Obligatory Starter Speculation Thread

[Xander Olivieri]

Arguably the Grass starter thread of being reptiles (well I-V) might not even have been a thing. Venusaur can be argued. It bares resemblance to Toads, which are amphibians.

I think they are considered reptiles because all three end with -saur which would relate them to Dinosaurian name scheme.

 

[PageEmp]

@OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire I forgot about Venusau. You didn't need to tell me that :P

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I think they are considered reptiles because all three end with -saur which would relate them to Dinosaurian name scheme.

In English yeah, I don't think it's Japanese name hints at it being a dinosaur. Then there's the debate of whether to classify Dinosaurs as reptiles (I searched and most consider them a special group of reptiles, but some don't as there differences).

 

[countryemo]

For some reason I've always imagined a water sheep pokemon, and as it grows it grows into a ram that horns can shoot out bubble beams, water gun ect.

Also thought of a fire rooster and a grass elephant, not sure how the rooster will get 3 evo's in without being another Torchick. I also like the fire cat -> tiger idea. As for the elephant, I think it would be too obvious to be water, and grass could be interesting. Not sure about the vine/leaf attacks..

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

For some reason I've always imagined a water sheep pokemon, and as it grows it grows into a ram that horns can shoot out bubble beams, water gun ect.

Also thought of a fire rooster and a grass elephant, not sure how the rooster will get 3 evo's in without being another Torchick. I also like the fire cat -> tiger idea. As for the elephant, I think it would be too obvious to be water, and grass could be interesting. Not sure about the vine/leaf attacks..

Blaziken already is a fire rooster (well male ones, females are hens).

A fire ram could work, but I do love the idea of a water one too. Perhaps we'll get one this gen and other in a future one. It would be different if they made it a single mon that evolves into a grass, water, and fire type. The initial type can be Normal or something else. Perhaps Fighting with the middle ones being duel type then losing the fighting type for the final for Psychic, Dark, and Fairy.

 

[Hikamaru]

Yeah, I feel like Torchic line already represents rooster. But like ORandAS said, a ram could be a good concept, given it could represent the Goat/Sheep slot of the Chinese Zodiac theme.

 

[countryemo]

Like I said, I was unsure how it would not be another Torchic, though in terms of Blaziken, I was thinking design wise more in terms of an actual rooster design.

Whats this about the chinese zodiac?

 

[Xander Olivieri]

In English yeah, I don't think it's Japanese name hints at it being a dinosaur. Then there's the debate of whether to classify Dinosaurs as reptiles (I searched and most consider them a special group of reptiles, but some don't as there differences).

I'm taking a class in college about Dinosaurs and fossils and it's pretty amusing. Very first thing our teacher said was that most of what we know about dinosaurs is wrong and the only true dinosaurs existed late Triassic to Jurassic Periods. All Dinosaurs are land based reptiles, and Marine Reptiles and Flying Reptiles like Pterosaurs aren't dinosaurs.

Starting to get more interested in the class as we move forward. Also according to this, we only have 4 Dinosaur based Fossil Pokemon, the fossils from Gen 4 and from Gen 6.

The entire line's Japanese names iirc are phrases. Like Bulbasaur's name is "Isn't this strange?" and Venusaur's is Strange Flower. Ivysaur's is "it seems strange" or "strange grass". All three are speculated to be based off some Cambrian Mammal like reptile called Dicynodonts or Kannemeyeria (which is a large species of Dicynodont). I think fans are still speculating the origin of these three.

So it could go either way with how ambiguous Bulbasaur's line is. I'll at least file in favor for reptile since they don't look like frogs to me. Can't see a repeat of all one type of species happening again though unless they do all mammal since majority of the remaining 6 choices are mammal with only 1 reptile left.

Like I said, I was unsure how it would not be another Torchic, though in terms of Blaziken, I was thinking design wise more in terms of an actual rooster design.

Whats this about the chinese zodiac?

