#plza starters

[revalentinee]

Pokemon Legends Z-A: Starter Prediction (but it's actually about more than that)

Since the announcement of this surprisingly early return to Kalos, there's been a lot of speculation regarding the starters. Following the trend of Legends: Arceus, we're expecting the starters to be ones from other regions. Snivy and Piplup seem like really likely choices given their inspirations, with things more up in the air for the fire starter. However, I have a different Idea.

The starters for Legends: Z-A will be...

...Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie, the same starters pokemon X and Y had.

Why, you may ask? A couple reasons, or rather, one main one...

Mega Evolution will be making its grand return in ZA. When this feature was first introduced, it was a way to breathe new life into old designs, without having to commit to a new evolution-even accessiable to pokemon who already had a three-stage line. This idea for rejuvinating old pokemon has stuck around, but not in the same way.

Gen 7 decided to leave Megas as they were and brought along Regional Variants. Generation 8 cut megas entirely, but brought the variants back alongside new evolutions of those variants and Gigantamax Forms. Legends: Arceus continued the variant + evo angle, including the starters...

...and then, gen 9 only gave only two old pokemon variants, with Paradox Pokemon taking up the majority of the "revamp old designs" idea as well as the small amount of so-called "convergent" pokemon, or regional fakes. Quite a few old pokemon even got straight-up normal evolutions.

My point is, when Game Freak makes a new way to rejuvenate old designs, the old way is reduced or not used at all...could the same not be true when bringing back an old idea? To put it bluntly, The Kalos Starters will receive Mega Evolutions.

-Lack of Kalos Megas. Out of all the pokemon introduced in XY, only Diancie received a Mega Evolution. The reasoning apparently being to let these pokemon stand on their own first, but it's been long enough, hasn't it? Especially for these three.

A few reasons to back up why this could be the case:

-Limited Scope. Legends: ZA is stated to be taking place entirely within Lumiose City. and while we know little of the specifics, one big city as opposed to an entire region leaves a lot less room for possible regional variants. All the more likely the old gimmick will take most if not complete focus.

-Starter Saturation. Assuming Legends: ZA beings back all previous mega evolutions, both the kanto and hoenn sets of starters will be bouncing around Lumiose. With the Kalos starters included as well, that's three sets of starters for one game. Legends Arceus only had two, and as shown with that game's 240-ish amount of pokemon, Legends will likely have a more limited pokedex than the main series. Feels like too much to throw in a fourth set.

-Galarian Precedent. The Base game for Pokemon Sword and Shield did not give its starters Gigantamax forms, but the DLC for it did. It's likely the same idea, but for megas, was intended for whatever XY followup was scrapped back in the early 2010s.

-Once isn't a trend. Some might site Legend Arceus' use of other starters as a trope of the "Legends" series, but Legends Arceus was only one game. We have no idea how much or how little of that game's ideas will continue into this one.

And well...They're in one game! The complete set of Kalos starters only had one set of games to enjoy being those starters, while starters of previous and later generations had multiple sets, or at least DLC continuation, to be >your< first partner in. I think they need another shot while not competing with pokemon that have had more chances to be picked, like snivy or piplup.

And...yeah, as someone who loves regional variants, speculated on what variants of other starters could look like and even somewhat preferts variants to mega evolution as a concept...I might be a little bummed if this prediction comes true. But the more I thought about it, the more likely this seemed, and the true Kalos starters frankly deserve getting what the kanto and hoenn starters got. Besides...

look at him face :)

[vaugarde]

do you think we’ll finally get eternal floette….

[reestallized]

game got me so hyped up idk what I'm doing at this point

[pyromaniac-cyndaquil]

Felt like playing some expanded sky on my phone so I downloaded melonDS, and the LCD filter it has makes pmd look soooooo pretty 💜💜💜💜

[goosetrainer]

Mari's Tera Raid Guides #24 - Feraligatr

Croc croc croc croc croc croc croc croc cro-

I've had some luck with Bellibolt but Scizor may be easier to use (if not to catch!)

