My mindset here was that black is the main part of its color scheme, and there's a lot of superstition around black cats. Aside from the typing, I ended up getting none of what I wanted, as incineroar is bipedal, bulky, and uses physical attacks instead of black magic. As I said, I do like its typing, and it has a fun personality...I definitely like it more than all the other fire starters bar emboar, but it's still a tad meh in certain ways.
 
I've come to realise I should stop expecting anything good from Fire starters and yet I still end up disappointed when doing that. I don't know what it is about them, but I just don't care for any of them.

Fire/Dark is cool and I like how the past two gens has given us nothing but new starter typings. However, given that pretty much all the other feline lines have reasonable Speed, I was expecting Incineroar to at least be 90+ Speed, yet it's slower than a comatose koala hugging a tree stump? (Maybe the problem here is Komala's Speed is surprising.) I saw a few people compare it to Hawlucha too, which probably didn't help my high expectations for its Speed.

Design is meh imo, a tiger could have been much cooler, and the transition between Torracat and Incineroar is not particularly good even for a starter line, which are known for some notorious changes. The hands/paws look like starfish too. It's just not the type of design I like, but hopefully there's lots out there that like it. Also it's missing a bunch of moves like Pursuit, Knock Off, Sucker Punch, Gunk Shot, but that's easily fixed in the future.
 
I'm not really a Fire starter guy and Rowlet immediately was my favorite (and Popplio grew on me), but I still like the Litten line even though I like Rowlet and Popplio more. Incineroar's one of the cooler fire-type starters IMO, what with being a reference to a classic anime (Tiger Mask) and being the heel wrestler Hawlucha needed as its rival. I'm not really into wrestling, but its hammy wrestler attitude is hilarious. Like the other Gen VII starters, it has a lot of personality - hell, I'd say Incineroar has the most personality because of its over-the-top animations that totally fit a Pokémon based on a heel wrestler. I also love Malicious Moonsault because it's kind of hilarious that Incineroar summons a wrestling ring out of nowhere.
 
Do you like or dislike these Pokémon? Why?
Love Litten and Torracat. Litten is pure adorableness and Torracat is a combo is cool and cute. Final evo is fugly as hell.

How are these Pokémon in-game?
Litten and Torracat are great. I used them in Sun and they were really useful for the entire game. Never evolved my Torracat so idk how its evolution fairs, but I'm sure it's decent being a 3rd stage Pokemon and all.

Do you like these Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
Litten has been one of the best Pokemon characters by far. The story they've given him is great and I can't wait to see how he develops in the future. Plus he's super cute :3

How do you think these Pokémon would interact with our world?
Litten and Torracat would probably act like a typical cat, similar to how Litten acts in the anime. Not sure about the evo.

If given the power to, would you change anything about these Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Incineroar would be a quadruped; no question about that.

How do Litten and its evolutions compare to previous Fire-type starters? Were you happy with a new final type combination?
Litten and Torracat are amazing. They're probably some of the best fire starter family members out there. Incineroar is utter garbage, with Emboar being the only option worse than it. Having a new final type combo didn't matter much to me at all. I never used the mon due to it's ugliness and personally I wanted the Litten family to remain single typed anyway:/

How does Incineroar's final design fit in with the rest of the starters?
It's the second ugliest. Being based on a cat is literally the only thing that saves it.

Do you think Incineroar received a fitting (and well-animated) Z-Move?
It's fitting based on that fact that it's a wrestler, but I hate the fact that it's a wrestler in the first place. So its signature Z-Move just makes me hate it even more.
 
Litten is so adorable. I love the idea of a fiery cat starter that coughs up heated hairballs!

...why did they end its line with Incineroar? It's not just how many legs he's standing on that bugs me. Meowth is bipedal, but he's still obviously a cute anthropomorphic cat. Litten growing into a human wrestler with a cat face? Not my style. Not to mention the fact that Incineroar shoots fire from his GLOWING BELLY BUTTON. COME ON!!! WHY?!?!
 
Litten is alright and Torracat is the only middle stage of Alolan starter Pokemon I actually like, but Incineroar is just disappointing. I think it should have remained quadruped, since even quadruped Pokemon can have good movepools (Absol is a good example), but I also really dislike its hand design. Intimidate is definitely a helpful Ability, and it has a decent movepool, but otherwise, Incineroar is one of my least favourite Alolan Pokemon (it is still better than the likes of Crabominable and Shiinotic).
I like Ash's Litten/Torracat in the anime, especially its backstory.
 
I find them to be fitting for black cat supestitions, especially Incineroar because of his Fire/Dark-typing.

Even though some Americans see black cats as bad-omen (hence Dark-typing), in some European and Asian countries, black cats are regarded good luck and as such, Incineroar is cheered upon in these cultures, especially in Japanese-style Pro-Wrestling where heels are also cheered upon.

His signature Z-Move also makes sense since he's a heel wrestler. Interesting idea of combining black cat superstitions with heel wrestlers.
 
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