Article: The Sun and Moon Starters: A Closer Look into our New Pokémon

[Hikamaru]

Litten definitely has the leviathan cross/brimstone symbol on it's head (eyes + markings just above them). That + the dex entry part that mentions "when it sheds, its fur catches on fire" is giving me hell-ish vibes. I'm guessing it'll be engulfed in flames for it's final evo. (Black tiger with red stripes, on fire, perhaps?)

Hell-based fiery tiger? Now I've definitely got a feeling it's going to be Fire/Dark.

 

[Superfox]

If Litten ends up evolving into a Fire/Poison type, I may have to get it as my starter. I'm leaning towards Rowlet right now. I think that I'm gonna end up going with Rowlet in my Sun version and Popplio in my Moon version. This might change though, once I see the evolutions of the starters. Hopefully its not TOO long before we see them.

 

[PorygonNz]

Hell-based fiery tiger? Now I've definitely got a feeling it's going to be Fire/Dark.

I always felt like litten would be fire/dark, and popplio will turn out to be something like water/ice (cause lets face it, how many mono water starters are there? ^_^) and I want to see gamefreak be funny and make rowlets last form different than grass/flying just to mess with people, (plot twist: its last form isn't even an owl) {XD}

 

[Hikamaru]

I'm so excited about the starters. Leaps and bounds ahead of the previous two gens designs wise, imo. Obviously, I'm team Rowlet (the first time I've ever been pro-grass starter). Popplio is my second favourite, I think we're gonna get a curveball of a secondary type like we did with Empoleon. I do like Litten but I can't shake the Animal Crossing vibes it gives me. Majorly hoping for it to be Fire/Poison eventually but I'm good with Dark too.

I definitely could see them do something surprising with Popplio, because we never expected Piplup to become a Water/Steel or even expected Samurott's design as what Oshawott would eventually become.

I always felt like litten would be fire/dark, and popplio will turn out to be something like water/ice (cause lets face it, how many mono water starters are there? ^_^) and I want to see gamefreak be funny and make rowlets last form different than grass/flying just to mess with people, (plot twist: its last form isn't even an owl) {XD}

We've had other seal-like Pokemon, but one thing that's different is that Popplio's ears show it's actually based on a sea lion, unlike Dewgong who is a manatee (its Japanese name was originally going to be Manaty as well) and Spheal seems to be an eared seal, with its evos being an earless seal (Sealeo) and a walrus (Walrein). Popplio's flippers are also more elongated, which those other seal Pokemon didn't have, further pointing out having a more proper sea lion-based design to it.

 

[Xander Olivieri]

#TEAMROWLET

#LITTENSQUAD

#POPPLIOPOSSE

Kinda feels like dejavu really. The amount of people hating on the Water starter, though this time the hate really feels a little more spread out. Unlike with the previous generations it seems like the Fire Cat has a bit more than our Water Pokemon.

Can't wait for the evolutions to be shown~

 

[Superfox]

Kinda feels like dejavu really. The amount of people hating on the Water starter, though this time the hate really feels a little more spread out. Unlike with the previous generations it seems like the Fire Cat has a bit more than our Water Pokemon.

Can't wait for the evolutions to be shown~

LOL. Actually, the underdog status is why I ended up choosing Oshawott as my starter in Black, and looking back, I'm so glad I did. Samurott is by far the best final stage of the Unova starters, imo and one of my favorite final-stage starters ever. Honestly, in their final forms, they're all gonna look awesome. Even Delphox, which is a Pokémon that a lot of people s**t on design-wise, imo still looks awesome.

 

[Hikamaru]

#POPPLIOPOSSE

Kinda feels like dejavu really. The amount of people hating on the Water starter, though this time the hate really feels a little more spread out. Unlike with the previous generations it seems like the Fire Cat has a bit more than our Water Pokemon.

Can't wait for the evolutions to be shown~

I can understand you, this the third generation in a row that the Water starter gets hated on, though it seems more evident here compared to Oshawott and Froakie from the last two generations, and I guess it's because they don't like the idea of Popplio being a clown.

And like you, I'm more hyped for the evolution reveal so I can show the Litten and Rowlet fans that Popplio got redemption.

 

[PorygonNz]

We've had other seal-like Pokemon, but one thing that's different is that Popplio's ears show it's actually based on a sea lion, unlike Dewgong who is a manatee (its Japanese name was originally going to be Manaty as well) and Spheal seems to be an eared seal, with its evos being an earless seal (Sealeo) and a walrus (Walrein). Popplio's flippers are also more elongated, which those other seal Pokemon didn't have, further pointing out having a more proper sea lion-based design to it.

I never said it wasn't.. I just said I wanted to see it being water/ice :P or just about anything thats not mono water

 

[Superfox]

I can understand you, the third generation in a row that the Water starter gets hated on, though it seems more evident here compared to Oshawott and Froakie from the last two generations, and I guess it's because they don't like the idea of Popplio being a clown.

And like you, I'm more hyped for the evolution reveal so I can show the Litten and Rowlet fans that Popplio got redemption.

