Starters Untamed: Kalos

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Wow. . .it’s been quite a while, folks! I’ve been keeping up with the site, but I haven’t posted anything in some time. I’ve been posting more on Retry Level, so you can always look for me there. It’s been a tough balance between the two sites!

I’ve been wanting to do a new Starters Untamed for some time now. Pokémon X and Y released some of the most interesting changes to Pokémon games that we’ve seen in a very long time, so I’ve been eager to write about my thoughts and experience in the competitive play realm as they have changed drastically. With the introduction of the new fairy typing, negated resistances of the powerful steel typing, and mega evolutions have brought in so many new strategies into the mix that at first it was quite overwhelming. Because of the huge influx of new concepts brought to competitive play, there are still pieces that have yet to be fully analyzed and tested out. The analysis of this generation of starters will be purely opinionated and, as always, up for (constructive) debate.

 

chesnaught[1]

 

This generation’s starters are probably the most interesting that we’ve ever seen. Each contain their complementing dual type that helps counter their opposing foe. Not only that, each starter has their own hidden ability and attacks unique to their own species (aside from Klefki). First up we have Chesnaught, the spiny armor Pokémon. This is the first time we’ve had a non-reptilian grass starter, which has received some mixed feedback (especially from its’ deceptive transition to an awkward looking final evolution). This beefy, intimidating rodent (?) is dawned with the grass/fighting typing, an interesting match up only seen in Breloom and Virizion. It’s stats cater primarily towards a physically strong Pokémon that excels in tanking and physical offense. It’s HP/ATK/DEF clock in at 88/107/122 respectively, which is nothing to take lightly. However, the remaining SpATK, SpDef, and SPD stats are relatively low, only reaching 74/75/64, which leaves Chesnaught vulnerable to the numerous special sweepers that plague competitively play. Its typing, however, acts as a double edged sword. It has plenty of resistances and types that its strong against, but it also comes with six common weaknesses, which include the new fairy typing.

What I love most about Chesnaught is its movepool. It comes with all of the best physical grass type moves like Seed Bomb and Wood Hammer, and it can also learn plenty of useful TMs like Dragon Claw, Stone Edge, Swords Dance, and Earthquake. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Chesnaught is its access to its signature move, Spiky Shield. This moves acts exactly like protect, but damages the opponent if physical contact is made. If playing a more defensive Chesnaught, this combined with Leech Seed can really throw off your opponent by maintaining health and consistent chip damage.

Overall, Chesnaught is a decent addition to the grass type starters and works well up there with the likes of Torterra as far as being a physical tank. Its typing doesn’t really do it any favors, but access to Spiky Shield and other great attacks make it a worthy addition to any team.

 

delphox[1]

 

Next up we have Delphox, the magical fox Pokémon. Fennekin was easily the fan favorite when the starters were released. We awaited eagerly to see what its final evolution would look like, and Delphox came to us as quite a surprise. Its probably one of the most human-like Pokémon that we’ve seen, and the addition to its magical wand gives it loads of character (not to mention its cry is absolutely horrific). Unfortunately, what Delphox has in aesthetics, it lacks in its abilities as a solid Pokémon.  It has the stats of a decent special sweeper, clocking in at 114/100/104 SpAtk, SpDef, and SPD respectively. Its defensive stats aren’t doing it any favors, which make Delphox quite frail if up against a strong, quick opponent. Its typing, fire/psychic, is not the greatest as it leaves it open to the common ghost and dark types, which often out-speed it. Its movepool is a bit of a mixed bag and seems to have lost its identity somewhere in its creation. Should Delphox play its role as a special sweeper? Is it more of a support attacker? It doesn’t have the speed to function well in the sweeping department, and its not defensive enough to remain a support teammate.

I’d have to say that Delphox is sadly the worst of the three starters. It doesn’t excel in any one role in competitive play, which leaves it open to plenty of counters and switch ins. It’s unfortunate as it’s such a cool Pokémon with great concepts and a great design, but it falls short in being anything offensive or anything supportive. There are simply more Pokémon out there to fill this role that can do the job much better than Delphox.

 

greninja[1]

 

This leaves us with Greninja, the ninja Pokémon. Greninja was probably the biggest surprise for all of us; not many of us were expecting a ninja with its tongue used as a scarf. Greninja not only excels in the coolness factor, but its also a fantastic Pokémon to use. The best of the three starters, really. These are the stats that Delphox should have had; 103/122 in SpAtk and SPD, which allow Greninja to outspeed most of the standard metagame. Its attack also clocks in at 95, which make it a formidable candidate as a physical sweeper, too. Its typing, water and dark, provide far more benefits than counters, however it does leave it open to the new fairy type that plagues the battlefield. Better yet, its movepool is everything we could have hoped and dreamed for in a sweeper. Access to moves like Dark Pulse, Ice Beam, Surf, Grass Knot, U-Turn, Toxic Spikes, and Acrobatics make it difficult to see what Greninja is going to throw out at you.

