FAKE: Could the Gen VIII Starters Have Leaked?!

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IMPORTANT UPDATE: These have now been CONFIRMED FAKE as the artist has been found! They came out in a Facebook post. It’s unfortunate that these weren’t real… but let’s just hope that Game Freak manages to do even better!

These were posted anonymously, there are some concerns about the Japanese, but mostly pedantic discussion of hiragana vs katakana use. Most likely fake.

These do not come with names, but it appears as though we have a Grass-type Lemur, a Fire-type Rabbit and a Water-type Platypus!

Guess we’ll have to wait for more details to see if these are real or not! What are your initial impressions?!

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2,331 thoughts on “FAKE: Could the Gen VIII Starters Have Leaked?!”

    • I’m still thoroughly convinced, as well. There are just too many elements correct for this to be something someone made up as a fake “leak.”

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  2. I actually like these more than the other “leaked” starters. All three of them look great and would maybe provide some seriously good end evolutions. Kind of shocking that it was the first stages and not the final ones that were leaked though

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    • I have a sneaking suspicion, and just a suspicion mind you, that a few of the most recent “leaks” that turned out to be real were actually released on purpose to generate hype rather than being leaked by someone who wasn’t supposed to have access to the info. Obviously, it’s a great way to get people talking and work up excitment leading up to an official announcement. It is a little interesting that we get “leaks” that only include the starters, or whatever. I personally feel that if someone was going to truly leak, that is reveal information that wasn’t intended to be public yet, we’d get dumps of info about a bunch of random things, whatever they could grab at the time, you know? Or, like you said, we’d get final evolutions even though the first evolutions hadn’t been revealed yet. *shrug* Just a thought, though.

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      • Very rarely are the first stages leaked… usually when they used to introduce the new region GF would have them as a silhouettes in CoroCoro and the middle/final stages would be leaked. Like with gen 5 the middles were the last to be revealed but they were leaked I think 2 weeks or so prior to being confirmed and obviously more recently with gen 7 the end evolutions were leaked months beforehand. Even if they are fake why shoot down the idea that they may possibly be real? It gives us something to talk about when theres nothing to talk about.

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  7. They are fake. From an art perspective the grass type especially gives it away… his standard pose is very awkward along with some feature inconsistencies. Unfortunately a lot of people won’t notice

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  9. I’m pretty sure it’s now been close to 24 hours and no one has claimed responsibility for these drawings. I think that’s a good sign personally. However there are still plenty of reasons to play the fake card, so let’s just cross our fingers.

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  11. Hey guys, long time reader, first time poster… Idk they seem pretty real, my only concern is that the bunny/rabbit looks a bit too much like victini. Other than that I’m in love with the water platypus. Grass type… meh

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  13. I r e a l l y hope they’re real! After seeing how thought through these designs are, they seem to me like real GF designs. The Bear and Coral fakes were great, but these kinda seem even better.

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  14. Has no one considered that maybe the person that made these just learned from the last couple of “leaks” in order to make these as believable as possible? We literally got almost believable concept art juts like this less than a month ago. the only difference was the Japanese was iffy in those. This time it’s been fixed. and they’re pretty believable. If we didn’t get the last “leaked” starters then sure I may be less suspicious, but what are the odds that we’d actually get starters leaked like this almost immediately after getting fake ones done in the same kind of leak style?

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      • Not saying they aren’t thought out. I actually really like them a lot. That said it seems too unlikely that we’d coincidentally get fake leaks in the same style as the real ones ended up being. It think people are just jumping on the bandwagon that is “confidential art leaks” just because they’re the most believable right now. At one point we had believable CoroCoro scans, but that didn’t make them all real.

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    • You’re definitely right to be skeptical. They’re really not any more or less believable than any other art we see. Remember that Gladion art for USUM that showed him in aether gear? That sh!t looked spot on and yet it was fake too

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  16. So, here’s an interesting exercise and I’m curious to see people’s opinions. Pull up these three images side by side in any order: Decidueye’s reference sheet, the lemur’s sheet, and the grass bear that was rumored a week or so ago. Look at all three of them side-by-side and tell me which one looks most out of place.

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    • Your comments for the most part for these leaks consist of you stating your opinion as if they’re facts. Lol have some fun with these leaks, Star! 🙂

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      • I don’t wanna have fun with what is obviously bullshit. Show me some leaks that actually have some legitimacy then we can have fun with it.

        God I’m so fucking sick of being treated like I’m a bitch for not just playing along with everyone and saying they could be real when they are so obviously fake

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        • You don’t have to play along but you also don’t have to attack every single person who posts about these. Idk Star, I’ve seen a real tone shift since x and y with you and a lot of your comments are bitter! I just want to make sure everyone gets along!