Bellibolt lv.100 Tera type: Electric Ability: Electromorphosis Item: Magnet Nature: Modest/Quiet/Rash IVs: max HP, defense, special attack EVs: 252 sp. atk., the rest spread between HP and def. (252 def. preferred) Moves: -Chilling Water (TM) -Acid Spray (TM) -Parabolic Charge (egg move) NPCs: Intimidate recommended (in order from best to worst: Staraptor -> Arcanine -> Tauros); Toxapex and Sylveon also good

Usage:

Not gonna be too prescriptive this time because what you should do is too dependent on a miriad of details, so I'll try to make sure you have all the info to make your decision.

For simplicity, we're gonna separate this fight in two parts, one before feraligatr's stats-and-status-reset, and one after (it happens aaat 65% HP remaining).

Phase 1: Feraligatr opens with a Swords Dance, which coupled with your low speed means trouble. Your first move is Chilling Water regardless of team composition; however, depending on which NPCs you got, it's impossible to predict how it will go. In general: [combination of at least 2 between Intimidate users, Sylveon, Toxapex OR just Staraptor] is the best case scenario, that will mean you can stop using Chilling Water after the first turn; [just Arcanine or just Tauros] is quite good, but you will still need to use 2 Chilling Waters and you may go KO (unless Arcanine manages to burn Feraligatr on turn one which. is a lot of luck); anything less than that is quite unlucky and, while not 100% unwinnable, will demand 3x Chilling Waters and a mostly guaranteed KO during the chilling watering. In any case, what you're trying to do is to lower Feraligatr's attack until it's not dealing more than ~1/3 of your life bar in damage. THEN you can start thinking about the next step. To start, make sure to be around full life (meaning: if you're not, use a Parabolic Charge now that the shield isn't up yet), then start working your way towards that 65% HP threshold I mentioned before. The best way to do that is to alternate Acid Spray and Parabolic Charge; you can terastallize as soon as you have the possibility, but NOT if your HP is so low you're going KO. Try not to use Acid Spray twice in a row, you never know when an extra scripted attack or a critical will hit you. I always managed it with max 2 Acid Sprays in this phase. Whatever the case, DO try to hit the threshold with a Parabolic Charge, to start the next phase in full health.

Phase 2: Chilling Water again! This time just once should suffice whatever your NPC roster is, two if you want to stay safe, and then again Parabolic Charge if you need to heal, and again Acid Spray-Parabolic Charge alternation. This time you can use up to 3 Acid Sprays before you turn to only spam Parabolic Charge; there's a Dragon Dance at half HP but you can mostly ignore it. The problematic part here is that, since this will happen during the shield, the first Parabolic Charge could be not powerful enough to heal you fully: you can try a healing cheer or two if the priority helps.

TL;DR: Chilling Water until Feraligatr at -1 attack at the start of the battle (considering all Intimidates/Charms/Chilling Waters from the others); keep healed with Parabolic Charge and throw an Acid Spray in when you're at (almost) full health; terastallize asap unless you're at risk of KO on the same turn. 1 KO can happen. After Feraligatr's stat&status reset, Chilling Water x1-2 again, then again Acid Spray/Parabolic Charge alternation. Be flexible

Pros: -still the same ol' 'bolt Cons: -lots of braining -NPCs are quite important

-------------------------------------------------

Scizor lv.100 Tera type: Bug Ability: Swarm Item: Leftovers Nature: Relaxed/Impish/Lax IVs: max HP, attack, defense EVs: 252 atk, 252 def, 4 HP Moves: -Iron Defense (level up) -Swords Dance (level up) -X-Scissor (level up) NPCs: 1+ with Intimidate

Usage: Scizor is NOT faster than Bellibolt, but it is a bit easier to keep alive, and a lot easier to utilize.

Defense-boosting nature and one Intimidate is still needed, but we're focusing on boosting our own stats instead of lowering Feraligatr's now, so things are a bit different.

The player stat reset happens at 80%HP left, so we still have to survive and deal some damage to trigger it. First 3 turns are 3 Iron Defenses, then 4 X-Scissors (or 1 Swords Dance and 3 X-Scissors?) should be enough to get there.

After you get to that threshold, simply repeat the 3x Iron Defense, but this time followed by 3x Swords Dance, and probably a healing cheer or two in the middle (passive healing from Leftovers will go a long way, but unless one of your NPCs is Arboliva or Gardevoir, you're still getting more damage than you recover. Definitely heal when at less than ~50-60 HP left, a bit more if you can).