What makes Greninja so amazing is not just its diverse movepool and useful typing. Its ability, Protean, is arguably one of the most useful Pokémon abilities out there. Protean changes Greninjas type to whatever move it uses. For example, using Ice Beam will change you to a pure ice type. Next, use Grass Knot to change yourself into a pure grass type. This makes Greninja essentially impossible to counter, and it also makes every single move a stab move. This ability alone makes Greninja one of the most versatile Pokémon you can use in a competitive team.

However, Greninja is far from being in the uber tiers. Thankfully, GameFreak balanced out its stats by making it extremely frail, with its HP, Def, and SpDef clocking in at a mere 72/67/71.  Also, Greninja isn’t exactly the most powerful attacker out there. It can be a bit difficult for it to 1HKO opponents that are specially defensive or physically defensive, leaving Greninja open to counter measures. Tanks like Blissey and Ferrothorn can take whatever Greninja throws at them (save for attacks not specialized in their defensive stat).

What do you guys think of this generations starters? Do you have a particular favorite? Agree or disagree with my analysis? I’m curious to see how the future generations of starters will compare to this generation. We saw a ton of changes in Pokémon X and Y, most of them necessary to keep the series alive. Hopefully we’ll continue to see more positive changes in the future!

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7,662 thoughts on “Starters Untamed: Kalos”

  2. Everyone here is now
    Modestly crappy, but full of choices and speculation, BOOM Swellow

    (and I dunno if this posted before :P)

    Reply

  3. ORAS directly or indirectly confirmed Megas (So far) :

    Sceptile
    Blaziken
    Swampert
    Camerupt
    Sharpedo
    Metagross
    Sableye
    Mawile
    Latios
    Latias
    Diancie
    Charizard X

    so far that’s 12 megas.

    That’s yet to include Unannounced Megas or Pokemon that were previously traemarked.

    I’m also expecting other Hoenn native Megas to return such as :
    Medicham
    Aggron
    Manectric
    Gardevoir
    Banette
    and Absol

    Reply

  6. I seriously think milotic and metagross will get megas.
    Every champion so far has had a different mega on their team
    Blue: Blastois, Venasuar or Charizard
    Lance: Aerodactyl or gyrados
    Cynthia: Garchomp
    Iris: Aggron
    diantha: gardevoir

    Now you could say “aggron” for steven, but Iris already has one, and meta gross is more his main.
    Steven: Metagross???
    Wallace: Milotic???

    Reply

  18. Too bad you’ve got no chance there Diance. Milotic, please mega evolve and show this b*tch what’s up. *refresh*

    Reply

          • Nope, after scorching my other Pokemon i send in the one that can stop it
            My Hippowdon
            As he enters the field with a power tremor, his ports start spewing out a raging sandstorm that blankets the battlefield in blinding sand
            Sableye then tries to take advantage of Hippowdon’s slow speed and sets loose a flurry of wisps but they just fly ingot the storm but nothing happened and then it notices that Hippowdon is nowhere to be seen

          • Now for the next Part
            Sableye is now confused and gets struck by sharp clumps of sand, Sableye tries to send out more and more Will-o-wisps in retaliation but something happens, then ground underneath him starts to rumble but due to the sandstorm blinding him and clouding his vision it was too late as HIPPOWDON’S Gaping Maw bursts out of the ground and captures Sableye in his mouth and seals it tight!

          • And it gets better
            Inside Hippowdon’s Mouth Sableye panics and Hippowdon finally having the tricky shadow pokemon him one place swamps him with Toxic while inside his mouth effectively poisoning him and weakening him
            He spits out the Darkness Pokemon and ends it, Sableye poisoned and most likely traumatized sees that Hippowdon disappears back under ground and uses this opening to use recover but the poisoning and sand still take a toll on him then The final moment from underground Rock Tomb stones jut out and trap him and as Hippowdon charges full steam ahead using Iron Head and smashes into Sableye knocking him out and the Sandstorm clears

          • Sableye easily notices how to get out, it uses will o wisp full power in its mouth, when hippodown opens its mouth in pain, sableye comes out and uses recover to heal Itself so now hippowdon is burnt and sableye is perfect fine, sableye chooses the moment to be right and mega evolves… The glow of mega evolution has got hippowdon stunned, but not for long when the burn takes when takes place.

  21. Jessie was in the top 4 at the Grand Festival… if it were at the League, she would be rank 2, faring off much better than Ash and Dawn…

    Reply

  23. I can’t believe I didn’t do this when I had the chance, but when Unova freezes over in B2W2, does the map change?

    Reply

  25. Jessie’s most powerful Pokemon have to be Yanmega and Seviper.
    James’ most powerful Pokemon are Amoongus and Inkay.

    Reply

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