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          • Everyone fucking attacks me for my opinions so I don’t see an issue with it. Because it’s all ok as long as the person you’re attacking has an unpopular opinion apparently.

            Everyone wants to just ignore facts and reason and believe this because they can’t handle a few months without a Pokémon game. These have literally nothing to back them up but whatever fine let’s just fool ourselves into believing every single “leak” that was made by a good artist

          • “…and saying they could be real when they are so obviously fake” Star that doesn’t sound like sharing your opinion

          • You have no more evidence proving they are false than anyone else saying they are real. As people have said, having a faked concept art (the bear, horse, coral) doesn’t mean these are fake, just like the gen 7 eco concept art doesn’t prove these are real.

          • “Logic” As youve our it doesn’t constitute evidence. The only evidence we will have either way is if gamefreak reveals they are real, or the artist steps forward.

            You cannot argue any further on this because there really is no other way of proving they’re fake.

            You mentioned they look professional (well so did the gen 7 evos and the bear horse coral) so we’re stuck in the middle there with no definitive proof either way.

            You mention it’s too early, but many said that about gen 7 evos too.

            We seriously have no idea. Only opinions for or against. No facts.

          • See that’s your problem your never wrong in your head and when others just don’t care about the facts and want to enjoy them you think they are stupid for wanting to enjoy game speculation

          • ‘game speculation’. It was the three starters with no other info. And she never said you can’t speculate, it’s just that half the site were convinced they were real for no good reason. I liked em, I excepted they were real, but I accept they aren’t. Lol.

          • ‘I can accept they are wrong and move on’

            Except you’ve still got this weird hate boner for star so I’m not exactly convinced you can move on from anything. Ffs if you think she’s such a bitch, block her and move on.

          • I have said I no longer dislike star, but her demeanor comes off aggressive sometimes… or the fact she called half the people here idiots just because they don’t agree with her (She didn’t say it, but she said the guy who did wasn’t wrong)

          • I’ll say it again, this article is supposed to be about fun speculation. Leaning too hard either way by saying these are ABSOLUTELY fake or real is not the way to go. But leaning either way a little is just fine.

          • Who said anything about fooling ourselves? Some people are pointing out reasons they could be fake or real, I see both sides being posted about, and no one…. NO ONE else is attacking people saying “they are fools, things are obviously fake, etc” like you are. And in the end, who really cares if I think they’re real or not. How does that hurt you? If it’s annoying to you, maybe pokejungle, a website that has fun by posting about rumors, isn’t for you.

          • Dude I love rumors but at a certain point you gotta step back and realize that this is just stupid. These fakes are well drawn and stuff but seriously. There are countless talented artists out there.

            Remember how real looking the banana mon was?

            It’s not hard to fake these at all. And right now we have no further evidence that these are real other than “oh they look official”

            Like.. Yeah. That’s the point of a fake. They gotta look official. But apparently no one wants to learn from all the other concept art leaks and… fucking logic to see that these aren’t any more credible than all the others that have been coming out.

            We aren’t king to have meaningful leaks or rumors until the game is revealed. Then you can talk to me about rumors because then there is something to compare information with

          • Again, I’ll ask though, how does speculation hurt you in any way? Why does this make your blood boil the way it does?

            Like I said, you e had this attitude about people enjoying thigs about gen 7 that you hated.

            All I ask is that you calm down because this article is intended to be a fun one with pure speculation for and against because nobody has evidence either way.

          • Because no one here has the critical thinking skills to ignore fakes and move on. It’s a waste of time. They just get hung up on the pens that look slightly better than others.

            It’s so incredibly frustrating to see people give this the time of day.

          • I mean when they’re proven to be fake, which is what I’m choosing to believe, the people who thought they were real will move on. It’s not hurting me in any way; they’re the ones setting their hopes up just to get dashed. Ill sit and laugh evily

          • Right. I had hopes that the bear was real, and when it wasn’t I said basically in my head “good job artist. You did a really good job both in design and concept.” And I moved on with no skin off my back.

          • Then for the love, just stay off these articles and wait to PJ post something else.

            You’re giving this the time of day and you are easing energy that could be spent on countless other things that are beneficial to you, your community, this planet, etc, but instead you’ve decided to spend hours tearing other people down by calling them stupid, illogical, fools, naive, lacking criticism thinking, etc.

            Enough is enough, Star.

          • This is exactly what I’m talking about. If speculation like this isn’t fun for you. Stay off this article and wait til a new one is posted. Spend your time and energy doing other things. Draw, volunteer, cook, clean, walk outside, watch tv, organize your space, message an old friend and catch up, do SOMETHING besides spewing bitter insults at those who are enjoying these rumors.

