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. There should be a Gale of Darkness Sequel for Wii U where you play as N and stop Neo Team Plasma who have stolen Team Cipher’s Equipment, who try to Shadow Mega Evolve as many pokémon as they can. Their Ultimate Goal is to Shadow Primal Revert Kyurem, but Kyurem goes berserk because it lacks the Truth and Ideas upon showification. So N defeats it, separates all three dragons, and after gaining both truth and ideals from his journey, is able to purify Kyurem and can Primal Revert it to its true forme.

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  4. Just an FYI
    If PETA ever beats Pokemon (they won’t) I hope they know they will make millions of people (not just kids) cry

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  6. Pokemon should of really of done the Digimon
    Switch the cast every new region
    If they did that, Ash would be loved more
    More people would watch the anime

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    • Yeah, definitely. I’m hoping that whenever they finish with Ash (which I doubt will happen) they can have him as a Frontier Brain rotating all of his Pokemon. Then the story can switch to his daughter going on her journey.

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      • I have been dreaming for this to happen for such a long time. I just hope that Ash won’t be the typical father who doesn’t exist for his child.

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  7. Um. I just
    Googled Peta
    And on the images
    There were weird pics unrelated to pet animals being tortured/helped.

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  8. I feel like some of you overrate sinnoh. And tbh I love hoenn but that’s a little too much praise. I understand they are the best because I agree. But no love for johto or kanto? They were so fun to go through. The safari zone in kanto was the best. They both had so,e of the greatest pokemon. They both were good in the anime. Their stories were fun their gyms and elite four were great. Some of you talk about walking with pokemon that started on johto.
    For me my order is:

    Kanto=Hoenn>johto>sinnoh>kalos>unova
    This is my opinion because I like some of the more original games some aspects of pokemon i personally didn’t like.
    For sinnoh I didn’t like mt coronet and the map
    For kalos I think they level of your pokemon got too high with exp share and too low without it
    Unova I just didn’t like the characters a whole lot and the pokemon weren’t always exciting
    For johto I personally didn’t like pokemon following you
    For kanto there really wasn’t anything to dislike
    And for hoenn I have played the game too much to dislike any of it.
    Remember this is my opinion so I’d appreciate it if you don’t bash and hate me

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    • Actually, in my opinion Sinnoh is underrated. Diamond/Platinum/Pearl added a lot of stuff and had an amazing soundtrack.

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    • It was very bland, many of the Pokemon ideas were just triple of the same thing. And we’re not talking about the anime xD Kanto is revered because it was the region to start it all, but you really can’t compare it to the future regions that were able to add much more. Like I said, if it wasn’t the first, it’d be considered by many to be the worst installment in the franchise. But because it was the first, you have to give it a pass for its quirkiness and ideas xD

      Copy and pasted part of my reply from down below since I assume you missed it because you were typing this xD

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    • But IMO
      Johto had the Blandest story out of all the pokemon, the story was team rocket just trying to find Giovanni
      Kanto’s story was okay i guess

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    • We love those two, but we prefer Sinnoh and Hoenn. Kanto has a bland map, uninspired Pokemon, and was overall really buggy. Again, opinion, but saying there really wasn’t anything to dislike is a load of bull.

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    • I don’t like Kanto because the environment and scenery was bland andd not a lot of variety in terms of pokemon. I only have a few fav Kanto pokemon than the other regions. I disliked Unova too until Black 2 and White now I’m like Humilau city all day XD.

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    • I hoestly think sinnoh was underrated. It had good thinks in them. But i feel people could not get around the slowness in P/D. As for hoenn, i felt the story was not complete. Some of the charaters were great but i did not feel it had the same depth as P/D/P. Now jhoto. I liked jhoto quite a bit but i felt with adding kanto in its games really distracted from what jhoto itself had to offer. I’m not going to go into Everything i can say about Sinnoh and Hoenn both the good and bad, because it might be too long and im just shareing my short opion.

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      • I’m a Hoenn guy myself but I do like Sinnoh too. I thought Sinnoh’s story was more developed than Hoenn’s.

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      • Why do people spell “Johto”Jhoto I don’t undertsnad and it makes me feel like I’ve been spelling it wrong my whole life XD

        And I feel like Sinnoh’s story was very good, but it wasn’t understandable. I never understood the story until I was 14 :s
        Hoenn’s story was simple beauty, the goal might not have been huge, but the encounters and ending were great, especially in emerald.

