Venusaur-Hoenn
Abilities: Overgrow / Dream Therapy
Dream Therapy - If Opponent is Asleep, user's attacks will heal User by 50% of the damage dealt
Stats: 80 / 72 / 78 / 90 / 95 / 110 [525]
1.9 m | 90 Kg
New Moves (From Ivysaur):
Giga Impact, Zen Headbutt
Draining Kiss, Dream Eater, Florasomnia, Future Sight, Hyper Beam, Psychic, Psyshock, Terrain Pulse
Aromatherapy, Calm Mind, Grass Whistle, Healing Wish, Hypnosis, Magic Coat, Meditate, Psycho Shift, Refresh, Wish
Florasomnia - Psychic | Special | 65 BP | 24 PP | 100% Acc | 30% to inflict drowsy on the target. Deals double damage if the target has a status condition.
Competitive: The big idea with Venusaur is having a fast Psychic that reliably deals with Krookodile and has great utility in spreading Sleep. At the moment, it is the second fastest Psychic, right behind Alakazam and tied with Espeon, giving it some reason to be picked as your Psychic of choice among a meta full of other Psychics. Draining Kiss admitedly doesn't do much for it but threatens Hydreigon.
The general gameplan with Venusaur is to put your opponents to Sleep/Drowsy (You can pick between 75 acc Sleep Powder or 70 acc Hypnosis if you wanna hit grasses), and then use Florasomnia to either punish them with a powerful STAB if they stay in or threaten to put the foe's switch to Sleep as well since the sig itself has a fairly good chance to make the foe Drowsy. If the opponent is Drowsy, Venusaur will have incredible sustain as well thanks to Dream Therapy, effectively turning every move into Dream Eater. Venusaur's typing makes it rather frail as it doesn't have many useful resistances, so an ability that allows it to live for longer is definitely appreciated.
It is kept in check by Spectrosphere, as well as Steel-Types in general, notably Skarmory and Magcargo. It
can try to whittle Steels that have no recovery by putting them to Sleep and chipping with Leech Seed, but it is a generally negative matchup for Venusaur. It is also notably weak to U-Turn and Knock Off, which is a massive downside, as well as getting trapped by Pursuit. Lastly, Haxorus' First Impression is also a notable flaw.
Lore: Venusaur lives deep within the Emerald Jungle. Due to the canopy of the rainforest obscuring sunlight, Venusaur could not do its usual procedure of Photosynthesis, which promptly led the species to adapt to the dark. Over time, Venusaur became a nocturnal species, and instead of getting its energy from sunlight, Venusaur is able to mentally connect itself with another species while they sleep to essentially share the feeling of being rested. To aid with this, Venusaur's flower has a calming aroma that makes those around it relaxed. Despite Venusaur living below many treetops, it seems to be fascinated by the night sky, curiously staring at stars whenever it has the chance.
Thanks to wall carvings discivered by the Ironwilled, it is known that Venusaur used to live in Hoenn many centuries before the events with Hoopa took place. It is theorized that they were driven to extinction by the overhunting of people o the past, who seeked Venusaur over a belief that its petals, when naturally dropped, had wish-granting properties. The discovery of this event is what led to Bulbasaur being brought to the Hoenn region by a repopulation institute, at a (successful) attempt to revive the long forgotten variant to its natural habitat.
Inspirations: Venusaur is inspired by the Nyorinji Temple in Kyushu. It is a Buddhist temple that, in recent years, has been filled with thousands of frog statues by a chief priest, in a desire to make the temple more appealing to visitors. Venusaur essentially marries the two phases of this temple, being a buddhist frog. The Lotus on its back is an extension of this concept, as it has many meanings of purity of mind and spirit in Buddhism. The whole Sleep motif present in its playstyle is inspired by concepts from buddhism such as meditation and relaxation. Venusaur is also partially inspired by the Starstruck with its wish-granting petals and stargazing concepts.
