Starter discussion/speculation

[Zeb]

We're well on our way through Gen VI now, so maybe it's time to think of the future

XY's starters gave us a fire witch fox, a chestnut knight sloth and a water ninja frog as concepts. As for typings, we received the Fighting/Psychic/Dark trio of subtypings that a lot of the fans have wanted. And we finally got a fast water starter!


So here's the question:

What would you like to see from the next starter trio? It can be their design/concept, stats, abiltiies, typings etc. Even just the creature they are based on, if that's all you care about!

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Personally I'd like to see a final Fire starter that isn't bipedal. All so far have been bipedal: Charizard, Typhlosion (in most depictions we see), Blaziken, Infernape, Emboar and Delphox are all bipedal which really annoys me. So if it's based on an animal, PLEASE keep it quadrupedal in its final stage. A more bulkier Fire-type could be interesting too, since all the Fire-type starters so fire end up focusing mostly on offensive stats and even though Fire has some of annoying weaknesses (Ground, Rock, Water) it has the second most resistances in the game after Steel iirc.

Not sure what I'd like to see for Grass. But another fast, offensive Grass-type wouldn't go amiss since there's really only Sceptile so far. Serperior is fast, but it lacks power (without Contrary). And the tanky/support side of Grass has been done to death with Venusaur, Meganium, Torterra and Chesnaught.

I wouldn't mind seeing another decently fast Water-type. Besides Greninja they are all rather slow. So a Water starter around 100 speed would be fine with me.

As for their typings/designs/abilities, I haven't really thought much about what I'd like yet. So I'll probably post back with those another time.

 

[Silktree]

Floressum and Flairees meet most of your requirements. Flairees just needs to be made defensive and have Steel as its secondary ability.

 

[Lyrebird]

A fire ant, a grass duck that lives on the land and barely goes into the water, and a dolphin or porpoise Pokemon.

The fire ant could end up like a giant fire breathing ant that is large and scary as fire/poison and a tank since it is totally like a giant insect.

Grass duck or grass bird could be grass/flying and really super fast like a hummingbird instead of a duck.

The water one is just plain water I guess? Or water/fairy? I don't know. It is super fast.

I guess?

 

[Zeb]

Floressum and Flairees meet most of your requirements. Flairees just needs to be made defensive and have Steel as its secondary ability.

Ah Flairees.. It still breaks my heart knowing it will never be real.

I would love a Fire goat starter, but I'm not sure whether it's too soon for another goat. Knowing Game Freak they'd change it into some sort of bipedal minotaur/satyr idea though, which wouldn't interest me u_u

I'm definitely up for a more tank/defensive Fire-type though.

 

[DoctorWhy]

Guess I'll just make a bullet list for each type. Sorry that I have several points in common with the OP. This is only regarding the final forms of the starters, for the most part:

Fire:
-Non-bipedal. I don't care if it has 4 legs, 6 legs, or no legs at all. Just not 2.
-NOT Fire/Fighting. Never again, outside of remakes. Way overused typing. Blaziken and Infernape were already plenty before Emboar added on to it.
-I'd like to see an interesting dual type, at least something no Fire starter has had before. Maybe pair Fire with Poison, or Steel, or Dark, just to shake things up.
-I want it to be a badass.
-Statwise, I'd like for the Fire starer to maybe take a more bulky or defensive route next time. We've had our speedy attack sweepers with Blaziken and Infernape. But I could go either way on stats.