When you're done boosting your defense and attack, terastallize and spend the rest of the battle doing X-Scissor. Always keep an eye on your health and heal with a cheer if under 50-60 HP, though, since you're not healing based on how much damage you deal.

TL;DR: 3x Iron Defense, X-Scissor until player stat&status reset; 3x Iron Defense, 3x Swords Dance, heal with cheer as needed, terastallize, X-Scissor spam.

Pros: -easy strategy -all level up moves Cons: -kinda harder to find (trade evolution / high level tera raids / wild but only if you have the dlc) -still NPC dependent

Other Options: -Shell Bell is viable, but you will need to be religious with the healing cheer while setting up (again, unless you have Arboliva/Gardevoir). Tried it and I had to use all 3 :( -attack boosting nature (Adamant/Lax/Brave). Heal more often but it can be done -didn't try: Technician as the ability and Fury Cutter instead of X-Scissor. Could be better at the end, but it could be too slow to trigger the stat reset. Try at your own discretion

[imthepunchlord]

Assuming we are getting another shuffled up trio of starters, while I do like our chances for Snivy and Piplup, Torchic is probably the one I'm the most unsure of.

There is a possibility that instead of getting regional evolutions, we'll get megas for the starters instead (mindful, not impossible to get both), which Torchic already has. Mega Blaziken got it's debut in XY, and it came back to be apart of the Mega Hoenn starters. With megas returning, I'd think they'd want to do a trio of all new megas, instead of bringing Mega Blaziken back again for a 3rd time.

Torchic may join Charmander in having two different megas if Torchic is a starter (which I wouldn't be crazy about, I already didn't care for Charizard getting 2 megas); or maybe they'll just do regional evolutions but no megas (I would think megas would apply to the starters, but Kalos starters didn't get megas in XY so... hopefully they'll get them now).

So I think we could see a different fire starter instead of Torchic, with Litten and Scorbunny being the most popular speculated alternatives that I've seen so far. And between the two, I'd vote Scorbunny being more likely.

Scorbunny has a good standing by being regionally close to Kalos, and France I know has also really gotten into soccer/football as well; and between Snivy and Piplup, there is a theme of being based on French royalty/monarchy. And Cinderace does kinda have a crown on it's head, so it could back that regal theme, though idk what French royal it could echo.

Litten I think is less likely but not impossible, as it can echo that royalty theme, tigers, much like lions, are tied to royalty and are thought to be the king of beasts (though this is more in China); and from my research, tigers and lions do have a lot of similar themes in mythology, symbolism, and folklore (both tied to power, war, and leadership). Though, I also don't know what French royal Litten could be tied to.

Doing a quick check, I have found professional wrestling has been in France since the 1830s (which might be why Hawlucha is in Kalos), and assuming this upcoming game is based around Haussmann's renovation of Paris, which started in the 1853, wrestling has been apart of France for a while. So wrestler Incineroar could easily fit into Kalos.

Torchic is not an impossibility, I just do wonder how likely given we already have Mega Blaziken, assuming we get megas over regional evos (we could get both); Torchic could get a 2nd mega instead, but I'm not sure on that. I do think Scorbunny and Litten could have a potential standing as well for the fire starter.

Either way, I am very curious to see what we're going to get whenever they reveal a little more about Legends ZA.

We already know the starters to Legends Z-A.

Based on multiple factors, first of all being the pairings of the Hisuian starters with three other starters in this video back in August,

our starters are Snivy, Torchic, and Piplup.

But what really sold me on this, is the fact all three have in a way, ties to France.

Snivy's evolutionary line is based on Rose of Versailles, and Serperior is based on King Louis XIV.

Torchic has the weakest reasoning for ties, but Roosters are important to France, and also, Blaziken was the only Mega Evolution introduced in XY to NOT be in the Kalos Pokedex.

and Empoleon is most obvious, being based on Napoleon Bonaparte.

[jadeazora]

Since you couldn't transfer ORAS-only Megas to XY back in Gen6, I really have to wonder if they'll be available in PLZA. It feels like a waste to not include them.

