Will the starters get Hisuian forms?

[colours]

this is such a boring answer but i really haven't leaned one way or the other. i think it'd be super cool if they did have regional forms, as i think it'd add some uniqueness to them, but whether or not it's actually going to happen? i'm partially leaning yes, wouldn't be surprised if in reality it isn't.

 

[lisianthus]

my friend and i were talking about this yesterday!

um, so i think that it could happen, but with a specific stone. or maybe with the help of an arceus plate?
either way i think that it is an idea heavily worth exploring and doing.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I'm honestly okay with the Sinnoh starters staying the same. While it could have been a cool way to make the original Sinnoh starters different, I also don't think that any Pokemon from the fourth generation would get a Hisui form. A part of me would also be fine with the Legend starters not getting new forms, mainly because I really like all of their evolutions, but I'm not going to be unhappy if they get new evolutions either. As much as I love Typhlosion and Samurott in particular, giving them new forms or evolutions would still be pretty cool and I've wanted a new Typhlosion form for ages too. The fact that they haven't shown the evolved forms of any of the Legend starters in any of the trailers thus far is also rather suspicious. It may not mean much when we've only had a few trailers and they'd want to focus more on the new Pokemon, characters and features than the starter, but it does make the idea that they'll have some new forms/evolutions more plausible.

 

[venusboi79]

Until recently, I’ve felt that the whole “will the starters get Hisuian evolutions” to be just early speculation clickbait. But with the latest trailers still only showing the starters in their base forms, and the fact that the only new Pokémon revealed so far are new evos of older ‘mons, I’m beginning to re-think that.

And to be honest, I’m really torn on the idea. On one hand, I love seeing new evolutions for older Pokémon. But I also really hate when established counterparts don’t get equal treatment (still holding out for that Bellsprout alternate evo). This goes double for starters; if these three get alternate evos, I sincerely hope that their counterparts get new ones too, even if they end up being made available via DLC or postgame content.

 

[Jimothy]

But the point is that their counterparts in this game are each other, not their old counterparts. The new evolutions ought to tie them together, design-wise in a way that makes them feel like they belong together.

 

[PikachuSmasher]

I don’t think it will happen. In future games such as Gen 9, how will they evolve into their Hisuan form. Even if its a new Evo, how will that happen, will it only be for PLA? Will the original starter form be forgotten? There are many problems here, at most, I can tell they’ll get a Hisuan exclusive move

 

[Silktree]

But the point is that their counterparts in this game are each other, not their old counterparts. The new evolutions ought to tie them together, design-wise in a way that makes them feel like they belong together.

They will forever be tied to their original regions. No one is going to start calling Cyndaquil a Hisui starter.

And uh, if Rowlet, Cyndaquil and Oshawott work together, their evolutions most certainly do. Before the Hisui form obsession started, fans were more into explaining the Japanese motif for the evolutions we already have.

 

[Shib]

In future games such as Gen 9, how will they evolve into their Hisuan form.

This problem already exists with regional forms that are evolutions of standard version Pokémon- Alolan Executor, Galarian Weezing for example are either only available in their as evolutions in their respective regions - they can be transferred into the game via trade/home/NPC trades but if you want to raise a Koffing in a future game but want to evolve it into a Galarian Weezing you’re out of luck.

Personally I just want them to add some sort of held item that causes the regional evos when in a different region - e.g the Strange Souvenir could become a held item and change the description to mention it “overflowing with the light of Alola” or similar with something like the Wishing Piece for Galar.

I feel like I’m in the minority for not wanting regional evos for the Legends starters but that might also be fuelled a little bit by really disliking all the fan designs I’ve seen pop up on Twitter!

 

[Silktree]

I feel like I’m in the minority for not wanting regional evos for the Legends starters but that might also be fuelled a little bit by really disliking all the fan designs I’ve seen pop up on Twitter!

Oh, do share. I really want to behold the greatness of the fandom's creativity. They wouldn't harp on this idea just because, right?