Delphox-Hoenn
Abilities: Blaze / Magician
Stats: 81 / 64 / 100 / 110 / 78 / 101 [534]
1.7 m | 80 Kg
New Moves (From Braixen):
Bulldoze, Giga Impact, Rock Blast, Rock Throw, Stealth Rock
Ancient Power, Blast Burn, Dazzling Gleam, Earth Power, Hyper Beam, Meteor Beam, Power Gem, Sacred Jewel, Sand Tomb, Scorching Sands
Rock Polish, Sandstorm, Wish
Sacred Jewel - Rock | Special | 75 BP | 16 PP | 100% Acc | 100% chance to lower the foe's Guard by one stage
(Sp Def clone of Mystical Fire)
Competitive: Rather straightforward but has a good offensive type combo with the iconic combo of Magician and Meteor Beam. It is our second fastest Fire mon tied with Ninetales and is tied with Blaziken for highest Sp Atk Fire mon, making it stand out a fair bit. Fire/Rock is a pretty good offensive typing and its Speed Tier and self-boosting allow it to stand out from Tyranitar fairly well.
The general gameplan with Delphox is to use Meteor Beam, get a boost and steal an item. From there, you will be using your signature to weaken switch-ins, Flamethrower or Fire Blast as your maindamage dealer and likely Grass Knot to snipe out Swampert. However, due to boosts being temporaary, you have to be careful to not waste your mommentum. Magician isn't the only viable set though, as Life Orb or even Choiced can work pretty well for Delphox. Its slightly above average bulk helps to give it switch in opportunities.
The main threats are bulky Waters and Krookodile. Delphox's damage output can't always threaten defensive mons, and it can't really afford to stay in on those as its quad weakness puts it at risk. Garchomp is also a big threat, although that one may just be unbalanced in general.
Lore: Delphox in the Hoenn region make use of the region's various minerals to channel its power. Delphox seems to have great interest for gems and jewels of any sort. It uses the reflective gem on its staff as a magnifying glass, letting sunlight pass through the gem to concentrate heat within an area. Although mysterious in nature, Delphox is known to appear to those in need of help, granting wishes and pacifying desires if Delphox deems one worthy. To cast its judgement, Delphox stares longingly at the jewel in its staff, which allows it to see the past.
Said past-vision capabilities are also what led researchers to discover that Delphox used to live in Hoenn region long before the events with Hoopa took place. It is believed that their sudden disappearance may simply be due to Delphox not finding anyone in the region worthy, as people's greed would often lead to Delphox's gems being robbed by people after their wishes were granted. Much like Bulbasaur, Fennekin were brought to Hoenn as means of rrpopulation for this variant.
Inspirations: Generally, Delphox is based on Monks and Mages, with the long cloak and the staff having a gem. The gem itself is inspired by the conflict between the Ironwilled and the Starstruck, as Delphox has a rare mineral that grants wishes, essentially fusing the concepts of the two plans, which was also the inspiration for its playstyle to focus around the interaction between the meteor-themed Rock move and Magician. However, much like the other starters, Delphox is partially inspired by Buddhism as well. The staff is based on
this specific monk staff in shape. More largely, Delphox is based on the wish-fulfilling jewel, a buddhist belief of a rare gem that signifies the bestowal of blessing on all who suffer. Images of the wish-fulfilling jewel are also commonly seen on the roofs of Inari Shinto shrines, or in the mouth or under the paw of Inari’s messenger — the fox.
Feraligatr-Hoenn
Abilities: Torrent / Water Veil
Stats: 95 / 110 / 105 / 69 / 93 / 58 [530]
1.4 m | 888.8 Kg
New Moves (From Croconaw):
Body Press, Bulldoze, Dragon Tail, Earthquake, Giga Impact, Heavy Slam, Iron Head, Jaw Lock, Metal Claw, Outrage, Royal Banquet
Dragon Pulse, Focus Blast, Hyper Beam
Aqua Ring, Iron Defense, King's Shield
Royal Banquet - Water | Physical | 80 BP | 16 PP | 100% Acc | Sets Aqua Ring on the user.