(Also, if we're getting new Megas, like for the starters, both whatever our new ones are or for the Kalos starters since it was always weird they didn't get something special for their generation-specific mechanic like the Alola and Galar starters did. I mean, I know there was so much want for a Mega Flygon back in the day.)

[primesquib]

PLZA starter predictions.

[erazonpo3]

I think I'm gonna have my XY week prompts focus on Way Out-verse Serena and build up some of my headcanons for her character, and I'll start by sharing my current vision for her team. I will elaborate under the cut but I haven't decided on nicknames yet

Delphox is her starter because I usually associate it with Serena like I do with Dawn + piplup, though it's more to do with my own favourite picks than the anime I promise. In this verse her and Malva are also second cousins once removed (or something along those lines) and so her having the Fire type starter is a kind of serendipity.

Florges is there to represent the Fairy Type being added in gen 6, I felt I had to give Serena at least one and to me it's one of the more iconic Fairy Types that aren't particularly associated with any trainer. I think I'll give her the white version because of it's rarity but I'll think on it.

Furfrou is another iconic Kalos pokemon, and reflects Serena's interest in fashion and aesthetics. I really liked using Furfrou in my last XY run so I wanted to give it to her, and I also think it makes a cute pair with Shauna's Delcatty. I don't think it'd be in any one kind of trim, but Serena would style it in her own ways.

Zoroark .... I decided to give Serena Zoroark because while it's a gen 5 Pokemon, the XY games are the first time you're able to actually catch one so I kind of consider it honourary gen 6. I imagine it likes to use its illusions in a fun almost dress-up sort of way with Serena. And parallels to a certain someone

Aerodactyl is the only fossil pokemon you can get pre-nat dex that Diantha doesn't use, so I gave it to Serena as a sort of nod to that. I imagine it's not her main Mega-Evolution Pokemon (I have a bond phenomenon thing planned for her and delphox though fingers crossed it could get an official form in PLZA) but I figure she'd still try to work towards it anyway

Lapras is the sort of nod to the Kanto starters without actually giving Serena one of them (they're a little basic at this point sorry). Lapras is more fitting with her aesthetic, and is still an iconic Kanto pokemon (it also has a unique surf riding model in the games) that balances her team out.

It's subject to change but I'm pretty happy with this lineup I think

[shandit]

My Current Guesses on Legends: Z-A Starters

So with Pokemon Legends: Z-A being announced, since we now know from PLA that Pokemon will gain a special final evolution based on their new environment. I wanted to toss my hat into the ring of predictions for which 3 previous starters we're gonna get.

First off let me say which ones I'm sure we're not gonna get and why.

Gen 6 Starters

As with PLA, Gen 6's Starters will not be part of the starters in PLZA. More than likely, they will be caught in the wild just like the Gen 4 Starters were in PLA.

Gen 1 Starters

I think it's very safe to say the Gen 1 Starters are not going to be picked. But, let me explain my proper reasoning.

With the reintroduction of Mega Evolution, and the likely fact PLZA will have our Protag & Crew be the ones to discover Mega Evolution, it's very likely the Starters we get will gain Mega Forms. This said, It's very unlikely GameFreak will use Pokemon with existing Mega Forms, even if said mons get a regional form. Because of this, I can safely say Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur are not going to be on the roster, and same goes for...

Gen 3 Starters

Same thing here, with the fact these guys already have Mega Forms, I find it highly unlikely GF is going to give them both a new regional evo + a new Mega.

PLA Starters

This one's kind of a given. Pokemon isn't going to reuse any of the starters from PLA cause that would just be odd to keep giving starters other regional forms (That said I am sad at the loss of Mega Typhlosion :[ )

Gen 9 Starters

The simple answer to this is just, the Paldea trio are just, too new. While I don't think that entirely rules them out. I do think it makes them less likely to be chosen for the next mainline game.

Now with the obvious removals talked about, let's go down the line of who's left and talk about why or why not they're likely to be chosen.

Chikorita

I didn't originally have anything to say about Chikorita, since I felt their odds were snuffed out by the other grass types here, however upon doing some more research, specifically on Meganium, I learned the daylily (the flower theorized to be what Meganium's flower is based on) was actually brought to Europe around the late 1750's-early 1800's. And with France's Urbanization having occured around the mid 1800's (Which is the time period people are guessing PLZA will take place in) There actually is a good chance for Chikorita to be chosen as their plant actually fits with the location and time period! However I cannot think of what type changes would make sense for this, so I do have to dock some points for that.