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        • TBH. I loved Hoenn but I didn’t get its story at all. I just thought it was some weirdos who had a love for land and sea. Sinnoh was simple also they just wanted to create a new universe. Nothing out of the ordinary villains.

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        • your right to a point. I felt emerald was really uncomplete in story. like you see tesm A/M leaders unleash groudon and kyogre they start to fight and just give up on their goal to control them and then get a all of a sudden turn of feelings and regret what they’ve done. I think thats was out of nowhare and they did not really have a good reseaon to change and be frearful.

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          • because neither of them were going to get their way, and since they awoke both pokemon, they started fighting.

            Which almost caused Hoenn to be destroyed.
            And then they realized how bad their actions were.

            I honestly think Hoenn’s story could be a good story for kids now a days who all expect to get their ways.

    • I can understand Kanto is the first game and you shouldn’t compare it, but the map was pretty bland, the game was REALLY hard if its your first time, because they never tell you where to go at all, i was lost on my Red over 20 times

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      • I am not comparing based on it being te first. I don’t understand why that is wat kanto is liked for. I am saying that it is a good game because itis a good gam

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      • I agreed. As Yellow was my first game, I sucked at knowing where to go. I only figured out how to get to Lavender Town.

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    • I kinda didn’t like FR/LG because they were my first Pokémon Games, and I already knew about the Hoenn Pokémon, but I couldn’t use them until after the game. I couldn’t even evolve Kanto Pokémon into Johto Pokémon.

      However, in terms of story, Kanto was alright. Especially with the Plot Twists.

      Also, it’s Hoenn Fever, so of course Hoenn will be praised more than others. Just wait until the ORAS Hype is over. Other regions will be hyped as well maybe probably.

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    • Personal opinion. Kanto is at the bottom of my list. Going back to play the games, it’s fun for nostalgia’s sake. Other than that. Kanto doesn’t have much interesting. This might sound biased but i acknowledge the fact that it was the first game and they were technologically limited. I enjoyed GSC more than FRLG despite it being the first Pokemon game that I personally owned.

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      • You all say not to compare it because it is loved for being the first game, but it being fun because I nostalgia isn’t really the reason it in good. Kanto should not be liked just because it was first and is nostalgic

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        • Yet we have genwunners because of it.
          Regardless, we are giving our opinions. We love Kanto for what it did, and what it brought, but to me, I felt at home in Sinnoh. The other places as well, but I have this connection with Sinnoh that no other region will ever have. Same with Hoenn. It was my first real love and the game I played over and over.

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          • And I understand your opinion. But some people aren’t basing it off of map story charcters pokemon, they are basing it off of it being the first and that new games brought new aspects that is obvious with new things comes new additions.

          • No they aren’t. They are saying they don’t like the story/aspects of the region. They are saying that no one should like it because it was first.

    • Funnily enough Johto is at the bottom of my list.

      I dunno, it contains some of my favourite Pokemon is Scizor and Tyranitar…and I love Ho-Oh and Lugia, however i didn’t like the Gen 2 games at all, and the starters are terrible (just an opinion). Also the levelling process was tiresome. Your Pokemon would be in their 30s at the 7th Gym and incredibly difficult to grind…Also once you get to Kanto you’re still fighting weak as hell wild Pokemon…

      Kanto is probably my second least favourite but thats not because I didn’t like, but more because I enjoyed the other ones more. Kanto contains Charizard (second favourite starter), Dragonite and Mewtwo whom I love. However the story was quite bland, but at least the levelling was Ok, and you were always on par with the Gym Leaders and E4.

      Unova contains some of my favourite Pokemon in Scrafty, Excadrill, Krookodile, Reuiniclus. The story was good, it had a good pace, some interesting Characters in N and Ghetsis, the Gym Leaders were more involved, and Zekrom and Reshiram are awesome

      Kalos, Newest Gen and loved mainly for the small amount of quality Pokemon introduced as well as the connectivity features which make it so easy to get into competitive battling. Slightly lacking with the involving Gym Leaders into the story aspect and most of the are forgettable…The story was one of my favourites…really powerful

      Sinnoh, Main story was Ok, slightly slow at time, some very good Pokemon, an interesting post-game, but I just felt it was all over too quickly and nothing to do after

      Hoenn, nothing needs to be said really

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  10. I wanna have a double battle against two Champions one day. Steven and Cynthia would be a deadly combo. But lol @ Lance and Iris combo

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  11. Pokemon games being set in current times or Pokemon games being set in the whole Pokemon Conquest time period ? What do you all prefer?

