Certain livestreamers, particularly energetic anime girls, love to play games and challenges with their viewers. It’s a fun way to engage with your audience without making too much work for yourself. For her official debut, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Electric Gym Leader, Iono, held a live stream doing just that, and fan speculation is all over the place. Here are the best 5 fan guesses for Iono’s Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
Best 5 Fan Guesses for Iono’s Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet
During Iono’s reveal stream, she challenged viewers to guess what her partner Pokemon is. At the time of writing, we still don’t know, but that hasn’t stopped the rampant speculation train from making educated guesses.
Related: All New Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
To help us figure it out, Iono offered six hints about the Pokemon’s identity:
- It’s an Electric Type (obviously)
- It has a soft, squishy body
- It’s slow-moving, with an easygoing personality
- It has a pair of bumps on its head that are often mistaken for eyes
- Its body expands and contracts to generate electricity
- It’s cute (though that might be subjective)
Based on how much they’re hyping this up, Iono’s partner is likely either an entirely new Pokemon, or a Paldean variant of an existing Pokemon. To that end, here are a few of the most promising guesses we’ve seen around the ‘net:
- Paldean Charjabug
- Paldean Jigglypuff
- Pawmi
- Paldean Tympole/Palpitoad/Seismitoad
- Jellyfish Pokemon or Paldean Tentacool/Tentacruel
Paldean Charjabug
Generation VII’s Charjabug fits most of Iono’s description right off the bat. It’s an Electric type, it’s pretty slow-moving, and its accordion-like body expands and contracts. The only thing that’s kind of iffy is the eyes; Charjabug does have fake eyes hidden under visors, but they’re not exactly what you would call “bumps.” Then again, that’s what variants are for.
Paldean Jigglypuff
This one’s a bit of an inside joke among longtime Pokemon fans. Given how obtuse this guessing game is, many fans were reminded of a bit in the old Pokemon anime in which the characters tried to identify a round Pokemon, only to be informed it was “a Jigglypuff seen from above.” Considering its cute face and expanding body, an Electric-typed Jigglypuff variant would be a perfect match, not to mention a hilarious reference.
Pawmi
As is customary, every new generation of Pokemon has at least one obvious offshoot of Pikachu, usually a small rodent with prominent, squishy cheeks. Generation IX’s Pikachu offshoot is Pawmi, a rodent with expanding cheeks and electricity-conducting pads in its paws. It’s certainly cute and squishy enough, though it’s known for having more of a nervous temperament than easygoing.
Paldean Tympole/Palpitoad/Seismitoad
Generation V’s Tympole line is another viable possibility if it could receive an Electric-type Paldean variant. Seismitoad in particular has a large, squishy tummy, and is absolutely covered in bumps with eye-like patterns. It’s not exactly cute, but Tympole and Palpitoad could easily fit the bill as well, provided either their Water or Ground typing is swapped out.
Jellyfish Pokemon or Tentacool/Tentacruel Variant
Some smart cookies out there have noted that Paldea is modeled after Spain, the seas of which are rife with giant jellyfish. There are only a couple of jellyfish-like Pokemon, such as the Frillish and Tentacool lines, which means the concept is still rife with potential for entirely new Pokemon. Alternatively, we could get a Paldean variant of the Tentacool line. Tentacools have prominent, eye-like bumps, and are generally easygoing as long as they’re not bothered. Such a Pokemon could easily be altered to fit Iono’s description, and goodness knows Tentacool hasn’t gotten much attention since Generation I.
These are just a few guesses to the identity of Iono’s partner Pokemon. Hopefully, we get another stream with the answer soon, but if nothing else, we’ll find out when we play the game.