Competitive: Feraligatr is a defensive beast. Its a defensive Steel that an handle Fires with relative ease, and whereas Skarm prides itself in being the prominent Physdef Steel mon, Magcargo the prominent Spdef one and Jirachi sometimes runs mixed defensive sets, Feraligatr settles itself apart by being a defensive steel that minimizes the damage it takes so that it can heal itself though small but passive means. Its typing stands out both as a Dragon-Resting Water and a Fire-Neutral Steel, helping defensively oriented teams with the meta's influx of Dragons in general.
The general gameplan with Feraligatr is rather simple to be fair, as it is generally good at tanking hits and has good Attack to swing back strong. Feraligatr gets no direct form of recovery, but its signature move effectively gives it Leftovers after used, which you can stack with the actual Leftovers item to gain some neat passive healing. To further compliment this rather unique defensive profile, you have King's Shield to stall out for healing turns, and also as means of stalling out opponent's Stat boosts. Lastly, to help with the tiny healing, it is immune to various means of passive damage - Immune to Sandstorm, both forms of Poison and Water Veil prevents it from being Burned. Given its large stats and good defensive typing, alongside stalling turns with King's shield, you could even give Rest a try. Croconaw also gives it some interesting tools such as seismic Toss, Swords Dance, Curse and Aqua Jet.
Feraligatr's main weakness is the meta having some really good and popular Pokémon that can break past its typing - Spectrosphere, Galvantula and Seismitoad are all examples of this. So while Feraligatr has a great defensive profile on its own, it cannot really be your only defensive backbone as it alone won't carry you through your matches.
Lore: Long ago, (Johtonian) Feraligatr were believed by the people of Hoenn to be the incarnation of a deity. As such, Feraligatr were often gifted rich metals as offerings. Over time, the species adapted said minerals into its own body, becoming the variant that is known today. The added weight from the metal makes Feraligatr too heavy to stand on two legs, so its stance has permanently shifted to being quadrupedal as a result. However, this added weight makes its jaw much more poweful, and the steel coating provides a defensive layer. As Feraligatr could no longer rush down its opponents, its new prefered way of fighting consists of taking a hit from its opponent and use this closed distance to its advantage. Despite the movement on land being more restricted, it can swim just as well as its Johtonian counterpart. Centuries of being trested like a deity have cause Feraligatr to see itself as royalty, and as such it is a hard species to train. This also results on Feraligatr being heavily territorial, gathering around in front of temples that Feraligatr believe to be dedicated to themselves.
Even though Feraligatr's variant has been a part of Hoenn for centuries, it has been a notably rare specimen. Tals have been passed down through generations about how people of ancient times often attempted to force Feraligatr to guard their own space and belongings, promptibg Feraligatr to leave Hoenn as they believed they were better than this place, moving to somewhere unknown. Like the rest of the starters, Totodile was brought to Hoenn as an attempt to correct old mistakes and bring the variant back to the region.
Inspirations: Much like the previous two starters, Feraligatr plays with the concept of the two driving forces of our established plot. More specifically, its mineral theme plays off of the Ironwilled. A big part of Feraligatr's inspirations come from Johtonian Feraligatr's own dex entries mentioning how it sometimes can't stand up propperly because of its own weight. Hoennian takes that up to 11 by mixing that with the Mineral concept. The signature is meant to be a parallel to the offering people gave it, as if it was recieving a healing offering every turn. Furthermore, Feraligatr's Japanese name means "Emperror Crocodile", which allowed me to combine the mineral concept with a certain gargoyle-like creature from Buddhism called Makara - Mythical creatures that were often considered guardians to thrones and entry ways to temples, as well as often being depicted as means of transportation for water deities. They are also the most commonly recurring creatures in Buddhist temple iconography. Makara is a Sanskrit word which means "Crocodile"
AquaticPanic
Albatross
MaskedFeraligatr