For the first time ever, I won't use starters in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

My first starter Pokemon was a Treecko. I cried when that save got wiped, but eventually settled on a Torchic for a more successful run at Sapphire. Since then, I've leaned into the idea that your starter is supposed to be a companion, a best friend, the rock around which your entire Pokemon team is built. But I think that's all about to change with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

The Pokemon Scarlet and Violet starters are all perfectly cute, but none of them called to me. Perhaps that's because I felt a little like I'd seen two of them before. The comparisons between fire-type Fuecoco and Gen 2 water-type Totodile are pretty clear, as are those between grass starter Sprigatito and Sun and Moon's Litten. Water-type Quaxly doesn't have a direct comparison with another starter, but it's hard to ignore the presence of Ducklett from Pokemon Black and White.

Perhaps it's because I'm not particularly impressed by the evolutions of those Pokemon. You spend most of your time in the game with the final form of your starter, but I didn't really like what I saw from the many, extensive leaks of Scarlet and Violet in the weeks leading up to release. The delightful Sprigatito fulfilled everyone's worst fears by becoming bipedal; Fuecoco lost all sense of charm, a robotic-looking third evo shedding its goofy personality; Quaxly's later designs were more interesting, but if I never warmed to the starter, why would I want to spend my game with the final evolution?

Up to the challenge

But perhaps it's because I crave a bit more of a challenge? In the face of the series' enduring refusal to consider alternative difficulty levels, Scarlet and Violet does at least offer a unique opportunity to switch things up a bit. It sucks that gyms won't be level-scaled, but at least I can go out into the world and throw myself at the game's hardest battles from the word go. 

That approach might be slightly masochistic, but the free-form way in which we'll be able to access Paldea does mean that it'll be easy to seek out the Pokemon I actually want. It'll make mono-type runs, in which you run through the entire game using Pokemon of just one type, more interesting from the start. It promises to put an interesting spin on other ways to play, like Nuzlockes, speedruns, or no-damage runs. In the past, I've tended to brute-force my way through each gym challenge, but in the time since Pokemon Legends: Arceus, I've become a lot more interested in the series' tactical depth. I'm planning for Scarlet and Violet to be the first chance I'll get to try out some of my new knowledge. Leaning on a powerful starter makes that a little harder to do, so I think whoever I pick will be consigned to my PC.

Adapting to a new way of running a team promises to be its own interesting challenge. Rocking up to early gyms with a known type advantage has been a series tradition since the first players arrived in Pewter City with their Squirtles. Now, I'm probably going to be turning up to the first gym with a dog made of bread, and whichever bug and bird I can find on the early routes. That might not be the Pokemon power fantasy, but it would be the reality for the vast majority of trainers in that world, and Scarlet and Violet promise the first time I'll get to try that reality for myself.

Before you dive into Paldea, check out our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet review.