So far based on each of the fundamental designs of the starters, each fire starter has some representation in the Chinese Zodiac.

Charmander = Dragon
Cyndaquil = Mouse
Torchic = Rooster
Chimchar = Monkey
Tepig = Boar
Fennikin = Dog

Leaving Horse, Ox, Ram, Rabbit, Snake, and Tiger left. Both Ram and Rabbit seem to be favorites for this generation based of speculation and fanart.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I'm taking a class in college about Dinosaurs and fossils and it's pretty amusing. Very first thing our teacher said was that most of what we know about dinosaurs is wrong and the only true dinosaurs existed late Triassic to Jurassic Periods. All Dinosaurs are land based reptiles, and Marine Reptiles and Flying Reptiles like Pterosaurs aren't dinosaurs.

Starting to get more interested in the class as we move forward. Also according to this, we only have 4 Dinosaur based Fossil Pokemon, the fossils from Gen 4 and from Gen 6.

The entire line's Japanese names iirc are phrases. Like Bulbasaur's name is "Isn't this strange?" and Venusaur's is Strange Flower. Ivysaur's is "it seems strange" or "strange grass". All three are speculated to be based off some Cambrian Mammal like reptile called Dicynodonts or Kannemeyeria (which is a large species of Dicynodont). I think fans are still speculating the origin of these three.

So it could go either way with how ambiguous Bulbasaur's line is. I'll at least file in favor for reptile since they don't look like frogs to me. Can't see a repeat of all one type of species happening again though unless they do all mammal since majority of the remaining 6 choices are mammal with only 1 reptile left.



So far based on each of the fundamental designs of the starters, each fire starter has some representation in the Chinese Zodiac.

Charmander = Dragon
Cyndaquil = Mouse
Torchic = Rooster
Chimchar = Monkey
Tepig = Boar
Fennikin = Dog

Leaving Horse, Ox, Ram, Rabbit, Snake, and Tiger left. Both Ram and Rabbit seem to be favorites for this generation based of speculation and fanart.

I also consider it a Reptile.




Ram, Snake, and Rabbit are my top three choices. We could get a sheep as ram and sheep are often used interchangeably for that zodiac sign.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Never mention the Chinese Zodiac in Pokémon discussion boards, especially at /vp/, or else you'll get into long debates on whether or not the Cyndaquil line counts as a rat or foxes are considered dogs.

 

[Ho-Oh]

That's cool. Fire horse is out because Ponyta. Fire snake doesn't really fit right with Serperior existing. Fire Ox... nah. Tiger seems too obvious, so I don't think so. Personally I don't think rabbits would be included in the elements. It just screams "ugly elemental monkeys" to me.

So! With that said: Ram. Definitely a fan of a fire-ram starter. Just going to do some theorymonning in regards to this. Chances are this is most likely going to happen in these games. c:

Fire Sheep. Name: Lambustion (Weak Armor / Quick Feet)
Fire Goat. Name: Charbilly (Overcoat / No Guard)
Fire/Ground Ram. Name: Ramferno (Blaze / Sand Rush / Reckless)

Lambustion evolves to Charbilly at level 16, then to Ramferno at level 32.

Moveset-wise I was thinking that our potential ram would be learning head on attacks. It, being a fire ram, has command over the elements: fire, ground, and rock. It controls them at its will. So with that said, I designed a learnpool.

Learnable moves (for the entire evolution line, including TMs):

Tackle
Slam
Stomp
Headbutt
Horn Attack
Horn Drill
Take Down
Thrash
Double-Edge
Leer
Growl
Ember
Flamethrower
Strength
Earthquake
Fissure
Rage
Double Team
Harden
Defense Curl
Fire Blast
Rock Slide
Protect
Spikes
Sandstorm
Rollout
Magnitude
Return
Frustration
Rest
Sleep Talk
Rock Smash
Heat Wave
Sunny Day
Revenge
Eruption
Knock Off
Blast Burn
Overheat
Rock Tomb
Sand Tomb
Iron Defense
Bulk Up
Block
Earth Power
Lava Plume
Rock Wrecker
Flare Blitz
Stealth Rock
Stone Edge
Magma Storm
Incinerate
Inferno
Retaliate
Horn Leech
Wild Charge
Head Charge
Spiky Shield
Roar

RAMFERNO STATS

HP: 100
Attack: 140
Defense: 105
Sp.Atk: 40
Sp.Def: 60
Speed: 80

Roughly base total is 525. Emboar is 528, so it wouldn't be too far of a stretch.