          • WHY AM I THE ONE WASTING MY TIME BUT NOT THE PEOPLE FREAKING OUT ABOUT AN OBVIOUSLY FAKE LEAK??

            Maybe I should fucking leave because no one wants to listen to me anyways. Because how dare someone actually think critically about what is presented to them.

            I went though the same trash with USUM. While everyone was hyped over a cashgrab, I got shiit on for seeing it was a cashgrab.

            Look how that turned out

          • They are doing what this article wants them to do, speculate. youre not leaving either way, you’re definitely saying with only “evidence” that these are fake (apparently they’ve been proven fake now, but this doesn’t change my argument because it’s happened on every article).

            You can have your opinion on rumors, on USUM, on everything. You cannot or should not, however, get mad when people call you out for getting so unbelievably heated and nasty towards others who are just here to have a good time.

            They’re not doing anything wrong, but you are. You are going against what this article is intended and you are using your time to belittle others. Tell me, where’s the joy in that? Better yet, tell me how it’s a good use of your time?

  20. BINGO!
    I really like looking at possible origins for starter leaks (or their evo), at least until they’re proven fake. I just got something that would fit the Designs of the Grass Lemur and the patterns we have been seeing in Starters the last 2 gens.
    So according to the patterns the Grass starter in Gen 8 should become dark type and feminine. The pattern could be broken of course, but, for noe, let’s assume it won’t be. I found some Lemur facts that could back up us getting a Grass/Dark feminine starter in Gen 8.
    1. Many stories from Madagascar blame a lot of bad things that happen on Lemurs, making them look like Grim bringers of bad luck. These stories make Villagers hunt and trap Lemurs, or pay hunters to kill the animals. All of that could give the starter a Dark type, either through an evil personality or a lust for revenge.
    2. Ida the Lemur is the only found fossil of the prehistoric, extinct Darwinius genus. Ida was a female, she kinda became known in the Animal community for a while. That isn’t that strong of an argument for a Feminine Lemur, but it is something. The genus is a Lemur ancestor, we also should remember that all Grass starters have been based on Extinct animals. Some studies said that Darwinius could be “the missing link”, but many other scientist called that an exaggurated hoax (that could potentially add a Fraud theme to the starter, adding to the dark type).
    3. The design looks kinda feminine. That isn’t that big of an argument, but it’s something. Popplio not so much, but Fennekin’s design is obviously suposed to be more feminine. So far I have no idea how the “hides berries in its tail” aspect could be developed in the evo, but I think with what I have right now, I might already be onto something.

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  21. Do you think all ghost Pokémon have the ability to alter their density and phase through things and such? The Ghastly line is gas based, but I’m sure there are other phantom Pokémon who are capable of dissolving like they do

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        • Interesting, I’m not sure about those. I wouldn’t think so since they’re ghost type due to being about a legend. There are legends, spirits, and possessed items and those seem to be the main three ways to classify ghost types.

          Banette, golurk, trevenant, honedge, driffloon, are all possessed objects in a way.

          Decidueye, froslass, shedinja are based more on concepts or legends.

          Shuppet, ghastly, duskull, pumpkaboo, misdreavus, all seem to just be spirits that could totally pass through things.

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          • Do you think Ghost pokemon are actually ghosts in the sense that they’re a spirit of a dead being reborn (like the gengar and clefable theory)? Or do you think it’s just a name given to the type because of its qualities?

            I would say at least some ghost pokemon are dead beings reborn, like the possessed object ones.

          • Exactly, I think it depends on the class. The spirit one? Sure. The legend or concept one? No, kinda in the same way that some fairy types are clasified as such because of their connection to irl lore.

            And the possessed body class is probably a case by case basis because some, like trevenant are actually dead children, but others are not.

    • That’s a thought I’ve bounced around a few times, myself. I’d like to think so, but it does seem like pokemon like Decidueye might not necessarily have that capability.

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    • Not everything
      Ghosts that are not bound to a physical vessel probably cannot phase through stuff

      Like physical ghosts like Golett, Cofagrigus, Dhelmise, Gourgiest, Trevanant, Aegislash, Pallossand

      But things like Mismagus, Froslass, Dusknoir, Gengar and Marshadow could

      But some grey areas include Chandelure, Drifblim, Sableye, Decidueye (like semi solid bodies)

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  24. The art is really good, but these are probably fake. I am waiting for a coro-coro scan or a trailer. If they are real that is when I will be excited. That Platypus is great. The Lemur has an interesting design. The rabbit fits the whole traditional Zodiac theme. I can’t complain about them at all. I am just going to remain both skeptical and optimistic.

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