Water:
-Not pure Water. Too boring. Pair it with something like Steel, Psychic, or Dragon. Heck, maybe even Water/Bug could be interesting. If they did it just right, a Water/Ice would be fine with me too. With Mega Evolution, I also think it could be really cool for it to be Water/Flying and Mega Evolve into Water/Dragon.
-Offensive with better than average Speed. I don't want it to be made of glass, with horrible defenses, but I wanna see both Special Attack and Speed at at least 100. A spread maybe similar to Greninja would be fine. Maybe a bit more optimized or rounded, however. Actually, yes. Nice and rounded would be pretty great. Get Special Attack and Speed to 100 or so. Get its Defenses and HP evened up right around 75. Let the Attack stat die so that the others may rise.
-I want it to be a badass. But not total monster machine badass. Badass with some heart and soul. If you follow me.
-Design-wise, I just want it to be good. I'd be fine with anything new. I just don't want them to reuse old designs. I will say, not amphibian. I'd be fine with a mammal or maybe a reptile. Also, I kinda like the idea of a pure sea creature. Maybe something not even based in reality. A total mythical mammal sea beast. YES.

Grass:
-Not pure Grass. I'd say pair it with either Rock, Steel, or maybe Flying.
-Make its stats relatively well rounded. Give it enough attack power to fight a good fight, but give it enough defensive bulk so it can survive.
-Physical attacker, or maybe balanced attacker. Make it speedier than Chesnaught.
-If paired with Steel (my favorite pick probably), it would have extra resistances, and less weaknesses. The bulk is already in decent shape. So I'd say Grass/Steel with strong physical attack power. Just don't let the defenses fall behind too much.
-Make it a badass.

 

[~ Blazing White Yang]

The next Water starter has to be a pirate. No questions asked.

We had a samurai, then a ninja right after. Its only proper :3

 

[Beth Pavell]

Another mammalian Grass-type would be nice. As for Fire, anything but Fire/Fighting. We've had three, that's enough

 

[glow]

Starters who aren't part of the tried and true grass-water-fire triad. Or would that break the game? You might think so considering it's something that's been consistently used ever since the franchise started. Oh well.

 

[Zeb]

Starters who aren't part of the tried and true grass-water-fire triad. Or would that break the game? You might think so considering it's something that's been consistently used ever since the franchise started. Oh well.

I don't think it would break the game, but I think they use Grass-Fire-Water traditionally because the relationships between them are pretty obvious (Fire beats Grass, Water beats Fire) for a newcomer to the series/start of the game. Plus elemental types are always stereotypical in RPGs.

But that aside, I think it's fine to want to see something different from the starter types. It would certainly shake them up; without relying on Grass/Fire/Water as their base, we would have a lot of potential dual typings, leading to more surprises in terms of their designs, abilities, etc and possibly more potential in battle as starters always get decently high BSTs.

It would need to adhere to the rules of the Fire-Water-Grass trio though, with one type being weak to one of the types while being resistant to the other to form a proper trio. Off the top of my head I can't think of many. Flying/Fighting/Rock is one iirc.

 

[zvinko]

A dolphin based pokemon for water starter and maybe with ice as secondary typing when in final stage :/, for grass sth speedy and with good attack or special attack and interesting typing: psychic/fairy/electric/flying, and as for fire starter, I'd like to see a feline fire pokemon, maybe sth like a sphinx,or maybe even griffon :/ and also with interesting type combo

 

[kaiomann]

Fire/Ghost.
Some posessed entity completely made out of fire. Like Spiritomb, or GHOST RIDER! Damn now I want a ghost rider kinda pokemon.

Water/Ice.
A narwhal! Swimming in the ocean...

Grass/Steel
Imagine it as something like an ancient mayan war robot, overgrown and everything. But that would still be the bulky route... Maybe Grass/Dark? Like a giant jungle spider... Although that would be Bug. Ah I don't know.

Another interesting thing would be giving the starter another type of the same triplet, the one that's strong against his weakness.

Water would evolve to Water/Fire

Fire would evolve to Fire/Grass

Grass would evolve to Grass/Water

That would make the typings quite equal.

 

[Osprey]

Anything but Fire and Fighting combinations. I'd also appreciate it if they made them viable threats in competition, like how Greninja turned out. Just give them some good stats and good movepools and they won't even need a broken Ability to have presence.

