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Pokémon Sun and Moon Starters Revealed. Releases November 18th 2016.

Rowlet inal evolution leaked!

CiGOLvMXIAAhbCj.jpg
 
Initially, I didn't really like any of the starters, but as I saw the other promo art and the fanart that followed, I've warmed up to them fast. Rowlet is my first pick with Litten as a close second (Popplio, I might pick if he gains a cool typing later on).

The more realistically-sized overworld is a big plus in my book. We finally have a handheld game that's comparable to Pokemon Colosseum/XD in terms of visual scaling (along with trainers standing next to their pokemon and maybe reacting to the battle itself). Seeing how Alola looks to have multiple islands, I can't wait to see how the progression of the game's journey is when you're hopping between them (maybe throwing in some nonlinear progression this time around?).

Trainer customization is another good thing returning from XY. Here's hoping there's a good amount of options for both genders and not a laughably small selection of clothing and hairstyles for male trainers while the female trainers get 3x as many options. On top of that, they should add in costumes based off past protagonists, gym leaders, champions, and evil organizations (just imagine biking around Alola in a Team Rocket suit).
 
My list:

1 - Squirtle
2 - Cyndaquil
3 - Mudkip
4 - Piplup
5 - Oshawott
6 - Chespin

I'm thinking Rowlett this time around.
 
Just watched the trailers. That short Japanese movie was something else. Really cute

The Hawaii location looks rad, it all looks less square-based too. There's some nice array of skin tones for the trainer (and NPCs)... tho it's too bad gingers are getting shafted again!

And then ofcourse there's the starters. Honestly I didn't expect there to be new starters, despite all evidence pointing towards all new legendaries. I guess this officially makes it gen 7 then?

The owl's head twirl animation is goofy, but the leaf bra looks awkward. ...Or is it supposed to be a bowtie? Either way, not too hot about this first form... which probably means that its last one is gonna be totally rad!
I'm split between the mopey fire cat and dopey clown seal as the best of the trio. They're both adorable in their own way! Unless there's going to be some totally swell wild monsters, I'm gonna do a first playthrough with both of them. Wonder Trade spam, away!

Rowlet's leaf is meant to be a bow tie.

I think I'm going to use Popplio as my starter in Moon (my main game) and Rowlet in Sun. I'll use Litten in Pokemon Heliosphere/the remakes.
 
Damnnnnn I like those starters!

I'm going for Litten or Popplio. I don't know how anyone can say the owl is cute but the seal one isn't.
 
...So, trainer customization is in. That's nice!

But I still pretty much need to get a haircut soon after I start.

Good grief, is it really that hard to just give certain customization options like skin, hair and eye color, on start up?
 
I hope they go all in with the tropical setting. The last time I felt like an overworld was really thematically cohesive was Sinnoh.
 
lol Gen 2 already was overdesigned crap. Not sure why people always specifically exclude it from the bad design talk.

Gen II was full of blob Pokemon like Quagsire, Lanturn, Wobbufett, Hoppip, etc and even the non-blob Pokemon were much more abstracted from their animal counterparts than Gen I (see: difference between Tauros and Miltank) and just very round in general with a few exceptions.
 
...So, trainer customization is in. That's nice!

But I still pretty much need to get a haircut soon after I start.

Good grief, is it really that hard to just give certain customization options like skin, hair and eye color, on start up?
I'm shocked that Customization even made it in.
 
...So, trainer customization is in. That's nice!

But I still pretty much need to get a haircut soon after I start.

Good grief, is it really that hard to just give certain customization options like skin, hair and eye color, on start up?

You get skin on startup
 
I kinda wish the game would just let us start with all three starters. WHY MUST I CHOOSE?

I want to take all three of them on my Hawaiian adventure!
 
I'm a fan of all 3 personally. Litten's whiskers are a bit awkward, but I still dig the design overall.

My list so far:

1. Squirtle
2. Cyndaquil
3. Mudkip
4.Piplup
5. Snivy
6. Fennekin

Typically I'm water based, but I'm not digging Popplio as much. He's neat, but I think both Litten and Rowlet are better. Need to see more forms. Leaning Rowlet right now because he's absolutely adorable.
 
I kinda wish the game would just let us start with all three starters. WHY MUST I CHOOSE?

I want to take all three of them on my Hawaiian adventure!

Use Bank or trade from another copy (granted the ID would be different for two of them)

I may do my first run with all three starters since it's been a really long time since I last did that.
 
You get skin on startup

I know that. But again, my point was that, why don't they just allow me access to a variety of hairstyles on startup, and then just have the option to "change my mind" or have even more options at the beautician, later?
 
I'm shocked that Customization even made it in.