I figured out a cool moveset for it (yes, Ramferno is similar to Emboar but better due to the ability!) On the other hand, Charbilly has No Guard which would otherwise be broken due to Fissure always working... but it'd be weak, and while Eviolite can help, its stats would ideally be low enough (or be banned lol) to not cause problems.

Ramferno @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Wild Charge
- Head Charge

So what do you guys think about the potential Ram? We totally need it, yeah? :)

 

[IAmVincentLiu]

- Sun Pokémon

- Moonlight Pokémon

This is highly unlikely, but I would love it if they gave an Espeon in Sun and an Umbreon in Moon.

 

[Hikamaru]

- Sun Pokémon

- Moonlight Pokémon

This is highly unlikely, but I would love it if they gave an Espeon in Sun and an Umbreon in Moon.

Given this is a main series game, it'll still be the typical new Grass/Fire/Water trio, but Espeon and Umbreon were given as your first Pokemon in Colosseum.

 

[Zeturic]

- Sun Pokémon

- Moonlight Pokémon

This is highly unlikely, but I would love it if they gave an Espeon in Sun and an Umbreon in Moon.

I wouldn't be surprised if they got featured somehow, like maybe the Champion uses the one that is the same as the game and gives you the other one. But I would be very surprised if they were starters.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

This week has gone by faster than I had expected.I hope we get the starters shown in the trailer in Pokénchi.

 

[Hikamaru]

This week has gone by faster than I had expected.I hope we get the starters shown in the trailer in Pokénchi.

I feel the same way too. I'm hoping for not just the starters in Pokenchi this weekend, but hopefully some more stuff that we may or may not have been speculating.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I feel the same way too. I'm hoping for not just the starters in Pokenchi this weekend, but hopefully some more stuff that we may or may not have been speculating.

I'm keeping my expectations to what we usually get early on, starters and mascots, plus some heavily marketed/hyped mon (think Zoroark).

 

[Hikamaru]

I'm keeping my expectations to what we usually get early on, starters and mascots, plus some heavily marketed/hyped mon (think Zoroark).

We need to be wary tomorrow because of April Fools, but I think your expectations might be something I'd expect at this stage as well, whether it'd be on Pokenchi or CoroCoro.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

We need to be wary tomorrow because of April Fools, but I think your expectations might be something I'd expect at this stage as well, whether it'd be on Pokenchi or CoroCoro.

I wonder if any past April fool mons will end up being mons. There was an old one that looked a lot like Shinx prior to Gen IV.

 

[illumine]

It would probably be not that difficult for them to do better than their previous set of starters, which were a bit basic and all looked quite similar, like Gen. 4's. Still, though, if sun might be associated with fire, plausibly, and moon with water, they could do something along those lines if they got that far, and then the grass starter be more of an environmental or landscape thing like Torterra, alternatively they could go for something retro and approximating the first gen's starters. Hopefully they try to cut down on the dual-typing tendency in starters, unless it's really necessary, and since Mudkip it has often been a bit random, while people would generally be asked to select fire, water, or grass, and the hybridity can sometimes lead to something quite different, possibly for little reason, as with Torchic in some ways.

- Sun Pokémon

- Moonlight Pokémon

This is highly unlikely, but I would love it if they gave an Espeon in Sun and an Umbreon in Moon.

Unlikely, psychic and dark are fairly specific types and would generally be found later. It might be unexpected going by the ordinarily chosen ordinary elemental starters.