912: Quaxly
912: QuaxlyA duck feels like a no-brainer for a Water Starter, so it's a surprise it took this long to get one. It's probably the starter we have the least to say about, though. It's not disappointingly lackluster like Sprigatito is or nice like Fuecoco. It's plenty competent for a little duck friend, albeit in a way that doesn't wow us either. Can't be upset about it, but can't sing a ton of praise, either.
Its personality does a lot of the heavy-lifting. It's presented as suave and smug, constantly styling its head of hair and showing off. Easily the most fun part Quaxly is how its feathers apparently secrete "hair gel" that repels water and grime. Just like real ducks! In a fantasy sense obviously, but. Slightly accurate! Most waterfowl have oily, water-repelling feathers so they don't get waterlogged.
Personal Score: 6/10
913: Quaxwell
913: QuaxwellWe think Quaxwell, though, is when anthropomorphization in Pokemon gets a little out of hand. We're fine with the fact that it's anthropomorphic, it's hard to see a Water starter duck being anything else, but something about it just feels a smidge too close to human in shape. Part of this can definitely be owed to the fact that it's a Pokemon themed around dancing, but still.
Not helping is just how awkward and haphazard a lot of its design elements are. The big hair, while funny, goes just a bit overboard. Its feet looking like duck-foot-shaped booties just looks. Odd, in an uncomfortable kind of way. Again, the intention is probably just that they're dancing shoes but mmmm. It's just so awkward-looking.
But by far the thing bothering us the most are those chest markings. Like, we can't be the only ones, right? Seeing markings on an athletic anthro duck that look dangerously close to a crop top and thinking "Oh, no, please don't do that." It's a weird thing to pin down. Clothing elements DO tend to be a step too far for us; we hate Lucario's stupid pants and find stuff like Throh and Sawk and Hitmonchan a little too hard to buy, but. Something about this crop top in particular is like. No thank you.
Personal Score: 4/10
914: Quaquaval
914: QuaquavalEh. Quaquaval isn't much better but at least it's back in "simply not for us" territory. It's back to being duck-shaped, but we don't have to be happy about the way that just so happens to make it look like its spine is bent at a 90-degree angle as it sticks its dumpy out far. It's gone from simply dancing to being more of a carnival dancer, complete with a big fancy headdress and exotic feathered ornaments coming from its tail. And--
Oh god. This is our first official peacock Pokemon, isn't it? Man. We wanted a peacock a lot, but we dunno if this is it, chief.
Anyway, it also picks up the Fighting type. Not entirely sure where but sure, dancing is a display of athleticism we suppose. Good enough. And see, this is what's so weird about giving clothing elements to Pokemon. We hate Quaxwell's damn crop top. But Quaquaval's bell bottoms? Not that fussed about it. We guess it's because it's easier to buy as something an animal would have.
Interestingly, Quaquaval's notably not really a duck anymore. Especially notable with its beak no longer being shaped like a duck's bill. It could just be the peacock elements coming in, but that wouldn't really make it an amphibious/semi-aquatic animal like the other Water starters, would it?
We were ABOUT to propose that Quaquaval's legs were inspired by the Jacana, that funny bird with the long legs and huge feet you've probably seen on "Weird Animals" accounts on social media. But a Google search to acquire an image clued us in to another aquatic bird.
The Coot actually just outright has the huge, flappy toes that Quaquaval has, which is of course curious seeing how a duck Pokemon lost its webbed feet too. The Coot's feet is simply another adaptation for swimming in water, with their wide, flat toes allowing them to propel themselves in water. So Quaquaval is kind of just some odd mashup of a few water birds (also peacock). Neater than we first thought!
The theme of the Water starters is a little less overt, but at least as of Gen 3, there is an underlying theme of weaponry. If not outright wielding a weapon, then at least having a weapon as part of their visual design. Quaquaval once again seems to be ditching the theme entirely in favor of just doing its own thing. It feels hard to deny that the starter themes were a conscious decision made by the designers, even if stuff like Primarina's morning star butt or counting Fennekin as a dog make a bit of a stretch.
It feels like Scarlet and Violet are being treated as if another soft reboot for the series, which feels like it makes sense given they're easily the biggest leap in scope a core-series game have ever made on their own. That and they're the first games since Black and White (coincidentally, the first time they did a "soft reboot") to have simple colors as titles. So perhaps maybe to follow suit, they're hitting the reset button on the starter themes. Whether these three are the start of developing new Starter themes or if they're just done entirely with Starter themes is of course yet to be seen, so we'll just have to see how things turn out a Generation or two from now.
Now with these three together, we can point out how these three starters' final evos have an overall theme to them! With one being a magician, another as a singer, and now a dancer, all three of the starters this time around are types of stage performers or entertainers! It's not a WILD revelation, but it's a neat little thread between the three.
And to just throw a bit of speculation out there, here's some wild guesses as to what the new starter themes possibly could be.
Grass - Pokemon based on animals that are commonly domesticated (What with the Sprigatito line being fairly generic cats)
Fire - Displays of inter-species mutualism (or in Skeledirge's case, debunking one)
Water - Pokemon that make use of some type of dressy accessory (Quaquaval's festive feathers)
Quaquaval itself is alright. Interesting, at the very least. We get why people like it a lot, but for us, it's just not our thing very much.
Personal Score: 6/10
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