[Sword & Shield] About the new starters...

[LatchoDives23]

This is the first generation where I disliked more than one starter, much less all of them. And I've only disliked two starters before (Chikorita and Tepig).

Granted, Scorbunny is the best one, but it really doesn't say much. The Grass one is definitely the worst one, though.

As for the names... why, just why?

 

[colours]

disagree with you here. i like the grass starter. i think all three are cute, actually.

but every generation everyone has different opinions on the starters and that is ok too.

 

[LatchoDives23]

disagree with you here. i like the grass starter. i think all three are cute, actually.

but every generation everyone has different opinions on the starters and that is ok too.

On the other hand, I might just be biased, since there's only one generation I prefer the Grass starter over others (and that would be Kalos).

Maybe I'll see if they start to grow on me.

 

[JoyStar]

I like Scorbunny, but I do think all the starters look kind of same-y. They could have gotten more creative.

 

[tokyodrift]

How anyone can hate Sobble is beyond me. For what it's worth, I'm not too fond of Scorbunny...

 

[Juno]

I'm on the same page with you here, I'm pretty lukewarm about all three of them but as with several generations' starters, I feel they can definitely grow on me.

It's not that I strongly dislike any of them (and I have in the past, eg. Chespin, sorry little dude) but I have no strong preference for any of them? It's not like "wow I love all three of them I can't pick", it's more of a "I don't love any of them I can't pick" right now, and I hope the final evos change that!

I feel like this is the first generation where I feel like I could go with all three - I know on day 1 I was strongly for Scorbunny, then a couple days later I'm like "well, Grookey's kind of cute", and then I see all the Sobble memes and cute drawings and I'm like "alright, I can be on board with Sobble"

so tl;dr I DON'T KNOW

 

[Bellsprout]

I don't feel love for any of them either, but I've had my mind changed before once seeing the final evolutions. Right now I'm leaning towards sobble only because I fear the bandage on scorbunny is going to lead to a fire/fighting type. BUT I PRAY

 

[mishy.]

Sobble sobble sobble.

I'm in the boat of really liking all three of them but Im mostly leaning towards Sobble. Though of course actually picking Sobble out of the othe rtwo in the game itself will depend on the evolutions as well as the other Pokemon revealed too.

 

[Kieran]

I really really like Grookey and Sobble, not that much of Scorbunny, and the name is too long imo, and weirdly combined imo.

 

[Fairy]

In my opinion:

Sobble: 8.2/10
Grookey: 6/10
Scorbunny: 5.5/10

I do really like them, especially Sobble and especially compared to some previous gens. But it's still a little too early to make any final decisions yet. We should wait for the evolutions to be released first before condemning a design. :)

 

[Wicked3DS]

I'm gravitating towards Scorbunny and Sobble. I'm a sucker for Fire-types, but I'm looking to see Scorbunny's evolutions before I jump on that wagon. Sobble is adorable and I'm hoping it gets the Ghost-type everyone is hyping up because of its hiding in the water. Grookey honestly doesn't do much for me, but I have a history of not liking the Grass-type starters much right off the bat save for Treecko and Snivy. I figure a lot of this could change with the reveal of evolutions.

 

[JamesBCFC]

I'm not drawn to any but don't dislike any.
As I'm not going to ruin the games for myself by finding out everything I can before release I'll probably decide which I pick during my first playthrough.

 

[TheMetroidGod]

I thought this was interesting: I looked up the Japanese translations of each Pokemon, and it really gives some more insight. Sorry I couldn't find small, matching pictures of any of these Pokemon.


Grookey: "Japanese: "サルノリ Sarunori... From 猿 saru and ノリ nori".
Saru = Monkey
Nori is similar to "going with the flow", "easy going", "High Spirits", "Getting into the mood"
Analysis: This tells me that Grookey may likely be a Grass/Fairy type due to the phrase "High Spirits"


Sobble: "Japanese: メッソン Messon... From メソメソ mesomeso and chameleon"
Literally, "mesomeso" is sobbing.
Analysis: Combining these two phrases we see "Sobbing Chameleon". But, the Chameleon part may say something about the type. It'll either change or can disappear, like a Ghost. Maybe.


Scorbunny: "Japanese: ヒバニー Hibanī... From 火 hi, 火花 hibana, and bunny"
This one was the most exciting.
Hi = Fire
Hibana = Sparks.
Now, the translation of Hibana means Spark. This is what the Cambrige translation dictionary says regarding the word:
"火花 spark [noun] a tiny red-hot piece thrown off by something burning, or when two very hard (eg metal) surfaces are struck together"
This definition implies just that something hot is falling of of something hotter (A sparkler). The metal surfaces did strike some interest. It implies that METAL will be involved with this pokemon in the future! (Steel type :D)
The other notion is that "Spark" refers to an electrical spark. That's right! There's a chance that Scorbunny may be a Fire/Electric type!!! Never been done before! That'll be SO cool if it's true!
Either one of these types will be exciting for Scorbunny! Fire/Steel or Fire/Electricity! I'd love either! I don't usually choose the fire type, but I may change my ways if Scorbunny will be either of these types!

- - -

Heckin' exciting! I honestly like each of them. Not terribly impressed with Sobble though, if I'm being completely honest. But I love the water types anyway, so I'm giving him a chance! I also love the grass types. Not a huge monkey fan though. So I'll give him a chance too! In the case of Scorbunny, though, I love bunnies (a lot), I love electric types, and I love steel types (a lot), but never chose the fire types too often, except for Typhlosion. I loved Typhlosion. I'm seriously leaning towards Scorbunny this time!

Hope this was helpful, or at least kind of interesting to everyone. I'll post the links so you could do your own research too if you'd like!

- - -

SOURCES:
Grookey -
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Grookey_(Pokémon)

Sobble -
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sobble_(Pokémon)

Scorbunny -
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Scorbunny_(Pokémon)

Cambridge Dictionary -
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/japanese-english/火花