Well, they have said that they think customization is a Kalos thing when commenting on why it wasn't in ORAS:

In terms of the customization of the trainer, that was really kind of a special thing for the Kalos region, which featured this kind of motif of France and really focused on this beauty and fashion aspect, which is why it was a prominent feature in that game

So if customization is returning, you know what else has to return, right?

#KalosConfirmed

... no, but they probably saw the backlash of the lack of it in ORAS and put it in?
 
My issues with each starter:
  • The grass starter looks fantastic but miscolored? The upper beak should have been orange maybe? Reminds of Chesnaught's awful and dull colors.

    mAnjtH0.png
    rIBFhFR.jpg

  • The fire starter looks like an anime cat. I love how absurd it is to complain about a Pokemon looking anime but that's how I feel. It's a great anime cat design but it just looks weird as a Pokemon, mainly the eyes.

    WlqImQU.png
    UY17ehA.gif

  • The water starter reminds me of these fakemon that match Sugimori's style but are just plain and not interesting.

    MCpeqI3.png
    0pnKnJF.png
 
Oh we're doing the first time starter list thing again? Alright

1) Squirtle
2) Totodile
3) Mudkip
4) Chimchar
5) Snivy
6) Chespin
7) Firecat / Clownseal coin toss
Rowlet's leaf is meant to be a bow tie.
Yeah, I kinda figured. Which is why I expect its final form to be the dapperst of dapper Pokemon.
 
The only Pokemon I ever thought maybe had a bit too much going on, design-wise, is that new robot legendary they unveiled (can't remember its name). Even then, it's grown on me.

That's what's amazing about Pokemon. No matter what my initial reaction, it seems every design grows on me over time.
 
I know that. But again, my point was that, why don't they just allow me access to a variety of hairstyles on startup, and then just have the option to "change my mind" or have even more options at the beautician, later?

Maybe they just want to have a standard for the character in the beginning for the anime
 
The Pokemon look awesome, people just always complain, clockwork at this point. Pokemon designed by GAF would be the worst shit ever.

I agree. Different strokes, etc. but I think these new starters look awesome. The fire one is a bit boring to me, but think they all look good. Excited to see their evolutions.
 
...So, trainer customization is in. That's nice!

But I still pretty much need to get a haircut soon after I start.

Good grief, is it really that hard to just give certain customization options like skin, hair and eye color, on start up?

Im with you, it is quite strange.
I think its for promotional purposes for the default designs, as Ash will be traveling with one of the MCs, and probably because children want to dive right into the game and not spend time customizing. Kids are so used to booting a game up and playing straight away thanks phone games, so perhaps GF took that into consideration.

Like I say though, the black haired guy character is basically me already so I got lucky, some of you just might have to bare the long hair until you hit the hairdressers. I will say its a shame we can't change our face. Not like I was expecting anything like Dragons Dogmas sliders, but something in the vein od Dragon Quest IX's would have been nice.
Still, just happy the feature made it in after the developers worrying comments it may be Kalos exclusive.

Looks like it'll become a staple and can only get better from here on out so colour me chuffed.

Edit: If we're doing starters, here's mine -

1) Squirtle
2) Cyndaquil
3) Treecko
4) Turtwig
5) Oshawott
6) Chespin
7) MY MAN POPPLIO
 
Good god those starters, not for me I guess. I was kinda hyped for this one since I haven't played one in awhile. Guess I'll be getting Polemon yellow so I can transfer my real starter over lol.

That Sun legendary looks pretty sweet though, not gunna lie. I wonder if this game is going to end up being like X & Y and be pretty slimmed down compared to ORAS.
 
Gen II was full of blob Pokemon like Quagsire, Lanturn, Wobbufett, Hoppip, etc and even the non-blob Pokemon were much more abstracted from their animal counterparts than Gen I (see: difference between Tauros and Miltank) and just very round in general with a few exceptions.

Which is just another thing that already made me feel iffy about Gen II back in the day, even as a kid. The art design for the monsters is just obnoxious since they've chosen that direction.
At least the areas now finally reached standards from a decade ago.
 
My issues with each starter:
  • The grass starter looks fantastic but miscolored? The upper beak should have been orange maybe? Reminds of Chesnaught's awful and dull colors.

    mAnjtH0.png
    rIBFhFR.jpg

  • The fire starter looks like an anime cat. I love how absurd it is to complain about a Pokemon looking anime but that's how I feel. It's a great anime cat design but it just looks weird as a Pokemon, mainly the eyes.

    WlqImQU.png
    UY17ehA.gif

  • The water starter reminds me of these fakemon that match Sugimori's style but are just plain and not interesting.

    MCpeqI3.png
    0pnKnJF.png

The difference between the actual starters and fakemon are the real ones all have a clear motif. Especially Popplio with the the clown neck-thing and the clown nose which also doubles as looking like a seal balancing a ball on its nose.
 
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