 

[Apawn:p]

Ether Dark-Fighting-Psychic or Electric-Water-Ground Starters for me

 

[skyradiant]

A Fire/Fairy type based on a peacock, with Serene Grace as its Hidden Ability, would be pretty cool, although that might be too similar to Delphox in some respects. Fire/Electric would be pretty cool too.
As for Water, my idea is a Water/Dragon type based on a Spinosaurus, with Tough Claws as its HA, although that might also be too similar to Feraligatr. Water/Ice based on an orca isn't too bad either.
My idea for a Grass starter would be a Grass/Rock or Grass/Steel type based on some kind of antelope, like a gazelle or gemsbok, with Speed Boost as its HA.

 

[Life]

I've been thinking about this for a bit, and here's what I've come up with:

Grass starter

The grass-type starter is based on an ostrich and when fully evolved because grass/ground. It has strong legs allowing it to run fast for long distances, and it's body/feathers are made up of leaves and other foliage. I imagine that its stats would look something like 80/85/100/60/100/125. It's signature move (because why not) is called Head Rush, which is a physical grass-type attack that leaves the foe confused.

Fire starter

The fire-type starter is a snake that nests on the outskirts of volcanoes. It becomes a fire/rock-type when fully evolved and focuses on the defensive stats. It has thick, rocky skin that has multiple pathways to let fire and lava move out, letting it be able to cloak itself in layers of lava. It's stats are something like 95/75/98/72/98/72. It's signature move is called Lava Flow, which is a fire-type status move that boosts both defense stats of all fire-types on the field for the next five turns.

Water starter

The water-type start is based on the sea otter. It becomes a water/steel-type and has no focus in terms of stats. It's very long and slim, but its covered in "armor", giving it steel-type attributes. Its fur, claws, and abdomen all have some sort of metal on them, allowing for it to swim faster and take hits better. Its stats are 78/105/83/95/90/100, and its signature move is called Armor Repel, which is a water-type special attack that shoots blades crafted of water at its opponent. The blades it shoots move so fast, that it allows for no "not very effective" hits.

So yeah, I dunno. Just some ideas.

 

[Steel_Justice]

I'd like the Starters to end up with type combinations that are rare and to have evolutionary lines that are red herrings in that you expect it to gain a particular type but instead gains a different type. Here's what I got so far

Grass type

I haven't yet decided on an animal yet but the core idea can be transplanted into almost anything. It would be some animal with mushrooms growing on it's body that get bigger and more numerous as it evolves. When it reaches its final stage instead of being grass/poison like you'd expect it turns into grass/electric because those mushrooms turn out to be bio-luminescent giving it the ability to generate light and electricity (like Laturn who is based on an angler fish). It would be built with defense in mind, it would pack a punch on the special side but be a bit slow which is alright since grass/electric is pretty good on defense. It's signature move would be Arc Spore which is a special electric type move where the user fires electrically charged spores at the target that can put it to sleep on occasion. It's hidden ability right now I'm partial to Poison Heal to improve its defensive abilities.

Fire type

It would be a beetle like creature that despite its appearance is still pure fire. It becomes more insect like as it grows and when it evolves into its final stage instead of becoming a fire/bug it becomes fire/steel Bombardier Beetle like creature when armor grows spontaneously on its body and turns its abdomen into a cannon like body part. Its signature move is Slag Cannon which is a powerful steel type move that can inflict burn on its targets since it fires molten steel at a target instead of a chemical spray like you'd expect. Unlike most fire types this one can get away with being strong and bulky and it will be like that. To make it standout against Heatran it would have a larger movepool owing to the cannon on its body with moves like Energy Ball, Bug Buzz, Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse. Not decided on the hidden ability yet but I'm thinking about Drought.

