Pokemon Black/White Starters

By deactivated-5cdb69f34ac28 May 13, 2010 3 Comments

 
Since it was announced, I have been interested in Pokemon Black/White. I have followed it from day one. What exactly got me back into looking at Pokemon was Gible - specifically, Ash catching Gible. Perhaps it was simply his personality, but that Pokemon got me playing Pokemon Platinum just so I could catch one. Of course, the purpose of this blog is not to talk about old stuff, it is to talk about the new starters, and maybe do a bit of speculating.

First up is Pokabu. Personally, I think Pokubu would be a better name, but I am sure it will change when it comes to America. My personal opinion is that it is going to be a Fire/Dark Pokemon, but I am simply going by the colors. I am pretty interested in seeing more about it. I would imagine that it's evolved formed will either be pretty awesome or utterly horrible, depending upon whether or not it takes the same route that Totodile did - who I liked. Either way, I am interested in checking it out. In terms of anime, I could see this Pokemon going to either Ash or his female counterpart, though Tsutaaja will probably go to the opposite. I could see this guy being either offensive or defensive. Judging by his type, I would go with offensive, but I would be interested in seeing a defensive fire-type.
 
For English names, I could see something along the lines of Cynork, Cynoink, Pyoink, Cyndaboar, or a number of other names that I could probably come up with if I put my mind to it. I have to admit, I am kinda excited about him. The more I look at him, the more I want to use him. I mean, come on, a fire pig! If he is a Fire/Dark, that would be pretty sweet. Sweet like bacon... You know, Bacon would be a good name for him...

Next up is Tsutaaja. This guy seems to be a favorite. I can understand why - he is pretty cool-looking. Hopefully, his first grass move won't be "leech seed," but we'll see. I am pretty interested in checking him out too, but I am sure I will be seeing him and his evolved forms quite a bit if I continue to pay attention to Pokemon. Personally, he looks like he could be part psychic, but that is mostly because of the shoulder flairs. Since he is a snake, a ground type would not be unheard of. I can see his evolutions turning out pretty awesome, but we will have to wait and see. I am not sure if Ash will get him, his female counterpart, or both, but he will definitely get caught and used in the anime. I would hate for Ash to miss out on catching one, and it could be interesting to see two of the same Pokemon with dramatically different personalities - though I don't know how interesting that would actually be in practice. Perhaps a split evolution? I suspect a very offensively based Pokemon.
 
I would imagine it's English name would be similar to the scientific name of what it's based upon: Natrix. Hell, I could even see them considering going with that name. It is already kinda Pokemon-eqsue. But they would likely modify it in some way, perhaps making it Natirax or something like that. Either way, I could see myself calling him Natrix, if for no other reason than because of how much he resembles a grass snake.

Last up is Mijumaru. "Raw Ball," as I call him. He is...an otter. I am not really sure how I feel about him. On the one hand, he could be incredibly cute. On the other hand, he looks kinda weird. It all depends on the angle - literally. The way that he looks "officially" I hate, but the way he looks in nearly every other picture (including the one above), he seems cute. Maybe it is because the fans push his fluff to the sides of his neck, rather than around the front of his neck. I could easily see that being the case. Still, I am not very interested in him. I have no real opinion on his evolved forms, though I suppose those could turn out pretty cool. I mean, they do change quite a bit. While I want to stick with my Water/Steel type combo theory, I could see him being Water/Ice or simply pure water. If he does pop up in the anime, I hope he evolves quickly. I would expect this guy to be more defensive.
 
As for possible English names... Raw Ball? Nah. Perhaps Lutrotter? Lutrin? Lutrino? I dunno. It's hard to come up with something for this one. He looks like the love child of ice cream and a snowman. Perhaps Snotter? That would be a good name... Regardless, I am going to call him Raw Ball - assuming I get him.

I am also intrigued by the new characters being an age beyond 10. I highly doubt that we will get much information about the guy, and the girl doesn't look like the type to be into those competition, so perhaps the anime will be on the upswing in that sense, since they have the "new girl" join Ash. I understand why they feel the need to have the competitions (for the female viewers), but I don't know too many girls who are actually interested in that part of Pokemon. Or anyone, for that matter. It just makes me kinda uninterested in Pokemon. It is an entire part of the game which I don't care about, and which seems to dead-end and kinda take away from the point of the game. Perhaps if they had contest-esque battles or whatever outside of the game, that would make it feel less outlandish, but then...I dunno. I just feel kinda ick about competitions, specifically because they don't match up with the way you actually play the game.
 
With the trainers being older, yet still getting their starter Pokemon, I would be interested in seeing why they don't get them at 10. I suppose it would be related to location, but I could also see them having to study Pokemon and being more knowledgeable about Pokemon. This way, you get Ash, Brock, a new character just starting out, but there is no need to really explain the basic concepts of Pokemon to them, yet they are still new to battles and are still learning as they go. Perhaps someone similar to how Max was in Pokemon Advanced, but less obnoxious.

Anyway, with all this new information and more to come as the days press on, I can only hope for good things. While I am expecting more reveals of Psychic and Dark Pokemon, since it was established in Silver/Gold that Day/White is Psychic and Night/Black is Dark (Eeveelutions), I am trying not to stick too closely to my own personal opinion of what Pokemon Black/White is, or state what it should be.

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