 

[Shib]

You can probably find them easily enough by searching online - they’ve been showing up in my Twitter feed regularly since the Hinduism forms were announced because I follow the Pokémon topic but they’re never from accounts I follow- a quick search on Twitter led to these:

https://twitter.com/championblaze25/status/1384197781271715859?s=21

https://twitter.com/durrahmandigit1/status/1370310495345934336?s=21

https://twitter.com/wasdmon/status/1367197508439539724?s=21

And honestly I mean no disrespect to the artists because the designs aren’t necessarily bad, they just really don’t appeal to me personally.

 

[lisianthus]

I don’t think it will happen. In future games such as Gen 9, how will they evolve into their Hisuan form. Even if its a new Evo, how will that happen, will it only be for PLA? Will the original starter form be forgotten? There are many problems here, at most, I can tell they’ll get a Hisuan exclusive move

Maybe being revived from a fossil could get them to evolve/be in their Hisuian form?

 

[techitisJ]

Before this most recent trailer, I was hopeful for this but wasn't sure if it would actually happen, We've now had three trailers with no sign of the middle or final evolutions of the starters, so I'm definitely in the boat where we will see Hisuian forms/evolutions for the LA starters.

I've been hoping we would see regional forms for starters for a while now, ever since Sun and Moon came out, I started thinking about the potential regional forms had, because I just loved the concept so much. And it does have a lot of potential. GameFreak has already shown they want to keep exploring this idea by bringing regional forms/evolutions not only back for SwSh, but for Legends Arceus as well. They've added evolutions to this gen and even gave regional forms to legendary Pokemon. It's clear that they see the possibilities with regional variants, so giving them to starters only seems like the next step.

 

[Aulos]

I can't see the game's starters getting anything because they are freshly imported by the professor. They've had no time to adapt to the region.

I hadn't ever thought about the native starters to the region, but I doubt it, too.

 

[Joker901]

I can't see the game's starters getting anything because they are freshly imported by the professor. They've had no time to adapt to the region.

I hadn't ever thought about the native starters to the region, but I doubt it, too.

If we have to use logic, what you say is perfectly true. But the reason why Alolan Raichu got a new form is because it ate too many pancakes. So... I wouldn't rely too much on logic, you know. Also, if Scyther evolves because exposed to some minerals, nothing stops GF from justifying new evolutions by some items found only in Sinnoh.
The native starters won't have any form because we already saw Empoleon in its normal form.

 

[blitzle stan]

Yeah, Gamefreak is definitely treating regional variants (that do not have a region-specific base form) like a “next step” of location-based evolution. Scyther is in a region with rare minerals, so it evolves into Kleavor. Pikachu eats Alolan pancakes and starts floating. Etc. it’s funny because Gen 8 did away with location-specific evolution methods like Leafeon/Glaceon… I suppose because regional variants and regional evolutions kind of overlap conceptually.

Rowlet, Cyndaquil, and Oshawott can definitely evolve into new things due to exposure to something in Hisui that was not in their native regions.

Yeah, I know I basically argued the exact opposite in the past. But my perspective changed the more I thought about it. And then they showed Empoleon… and dang it, I want SOME starters to get new stuff!

 

[Neyo]

it’s funny because Gen 8 did away with location-specific evolution methods like Leafeon/Glaceon

Cough*Runerigus*cough

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Cough*Runerigus*cough

To be fair, Runerigus's evolution method almost feels like it was done for the sole purposes of trolling players due to how ridiculously specific the requirements are. And for future regions they could easily either retcon it to being by regular level or at the very least make it so that traveling under any stone bridge does the trick.

Anyway, on the actual topic at hand, I'm personally kinda torn. I could easily see Decidueye, Typhlosion, and Samurott get regional forms to give them hype, but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't happen, since as they are they already seem to fit Hisui's theme quite well.

 

[blitzle stan]

Cough*Runerigus*cough

Which will very obviously be retconned into something much easier and not location-based for the next game it is in. Gamefreak still enjoys creating strange ways to evolve things for their debut games though.

 

[Emmy]

but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't happen, since as they are they already seem to fit Hisui's theme quite well.

How so?

 

[Joker901]

How so?

An archer (Decidueye), a shogun (Typhlosion) and a samurai (Samurott) fit perfectly in the time period Legends is set (Japan of the past).