I actually think Oshawott got it the worst. People hated on Oshawott so hard that there was fan art dedicated to crapping on it. Here, I really haven't seen that much hate thrown at Popplio. Compared to Oshawott, and even several of the other "least-favorite" starters, Popplio seems to be pretty popular.

 

[Hikamaru]

I never said it wasn't.. I just said I wanted to see it being water/ice :P or just about anything thats not mono water

Of the six previous starters, we've had three pure-typed final evos each for both Grass and Water, and the other three from both types being dual-typed. Fire has all been dual-typed except for Typhlosion, and I guess it's likely the dual-typed Fire starters might continue again.

But I can see your point, Popplio will likely become Water/Ice since sea lions do live in cold climates (which kinda contradicts the Alola region) so it seems more plausible than just pure Water.

 

[Hikamaru]

I actually think Oshawott got it the worst. People hated on Oshawott so hard that there was fan art dedicated to crapping on it. Here, I really haven't seen that much hate thrown at Popplio. Compared to Oshawott, and even several of the other "least-favorite" starters, Popplio seems to be pretty popular.

A lot of the Popplio fanart is good, and with Oshawott it did end up evolving into something cool, even if the design we got for Samurott was unexpected but sometimes surprise is good.

 

[Superfox]

A lot of the Popplio fanart is good, and with Oshawott it did end up evolving into something cool, even if the design we got for Samurott was unexpected but sometimes surprise is good.

Yeah, it'll probably be the same way with Popplio, like it was for Oshawott and Chespin. Popplio's gonna evolve into a badass.

 

[Kevin RDS]

Popplio I choose you!, my second option is Litten

 

[Spinosaurus]

Yeah, it'll probably be the same way with Popplio, like it was for Oshawott and Chespin. Popplio's gonna evolve into a badass.

Eh, it's supposed to be a fun-loving circus seal. Evolving into a badass would go against its concept, so I doubt it'd turn into anything but a fun, goofy looking circus Pokemon which it honestly should. There was at least precedent for both Oshawott and Chespin to turn into something gruff looking.

 

[Hikamaru]

The problem with Popplio going full-on circus theme is that its unpopularity will get even worse, to the point it's likely going to be remembered by everyone as the most unpopular starter in Pokemon history.

 

[Spinosaurus]

The problem with Popplio going full-on circus theme is that its unpopularity will get even worse, to the point it's likely going to be remembered by everyone as the most unpopular starter in Pokemon history.

Even ignoring that the design for the starter's evolutions is already most likely finished I doubt they take fan reception into consideration when designing Pokemon. They already set the base for Popplio to turn into a circus Pokemon. Sure Oshawott looked like a clown but it also had samurai traits from the start.

Honestly I don't think people's issue is that it's a circus Pokemon, rather everything about it is something that's been done before. Circus seal is an obvious and outdone concept, and the series already had water seals, so everything about it comes across as generic. It doesn't help it's pretty overdesigned for a first stage mon.

Popplio is growing on me even if I don't think it's a good design, but I have hopes for its final evos and I'd be really disappointed if they don't stick with what they have going on and give us a goofy circus Pokemon.

 

[Superfox]

Eh, it's supposed to be a fun-loving circus seal. Evolving into a badass would go against its concept, so I doubt it'd turn into anything but a fun, goofy looking circus Pokemon which it honestly should. There was at least precedent for both Oshawott and Chespin to turn into something gruff looking.

What I meant was that it was gonna evolve into something cool. I'm not saying it'll be literally a badass. What I'm saying is that it'll evolve into something appealing at least.

 

[Hikamaru]

Even ignoring that the design for the starter's evolutions is already most likely finished I doubt they take fan reception into consideration when designing Pokemon. They already set the base for Popplio to turn into a circus Pokemon. Sure Oshawott looked like a clown but it also had samurai traits from the start.

Honestly I don't think people's issue is that it's a circus Pokemon, rather everything about it is something that's been done before. Circus seal is an obvious and outdone concept, and the series already had water seals, so everything about it comes across as generic. It doesn't help it's pretty overdesigned for a first stage mon.

Popplio is growing on me even if I don't think it's a good design, but I have hopes for its final evos and I'd be really disappointed if they don't stick with what they have going on and give us a goofy circus Pokemon.

I remember hearing about how much Game Freak loves to ignore fan influence and reaction, but I do wonder if they broke the Fire/Fighting streak with Fennekin because of hearing about Tepig being extremely unpopular due to its evos. I barely hear about people picking Tepig for 5th Gen playthroughs because they're like "I'm picking the others because Fire/Fighting is boring now" so you can see where I'm going if the evos of a starter get a notably bad reputation among the fandom. It's one of those occasional theories I bring up.

The Popplio haters seem to have a thing against clowns for some reason, or they think it's not a good concept for a starter. Popplio also has a bit of a difference to the other seal Pokemon, in that it went a bit more in-depth with what species it was based on.

 

[blue]

Spoiler:

Saw this making the rounds and it caught my interest. Most probably fake but still a fun idea of what the starters second stage could turn out to look like.

 

[Spinosaurus]

Way too safe and similar looking across all three. They're fake but I'm not a fan.

Fake starter evos are rarely ever creative I noticed. They just take the first stage and then makes them bigger with more stuff tacked on.