Overall chances - 6/10

Totodile

Totodile sadly doesn't seem like a great fit for PLZA. It is essentially just what it is, a Crocodile. And, a quick google search will show you, that besides the barren ice land of Antarctica, Europe is the only continent to not natively have any form of Crocodile or Alligator. GameFreak would have to get very creative here with something of French history or folklore to make Feraligator work for this.

Overall Chances - 1/10

Turtwig

Now Turtwig is an interesting one. Not only is there the fact the extinct turtle species Torterra is based was discovered in North-West Europe (Though mostly Germany & Switzerland) but Torterra as a Pokemon has a lot of potential when it comes to regional forms, thanks in part to the tree on it's back. France's national tree is the Yew, specifically the European or Common Yew, it's an evergreen tree that sprouts red berries (these berries are also very poisonous, meaning we could get a change of typing here to Grass Poison). I could see a Kalosian Torterra having an Ancient Yew tree on their back sporting a great harvest of berries. But, potential put aside, I don't see Turtwig being here simply cause there's another Gen 4 starter that fits the bill of this game much, much more than them.

Overall Chances - 4/10

Chimchar

Chimchar is one I just can't vouch for out of the few fire types we have here. Their Sun Wukong relevance is way to impactful on who the mon is, and Sun Wukong, while being from a story of "Journey to the West" only went to India, and never actually went to the actual west of the world. I also once again have to toss them to the side because of the face there is one more Gen 4 Starter that only makes sense to be in this game, and it's not them.

Overall Chances - 1/10

Piplup

THIS, THIS RIGHT HERE IS A GUARANTEED PICK.

Piplup is absolutely going to be the Water Starter of PLZA, you cannot change my mind about this, and for those of you not in the know, I have one name that will explain why.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

Empoleon, as obvious as their name is, is in fact based on the Ex-emperor of France, General Napoleon Bonaparte. And, if we go back to the prediction of PLZA taking place in the mid 1800's... Guess what historical events seemed to also take place in the mid 1800's. Oh you know, just THE NAPOLEONIC WARS!

Piplup is my only and 100% has to be there guess, it would be a crime if they were not the chosen starter for this game. I legit would actually be angry if GameFreak missed this opportunity. As for potential typings... Water-Dark "could" make sense since Dark Type is just Evil type in Japan, and Napoleon is an evil dude in history. But I think Water-Fighting is much more likely, with Empleon probably going to take on much less of an Emperor Penguin look, and more of General Bonaparte, give him the Hat GameFreak, it would look funny.

Overall Chances - 10/10

Snivy

Snivy is also pretty much a guaranteed pick, and this is just from the simple fact of Serperior. Who is (supposedly) based on King Louis XVI of France & other European aristocrats, and that the fleur-de-lis, aka the French insignia used by many Noble families is visible in their design... Honestly, along with Piplup I would be flat out shocked if Snivy was not the grass starter for PLZA, like I would be baffled at how much of a lost chance that would be. As for potential regional typing, I could see it being Grass Ghost to represent the death of the French Monarchy... But that's it for my brain lmao

Overall Chances - 10/10

Tepig

Tepig is an odd one. On one hand, Snivy being basically guaranteed makes me obviously think another Gen 5 pick isn't going to make it into this group, but on the other hand...

Nah, I got nothing. Tepig is based way too much Chinese Culture and the tale of Zhang Fei to really fit into French culture. Just like Chimchar's inspiration from Journey to The West, it would feel wrong to change Tepig for the exact same reasons.

Overall Chances - 1/10

Litten

This one was more of a wildcard pick here for me, simply cause none of the fire types left had any real connections to France like Water and Grass had, I just found the idea of a regional form for Incineroar to be interesting. Though I had no idea how they would change a professional wrestler into something more fitting for early 1800's France... THAT IS UNTIL I DID SOME RESEARCH BABY!

