Pokémon Opinions on the evolutions of the Gen 8 Starters

[Sweetley]

Now that Sword and Shield are officially released and we know how the evolutions of Scorbunny, Sobble and Grookey looking like, I would like to know what's your opinions are about them.

Honestly, I was at first kinda skeptical about their evolutions, mainly because of their looks. Especially when it came to Inteleon, I didn't imagined Sobble's final evolution like this to be honest. Now that I saw them in action in-game and also took a closer look, I must say they are all three kinda cool. Out of the three, I felt in love with Cinderace, really like the idea that it's based on a soccer player. Although I must say I'm kinda surprised that no one got a second type. Like when I take a look at Rillaboom, I would say it's a Grass/Ground or Grass/Rock type but not a pure Grass type. But I can overall live with this fact actually.

 

[Circus]

I'd say that they were all pretty bad, but Inteleon and Cinderace look kind of okay. I feel like Inteleon should've been a water/dark type, but then Cinderace's fighting moves would be super effective against it, which wouldn't work. Also think that Cinderace should've been fire/fighting. I agree with you on Rillaboom, and have to agree that it's odd that none of them have second types.

 

[Halloqueen]

Rillaboom is far and away my favorite of the Sword & Shield starters, which is fortunate considering Grass is my favorite type and Grookey has been my preference for a starter in Generation 8 for a while.

Cinderace is my second favorite of the bunch, though I haven't got much to say about it. It seems good overall, but it's design isn't particularly interesting and it's definitely not one of my favorite Pok?mon or anything.

As for Inteleon? Can't say I like it very much. Something about it just looks out of place. I don't hate any Pok?mon, but Inteleon is definitely one of my least liked, across all generations. The Sobble - Inteleon evolutionary line is definitely my least favorite starter line ever, up to this point.


As for the point about none of them being dual-typed? I'm fine with that. We hadn't had a monotype Fire starter Pok?mon since the Cyndaquil - Typhlosion line, and people had been complaining for years about there being too many Fire/Fighting type starters. Likewise, I wouldn't really want Inteleon to be Water/Dark because then it's just not-Greninja. As for Rillaboom, nothing about its design really screams Grass/Rock or Grass/Ground dual-typing to me. Additionally, save for breeding egg moves onto them or using the ridiculous one-time use Technical Records to teach them moves, none of them really learn that many moves that would benefit from the dual-typings. So yeah, again, I'm cool with them all being monotyped this time around.

 

[Zane]

Not a fan of any of them, unfortunately. Sometimes designs I initially disliked will grow on me but it doesn't seem to be happening here. :b I'm trying to picture the plushie of Inteleon (since there's always merchandise for the starters) and its just.. ugh LoL

 

[Biyaya]

I'm pretty happy with the starters and their evolutions. I tried keeping my sobble small and cute for as long as possible, but I really needed to evolve him. Now, since spending all my money on clothes, my inteleon and I look like a couple of beatniks and it makes me very happy.

 

[Romaki]

I'm fine with them. I always go with Fire despite my hatred for Fire/Fighter (apparently it's not one, but if you design it like one I'm going to judge it like one ) growing with each generation, but I do actually like Cinderace a lot. It's like an opposite Lucario and I really appreciate it, even if I'm neutral to negative towards humanoid Pok?mon.

Rillaboom is a very fun design, I don't really have anything else to say.

Inteleon is... weird... but not necessarily in a bad way. I feel like it shouldn't have legs, it should be like Serperior. The legs just make it too human, it feels like a human in a costume. Maybe that's Cinderace too, but I just see Lucario in it.

It's just weird to have two humanoid starters in the end.

 

[MapleSilver]

Surprisingly, I kind of like Inteleon. I've seen much better fan designs for a Sobble evolution but Gamefreak could have done a lot worse.

I don't like Rillaboom or Cinderace at all. Nothing about their designs really appeals to me.

Now that I know all their forms, if I had to choose which starter to take with me, I'd pick Grookey and give it an everstone. I notice this has become a theme with my opinions of recent starters. Back in Alola for instance, I loved Litten but hated Incineroar.

 

[kikotoot]

My dilemma is that I always pick a water starter, but am not the hugest fan of intelleon's design.

on top of that, I love both of cinderace's signature moves (especially court switch).

I don't have either game yet but once I get one, idk how I'll chose...

 

[idiotdoomspiral]

inteleon is so cool. i thought sobble was the worst looking starter but i really like his final design. the 3d model for him sucks though
cinderace and rillaboom are ok, they dont stand out to me as much. theyre in my least favourite starters but theyre not terrible, might grow on me later

 

[Geoni]

Just based on the designs I had a hard time choosing between Grookie and Sobble due to liking both Inteleon and Rillaboom but gave a slight edge to Inteleon because he looks like this sleek action spy lizard and has a lot of personality in the model. I still like the rocker dude look of Rillaboom a lot and would choose him in a second playthrough.

Cinderrace us a huge 'meh' and I actually like the middle design better.

This dies not take any competitive aspect in mind, just the design.

 

[Blood Eclipse]

I'm no genwunner by a long shot, but wow are the designs bad for this gen. I wanted to like at least one of the starter's evolutions.

 

[dizzy bone]

I don?t have the game yet.. but I usually spoil the starter evolutions for myself. Honestly, the only evos I like are Grookey?s, for all stages. I?m not too fond of the rest. I?d still want to give an everstone to a grookey because he?s so damn cute! I know my friend already gave her Sobble an everstone because she was upset with the other evolution stages. Also, I haven?t played Pok?mon since Pearl so I actually don?t know much about recent Pok?mon designs.. but I really don?t like how humanoid a lot of evolutions look in recent gens. A lot of my Pok?mon are gonna have to stay babies lol.

 

[Flare]

Rillaboom - Best Starter IMO.

Cinderace- Initially I heavily disliked Cinderace but the design is starting to grow to me now. It?s definitely not what I ultimately expected though.

Intelleon - While not absolutely hideous it is my least favorite starter this gen, maybe even for all gens combined. Drizzile is not so appealing either. Perhaps the anime will probably heavily improve the opinions of myself and other people who dislike it if it makes an appearance in it.

The one thing I don?t like about all 3 starters is that they are all monotype. It?s probably a small thing to get irritated about but it just seems a bit lame considering Gen 6 and 7?s starters were all dual types.

 

[Moonfish]

This is the first generation where I like all stages of each starter. Normally my starter is forever holding an everstone to stay in the first stage!

 

[Envy]

They're okay. Not my favorites, but far from being as atrocious as Incineroar.

 

[Breath Mint]

This is the first generation where I like all stages of each starter. Normally my starter is forever holding an everstone to stay in the first stage!

This is the first generation where I dislike all 3 starters. I think I might actually box my starter for the first time ever. But overall, I think this generation has the best looking pokemon since gen 4

 

[Dim]

By far the worst without a doubt. Rillaboom is the only good one (Thwackey is the ugliest mid evo starter though oh my god) Cinderace is okayish... not bad but clearly another furry. Inteleon is nasty af how could they go with that??