The long-debated question of which critters will be featured as starters in Pokemon Legends: Z-A has been answered in the Pokemon Day trailer for the upcoming game. Pokemon Legends: Z-A players can look forward to choosing between Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile as starters when the game launches later this year. However, these starters follow an increasingly odd trend after Legends: Arceus that not many fans could have predicted.
Prior to this latest trailer, one of the hottest topics surrounding Pokemon Legends: Z-A was speculating which mons would be chosen for the starter trio. While various rumors pointed toward all sorts of different starter combinations, including the original Pokemon X and Y trio, the reveal of these mons as the true Legends: Z-A starters breaks the mold players expected after Legends: Arceus. To make this starter situation even more strange, there appears to be a clear bias towards starters from two particular generations in the Pokemon Legends series.
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Pokemon Gen 2 and Gen 5 Have Seen a Lot of Love in the Pokemon Legends Series
Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Starters Have Been Mostly Made Up of Gen 2 and 5 Mons
Pokemon Legends: Z-A and its predecessor have put a lot of emphasis on starters from Gen 2 and Gen 5, with Pokemon Legends: Arceus featuring Gen 2’s Fire-type Cyndaquil and Gen 5’s Water-type Oshawott. While some fans expected Pokemon Legends: Z-A to follow a similar pattern, rather than featuring a Gen 7 mon as the third of the trio like Rowlet was in Legends: Arceus, Pokemon Legends: Z-A doubles down on Gen 2 starters and features both Chikorita and Totodile.
|
Pokemon Legends: Arceus Starters |
Type |
Original Generation |
|---|---|---|
|
Rowlet |
Grass/Flying |
Gen 7 |
|
Cyndaquil |
Fire |
Gen 2 |
|
Oshawott |
Water |
Gen 5 |
|
Pokemon Legends: Z-A Starters |
Type |
Original Generation |
|---|---|---|
|
Chikorita |
Grass |
Gen 2 |
|
Tepig |
Fire |
Gen 5 |
|
Totodile |
Water |
Gen 2 |
Although the starters for Pokemon Legends: Z-A throw a wrench in the pattern fans were predicting for the game, fans of the Gen 2 and Gen 5 starters have been treated quite well, with the starters for Legends: Arceus receiving regional evolutions, and it is likely that the starters for Legends: Z-A will receive new forms as well. Fans have also been hoping to see remakes of Gen 5’s Pokemon Black and White or new Let’s Go games in the Johto Region, so these generations getting their starters represented in the Legends series may be the next best thing.
Gen 2 and 5 Starters May Be Getting the Spotlight to Make Up for Past Snubs
It may seem odd for Pokemon Legends: Arceus and now Pokemon Legends: Z-A to focus so heavily on Gen 2 and Gen 5 when it comes to the starters of these games, but there could be a logical reason for this emphasis. All of the creatures featured as starters in the Legends series so far had yet to receive any sort of alternate form prior to their appearance in these games. While it’s unconfirmed if the starters for Legends: Z-A will receive new forms, it seems likely that they could see new Mega Evolutions or regional evolutions.
Despite an emphasis on Gen 2 and Gen 5 starters in the Pokemon Legends series, Snivy has yet to be represented.
Since these generations of starters haven’t seen the same attention that other gens like Gen 1 and Gen 3’s starters have, it makes sense that Pokemon Legends: Z-A would give them their due. However, the downside of this pattern for Pokemon Legends starters means that if there is a third game in this style, it will be much harder to predict which starters will be chosen now that all Gen 2 starters have been represented, and all but Snivy have been represented for Gen 5.