So French Wrestling is actually really interesting, while it started in the 1830's, their style of wrestling, titled Graeco-Roman, was invented by a soldier FROM THE NAPOLEONIC WARS! Not only that, but it's even named "Classic Wrestling" meaning there actually is a good chance for Incineroar to be based on this style of wrestling for their Regional form! What better thing for the Wrestler Starter to use what is to many people the first style of wrestling that was used in the First ever Olympics! As for typing, Fire Normal could make some sense... I just really don't want it to be Fire Fighting, I think a lot of people would be disappointed if it somehow got the infamous Fire Starter typing.

Overall Chances - 9/10

Popplio

What can I even say about Popplio? I mean I guess maybe the fact Sirens originate from Europen folklore? But even then it's mostly Greek origins for that. There's nothing really tying Popplio in to fit the bill here, they're outclassed by a certain penguin of french origins.

Overall Chances - 2/10

Grookey

I think the Galar Starters are going to be the hardest to even justify, really the only thing any of them have going for them is the fact they come from Galar, which is based on Great Britain, a country that was France's rival in the war to own the world.

However none of that has anything to do with Grookey, the drummer monkey really doesn't have anything to offer! Rillaboom could maybe play a different instrument, but I don't think going from a pair of drum sticks to a bugle is probably gonna work out well. Perhaps though I'm just not putting my mind into it well enough.

Overall Chances - 3/10

Scorbunny

Again, I've got nothing. Realistically I guess you could make a pun here and have Cinderace being a French foot soldier. Though French hares are a common animal, and rabbits in of themselves are abundant all across Europe. I'm just personally wondering what exactly they could do with the fella that makes them properly unique enough to earn that spot, and right now I just don't see it.

Overall Chances - 4/10

Sobble

Last but not least, We have Sobble. Now surprisingly, I could actually see them being used, Intellion is based on James Bond and 007, and being a spy, well French spies obviously existed, there's also the fact a spy can also be an assassin if need be. Water Poison Intellion that shoot poisoned bolts of water from fingertips, yeah that could work.

Issue here though you have to put Sobble up against the other water types here, and well... Piplup.

Overall Chances - 3/10

And that's it! So TL:DR for anyone not reading here are the rankings most likely to least likely by types

Grass :

1 Snivy

2 Chikorita

3 Turtwig

4 Grookey

Water

1 Piplup

2 Sobble

3 Popplio

4 Totodile

& Fire

1 Litten

2 Scorbunny

3 Tepig & Chimchar

Meaning the most likely Starters for PLZA are going to be

Snivy, Litten, and Piplup.

[moonscape]

if we do get scorbunny as the fire starter in plza like people are predicting i really hope that the starters get regional variants again instead of megas otherwise it's going to fuck with my bunny family backstory

[vaugarde]

actually a part of me hopes that popplio isnt one of the plza starters because i wanna use a clauncher in that game

[pyromaniac-cyndaquil]

Continuing the Y randomiser from here!

Getting my second starter from sycamore and I'm SURE the game knows and is just fucking with me at this point

SNIVY AND PIPLUP??!! IT KNOWS WHAT IT'S DOING. AGAIN, THAT'S NEXT YEAR DAMN IT

Just sorted a Y randomiser and OH MY GOD I GOT SNIVY???? THIS IS PERFECT ALREADY

[matthewonart]

Speculation Time: I think that Snivy is 100% going to be the Grass Starter of PLZA (assuming they go for the swapped starters thing again, but it would be weird to make Regional Forms of Starters and then only do it once tbh).

I don't have as much of an inkling to the other two--possibly Piplup for Water, as Empoleon is heavily based in name and appearance on a famous French ruler.

[wildflowercryptid]

the two biggest things i want from plza are the kalos starters to finally get the mega evos they deserve and, assuming that the game doesn't take place in the past or far future, for emma to be a major character in the plot. it'd also be nice if we got a new eeveelution, but that's a little less important to me personally.

[jadeazora]

We had the release date and the box art for Legends Arceus announced in May of 2021, but actually got our 2nd gameplay trailer in August. I'm really hoping we get our first gameplay trailer for PLZA before then (late May to June sometime), like don't just drop a game people have wished for (even if it wasn't the Legends format we were expecting) for 11yrs in people's laps without warning, and then go radio silent for six months 😂😅

Especially since they revealed basically nothing here aside from it taking place in Lumiose. Like, at least PLA's announcement gave us both the player designs and the starters.