Game Freak surprised Pokemon fans everywhere with the recent announcement that Gen 9 would be dropping later this year with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet on the Switch. There isn’t a ton of information about the games just yet other than it’ll be set in a Spain-inspired Pokemon region returning to modern day.
In addition to knowing the setting, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet seem to be adopting many of the gameplay changes that came to the series in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but there hasn’t been much clarification on which mechanics will be carried over other than the expansive open world.
The other major thing included with the announcement of Gen 9 was the starters that players are able to choose from when Scarlet and Violet release later this year. There’s not much to go off just yet, but the three new Pokemon introduced have already jumpstarted conversation so it’s important to get the facts right.
Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly
The three Gen 9 starters are Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly. Scarlet and Violet are keeping true to the tradition of letting the player choose from a fire, water, or grass type as their first Pokemon companion. So far, players have latched onto the new starters by creating oceans of fan art and animations.
Sprigatito is the grass starter for Gen 9 and is the “Grass Cat Pokemon.” It’s described as “capricious” and “attention-seeking” and has the ability Overgrow. Overgrow used to simply boost all grass moves, but, starting with Gen 5, a slight change was made so that now it doesn’t boost the move itself but the attack or special attack of a Pokemon when using a grass-type move. Fans anticipate that Overgrow will likely stay the same for Gen 9 making Sprigatito a potential grass-type powerhouse if taught the right moveset.
Fuecoco is the fire starter for Gen 9, known as the “Fire Croc Pokemon.” It’s a “laid-back” Pokemon that “does things at its own pace” and it has the ability Blaze. Blaze essentially functions exactly like Overgrow but for fire moves and had the same Gen 5 switch that will likely continue on unchanged for the newest generation of Pokemon. Fire-types are a lot less common in the games so many players might choose Fuecoco on that merrit alone, but it’s still to be seen what dual typing it ends up receiving as it evolves.
Quaxly is the water starter for Gen 9 and is simply the “Duckling Pokemon.” Quaxly’s description is very straightforward: “the earnest and tidy Duckling Pokémon,” giving it something of a timid feel. The water starter’s ability is Torrent which, as you might guess, functions the exact same as Overgrow and Blaze but boosts the user’s water moves.
