Fennekin isn't really all that. If you wanna talk about recycled then Fennekin def qualifies the most. Yet another fox pokemon after we already have Eevee (who evolves into 837456858474 different foxes), Zorua and VULPIX. Design wise there's just nothing that special about it for me, it just looks like a fire type Zorua imo. I think a lot of people are hyped up over Fennekin just because it's cute or whatever but I hope it becomes something much different from the other foxes so I have a reason to want to choose it. Personally I usually favor the fire starter but this time around it's my last choice. Despite what most people seem to feel about it, I still think Froakie looks the coolest.
I thought Torchic's design was very well done though, it was simple but left a lot of room for it to develop cooler features as it evolved. Now look at Blaziken.
Worst starters for me were Gen 5. I didn't think it was possible but I dislike all three starters. All of their evolutions were really crappy stat wise, and I hated the designs. Why didn't Serperior lose it's useless little hands when it lost it's feet to become a snake? Why does Emboar look so overdesigned with gold swirls around it's body? And WHY is Samurott a quadruped when it evolves from a bipedal otter that is supposed to be a samurai? None of it makes sense to me, which is why I can't see myself playing the Gen 5 games anytime soon or at all. Hopefully they make up for it this time.
Eh, it's all really opinion. I don't see any of the starters to be "recycled", but depending on somebody's viewpoint, they all could be.
Likewise, in terms of my own personal tastes the first generation had the worst starters by far (and the worst Pokemon in general, period), but that's just me! And Samurott makes a great samurai, as far as I'm concerned. But you could've imagined something different for a samurai! I admit that no particular starter line from generation five wooed me in particular—I like Serperior and Oshawott, but none of the other Pokemon in their evolution lines appeal to me—but I consider generation five to have the best Pokemon overall. I know some people disagree. Every person is different.
(I'm glad you agree that Torchic is awesome!)
(Oh, and I didn't even know Serperior had arms. That's actually... pretty creepy.)
I actually already knew that. However, in the Pokémon world, "dragons" aren't always what become Dragon types. For example, Gible's and its evolutions are mostly based on land sharks. That doesn't necessarily scream Dragon to me. Inversely, Gyarados, which is clearly based on Dragons is NOT a Dragon type. So, you see, not every typing makes absolute sense. I'm not saying Froakie would definitely be Water/Dragon, simply that I would accept it if Pokémon made an amphibian-based Pokémon into a Dragon type because Amphibians do share enough similarities with reptiles (I mean in their appearance. I do know the differences biologically) that it'd be justifiable.
...I'm a little confused. I don't really understand what you mean at all.
So, you were trying to justify Froakie becoming a Dragon type by comparing it to other Pokemon, and my interpretation was that you were stating that Trapinch and Horsea seemingly "randomly" evolve into Dragon types. Which might not have been your intention, but based on how you phrased the sentence that's what I assumed.
So, I thought maybe you didn't know so I wanted to clear stuff up, and I explained the reasons behind the Dragon typings of certain Pokemon.
And um, you'll have to forgive me but I don't really understand what you're trying to communicate with this post... I guess I sort of got lost in the conversation!
In any case, I think Froakie becoming a Dragon type would be cool, although a tad unlikely. But I like the idea!