Water type

This one's based on a Narwhal and as it evolves it grows larger and its tusk gets longer. However it doesn't become a water/ice type but instead becomes water/fighting when it learns to fence it it's tusk. It would be a fast and strong physical attacker. It' signature move is Wave Saber which is a physical fighting type move that has a high chance of increasing the user's speed due to the user becoming more nimble as they perform graceful sword swings. As you can see with the other signature moves I like the attack to be the secondary type but incorporate elements of the primary type I'm still trying to find something more thematic for Wave Saber. It would still learn other water and fighting moves like Aqua tail, Close Combat, Sacred Sword (Aegislash learns it so now its fair game) as well as ice moves like Icicle crash. I'm liking Moxie or Sheer Force to be its hidden ability.

 

[Zeb]

A Fire/Fairy type based on a peacock, with Serene Grace as its Hidden Ability, would be pretty cool, although that might be too similar to Delphox in some respects. Fire/Electric would be pretty cool too.

I always think of a peacock being Grass for some reason, but thinking about a Fire peacock I'm actually quite excited. Dunno about Fire/Fairy though. Fairy doesn't seem to fit; I usually associate a peacock idea with being part Psychic due to it using hypnotism/intimidation of the eyes on the feathers, but Fire/Psychic would obviously be a no-go.. hm. Fire/Dark could work with the intimidation, and also maybe cocky/snobby in its final stage? Dunno, liking a Fire peacock a lot tho.

My idea for a Grass starter would be a Grass/Rock or Grass/Steel type based on some kind of antelope, like a gazelle or gemsbok, with Speed Boost as its HA.

Grass/Rock would be cool to see on something fast as our only Grass/Rock currently is reeeeeally slow. I wanted Chespin to become Grass/Rock or Grass/Steel.

Fire starter

The fire-type starter is a snake that nests on the outskirts of volcanoes. It becomes a fire/rock-type when fully evolved and focuses on the defensive stats. It has thick, rocky skin that has multiple pathways to let fire and lava move out, letting it be able to cloak itself in layers of lava. It's stats are something like 95/75/98/72/98/72. It's signature move is called Lava Flow, which is a fire-type status move that boosts both defense stats of all fire-types on the field for the next five turns.

Fire/Rock isn't great as a defensive typing, so I'd honestly be against making it defensive with that typing. 4x weak to Ground + Water, while 2x weak to Rock + Fighting just won't help it be defensive. It has some nice resistances, but the weaknesses will be too overwhelming in the end, giving they are some of the most common offensive typings that it's weak to.

We do need a Fire snake in general though! Can't believe it hasn't happened yet. Your design for it sounds p cool too.

Water starter

The water-type start is based on the sea otter.

Sea otter Water starter already exists and they did such a bad job with its design. Awful interpretation of a sea otter, looks more like a clown.

I'd like the Starters to end up with type combinations that are rare and to have evolutionary lines that are red herrings in that you expect it to gain a particular type but instead gains a different type. Here's what I got so far

Cool ideas. Bombardier beetles in particular are something that would be fun. Mega Launcher or Bulletproof sound like they would fit your bombardier beetle. And I like your idea for its signature move. To be honest I like the moves that are one type but have the effect of another (like Scald having the burn chance which is typically a Fire status). We need more of those in general - like a Poison move that burns. A narwhal is also a concept that is sorely needed by now.

 

[Beth Pavell]

A swimming Water starter would be unlikely. It would have to turn up in the anime quite frequently, as we all remember from Goldeen, pokémon that can't battle properly on land are a nuisance to find screentime for

 

[Muur]

New typings such as ghost etc (meaning as secondary types, should stay fire/water/grass)

No Fire/Fighting, plz

No Fighting at all. Been done to death.

Physical Grass since they screwed up Sceptile.

 

[Lufenium]

My only major hope is that there isn't a Fire/Fighting final evolution. We had ten years of Fire/Fighting starters, I don't want any more.

Maybe a defensive Fire type starter. Every Fire-type has been more offensively driven, I'd like to see that change.