Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Starter Details

Last Sunday was Pokemon Day, the official anniversary of the release of the first generation of mainline Pokemon games, Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue. To celebrate the day, The Pokemon Company held a brief streaming presentation outlining some new features for some of their existing Pokemon games, both console and mobile-based. At the very end of the presentation, though, they had a major reveal for us: the 9th generation of Pokemon games, titled Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet, are in production and slated for release by the end of this year (probably around the holidays, if I were a betting man). Alongside the announcement and a few shots of in-game footage, the promo revealed the 9th generation’s new starter Pokemon. Here are the details on the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet starters.

As is always the case in Pokemon games, when you first start your journey in Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet, you’ll get a choice between one of three starter Pokemon, each representing the cardinal types of Grass, Fire, and Water. The Pokemon Company has released some details about these new Pokemon, including their names, some descriptive bits, and their Abilities. 

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Starter Details

For our Grass type starter, we have Sprigatito, the Grass Cat Pokemon. Sprigatito is apparently a rather capricious Pokemon, eager for your affection and attention. Its starting ability is Overgrow, which boosts the effectiveness of Grass type moves when Sprigatito’s health is low.

For our Fire type starter, we have Fuecoco, the Fire Croc Pokemon. Fuecoco, who resembles a chili pepper, is a laid-back sort who’s content to let the world come to it rather than the other way around. Amusingly, it has the same little yellow pad thing on its body that a Scorbunny has over its nose, leading to fans joking about slapping pieces of cheese on Fire starters. Fuecoco’s starting ability is Blaze, which boosts the effectiveness of Fire type moves when its health is low.

For our Water type starter, we have Quaxly, the Duckling Pokemon. Quaxly is known for being an earnest and tidy Pokemon, which you can certainly glean from its strong posture and excellently coiffed hairstyle. Quaxly’s starting ability is Torrent, which boosts the effectiveness of Water type moves when its health is low. 

We don’t know anything about these Pokemons’ evolved forms yet, though some have speculated that, given Pokemon Violet and Scarlet’s Spain-like theming, Fuecoco may evolve into a larger chili pepper, while Quaxly may evolve into something resembling a matador. The only wild card is Sprigatito, which many people online have shared some… colorful theories about that don’t bear repeating.