#sorry Fuecoco looks so huge

[angrybatart]

I suffer from "this looked better in my head" A LOT. BUT I can always redo it or fix it up if I ever decide to ink and color in stuff.

Mmm....donuts. 🍩

[cometmystic]

FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE STARTERS

IM GOING TO ASSUME MAIN SERIES ENTIRE EVOLUTIONARY STARTER LINES AS OPPOSED TO INDIVIDUAL SPECIES

-3 : Hisui Oshawott

(dont look at the typing in the image)im giving myself a handicap for the least favourite list which is making it wayyyyyy harder (more on that later) so were starting weird spicy,,

the arceus folk were always going to struggle because mixing and matching starters is a dangerous game to play,, theres the very distinct feeling that these creatures dont go together, because they Dont; they have different philosophies informing their designs and you cant avoid that. taken away from their original context, decidueye and oshawott are a little too similar geometry wise in a way starter choices within a gen oft never are.

but hey, ones a samurai, ones an archer, and the other can do the ghostie flames; they fit a little too well thematically for the region not to be picked. what can you do ? ...aside from shrine maiden fennekin line. or a momotarou bulbasaur line. ...thats not what im talking about

what knocks oshawott specifically here is the new final evos. cyndaquil and rowlett march steadily enough towards their final forms; rowletts colours already darken in its middle stage, so the autumn colouring is not a huge shift, and cyndaquil is still becoming upright with flames that envelop it more and more (which hisuian does actually better than vanilla here). oshawotts line is now even less cohesive. it doesnt address a problem with the original that its armour plating is just kind of,, there, haphazardly placed and making it look More naked, but now the drastic colour palette, with less contrast for ease of readability than the original, just make the oshawott line feel that much more unrelated to itself.

i think what kills thiese guys the most is that they stopped at a new final evo. a new second form or, hell, make them variants from the start and call them something else; then i think itd be way more fun

+3 : Snivy

complete transparency here; this one is mostly personal bias. see the most fun time ive ever had with pokémon, which im becoming increasingly confident is gonna stay that way, was spearheaded by this guy. blowing a kiss at the clouds for drayano

but its not like these designs dont have anything going for them on their own !! the way this frilly, pompous jacket collar design it has grasually grows into a snakey cocoon that engulfs all of its limbs is first of all pretty bold of an idea and second of all really really fun !!

the consistent yellow highlights and eyeshadow elements the designs have do a really good job of communicating what a smug regal air this thing puts on, despite some of that not being quite as present as id like. i mean like the smugleaf jokes certainly didnt come outof nowhere yea ?

thanks for the good times, eden. sorry i never took you and the girls to post game

-2 : Fuecoco

FUECOCO IS GOOD!! i need to get this out of the way because judging these as lines rather than individually means that sometimes good designs end up getting the short end of the stick. which super is whats going on here

the first thing that strikes me is that it feels like they design a perfectly fine and fun fire croco butremembered it was a spaniard animal, and decided to toss spanish things at it midway through. the use of different words there was deliberate

the second is that... wow where the hell is skeledirge coming from. like the progression from fuecoco to crocalor is perfectly reasonable, and it does its job as a jump to an awkward offputting midstage (compliment), but then,,, the entire head just suddenly crashes straight to a wall unceremoniously, with this unappealing strident geometry to it all, with a thermometer on its face and pencil sharpener on its torso that has Nothing to do with anything the previous evolutions were communicating. the cool things they had going for it were in fact completely abandoned; the silly lil chompy jaws and teeth turn into ugly skin formations, the overt roundness of the creature just becomes a regular crocos with a decreased polycount, and the cool fire headdressings just become this ugly, lampshaded absence. ...doesnt do anything good for me

+2 : Bulbasaur

i think this ones just the platonic ideal for pokémon evolution. it does EXACTLY what it should do without missing a beat. to the point where im struggling to even talk about it

it starts cute and simple but interesting, cute huge bulb in its back, nice green patterns dotting its body, non standard friendly frog face,, and it grows into this huge, flowering beast with warts with a menacing, yet still cute (in a delightfully off way) face. half lidded eyes, sharp fangs in a wide mouth... and in pokémon stadium it does this

it just.... i donno !!! its so creature !!!! it communicates itself well, offers something different but still cohesive from its contemporaries, and its like !!! really unique for their first go at a grass starter !!! like,, a poisonous plant dinosaur ? on their first go ?? yes girl !!!!!

the one thing that leaves me wanting about the line is the slight change in body colour; it feels too slight to communicate much to me and it ends up being a bit distracting ? but as you can see, its such a minor thing, and im just saying it to make it seem like i have more to say than i actually do

-1 : Galar

yeah see theres the handicap i was talking about.

ugh theres just... so much going on here and i really dont want to elaborate much. first of all all the base forms feel so naked. scorbunny is the only one i feel is communicating something worth much with the sports tape designs, but thats so little to begin with,,

then the rest of the evo lines come in and. why does the sobble line go from naked sad lizard to naked spy lizard. why does socrbunny get a stupid ugly jacket and then lose it. why is grookey line so boring.

theres not a single hit here. 9 chances to make me feel anything other than uninspired and despondent and bored, and they missed Every single one. i hate them.

+1 : Popplio

what id bet is a very surprising pick for anyone who Knows me because i dont think id ever ever ever pick popplio as my starter in lieu of incineroar. but thats incineroar. this is popplio, brionne, and primarina

so this is every principle from bulbasaur lines design executed with utmost elegance and at a higher scale. first of all, its an interesting idea executed in a novel and fun way. its a little seal !!! it goes bwark !!! it has very sillybab paws that dont let it walk right !!! and it evolves very naturally into a graceful otherworldly singer and performer, keeping your attention in how the colour palette enrichens and grows as it evolves, and reiterating every interesting design element it has with each iteration !!! little clown collar into a gorgeous frilly design, silly little ears into magical ethereal hair, stumpy tail into a majestic mermaids tail !!! ws all around !!!!

another strength it has is,, i think brionne is one of few starter midstages i like in its own merits ? often any attachment i have to midstages work more as,, appreciation of a blueprint. like... "wow i see where this is going to go and i cant wait to get there". i mean, by design, theyre supposed to be awkward, a little "incomplete". but brionne, like,,, baillerina !!! the ears are pigtails now !!! look at that earnest but lil weird smile its got !!!! dawww its my friend !!!!

the finally, it has a lot of strengths on a macro level worth pointing out. and these are compliments i extend to gens 6 and 7 as a whole.

firstly, each starter right off the bat offers something very different. different silhouettes, different vibes, completely different target demographics as soon as you get to look at them in the starter selection.

and secondly, theming. i really like how in gen 6 you have the rpg class and in gen 7 you have the circus performer thing going on; it all feels natural and fun, and ties with the previous point to really inform and shape your preference when you pick one of these creatures, while still having them fit together with each other. its what i wish pokémon had more of