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  13. Guys just get the idea that kanto was first out of mind for a minute. Think about how fun it was. I don’t think you sould base it on the fact that it brings back memories.

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      • Yeah, because of when it was made and the lack of great resources we have now. If it were to be re-remade, I’m sure it would be very good. Although I know many people are against this xD

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          • That’s true. That could have been GF’s way of bringing Kanto vibes back for the older fans.

          • I just noticed that and replied to my comment with more. Kalos basically did that which really sucks because instead of, as you put it, fan servicing and trying to get the attention of gen wunners, they could have put more time into designing Pokemon to add more Pokemon to the region rather than giving us 69 new pokemon and mostly normal types.

          • Those 69 Pokemon weren’t filler though. They didn’t have all these cheap baby Pokemon, or dex filler. They all had something new to offer. Look at Talonflame, Diggersby, etc. I prefer only 69 new Pokemon as it gave us variety and something new. And Megas also can count for those new Pokemon.

          • That’s true but they could have had much more interesting designs as well. Mr.Mime could have gotten a Mega. Smeargle could have gotten an evo or Mega and what about all the ghost pokemon? France has catacombs underneath There is bound to be ghost Pokemon in Kalos or we could have been able to explore it 😮

        • I thought FRLG was a terrible remake, everything in that game is so backwards. All the added stuff just made me think “What?”

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    • Yellow was fun, but it didn’t have that connection like Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Kalos had for me. Unova kinda has that connection.

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    • We have kept it out of our mind. It was boring because it lacks any true diversion. Dunno why you can’t let our opinions be. We don’t like Kanto, get over it 😛

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    • Kanto contains some of my all time favourites in Charizard, Snorlax, Dragonite, Alakazam, Gengar and Mewtwo….However this doesn’t change the fact that the story was sub par compared to some of the later installments.
      Not saying Kanto is bad…In my opinion it was the perfect starting point for the franchise and gave them a lot to work with…and we can see the results today of how far they have come with X and Y.

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      • And believe me I have played emerald MANY times and ruby was my first game. I had my opinion I posted at the bottom that it was my opinion. I respect everyone’s opinion

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    • No, I brought up Genwunner because their thinking is that it is the first and nostalgic, that is why they like it. You like it for other reasons and respect other regions. That doesn’t make you a genwunner in the slightest.

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      • Thank you Percy!!!!! That’s what I am saying. I am NOT bashing on other regions. I gave my opinion. I want to hear your opinions. I am not bothered by your opinions on kanto. And I am not forcing it down your throats

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  18. Alright as much as i enjoy Region wars i gotta take my brother into the Pool
    Somebody keep things feisty for me while i’m gone

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  19. TBH. I don’t get the war on regions. Every Pokemon region brought something new to the mix. When someone says a region isn’t good. It’s not by a long shot.

    I had problems with every region. As an example Hoenn had too much Water. It was a bit annoying to surf around! Still, it’s a great region.

    Also, for anyone who hasn’t figured this out. Hoenn is huge right now because it’s getting a remake. It happened with Johto when it got HG/SS. It’s not surprising. 😛

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  20. I had an epiphany. The talking machine alluded to by the Devon scientist in RSE is going to be in the game. It was hinted at in the anime, when Corless exclaimed that he was going to make a machine that could talk to pokemon. In an interview, Masuda stated that they intended to implement it in X and Y, but didn’t have enough time. It’s going to happen.

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  21. If regions are our equivalent of different countries, then shouldn’t they have their own currency and language?

    Uh oh. I’m thinking too much again.

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  22. I don’t see this Region thing as an arumanet….it’s more of a debate and it’s interesting to read other people’s opinion.
    No one should really be hating on someone for having an opinion and no one should really force their opinion down other people’s throats….this isn’t politics…

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  24. Another Problem is not to assume all comments are directed at you unless specifically stated. It’s just sparks more heated arguments for no reason…

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  25. Every region has its flaws, and for as much as I love Hoenn, one of the stupidest things ever done was inserting Braille into a video game

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