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Pokemon Sun And Moon Starter Evolutions Leaked From Pokemon’s Official Site!

By Dustin Kemp
Published on: 18:50 PST, May 15, 2016

It has recently been discovered by a very tech-savvy Reddit user named TheLagoon22 that the Japanese official site of Pokemon contains code that very probably reveal the types of the final evolutions to the starter Pokemon of Pokemon Sun and Moon.

For those not familiar with website design, the images that appear on a site are put into the site’s code and associated with lines of text. For example, the icon reading “grass” that appears under the image of Rowlet, the grass type starter, on the Japanese Pokemon site is coded as “http://www.pokemon.co.jp/ex/sun_moon/pokemon/images/icon01.png.” That unruly line of text is tied to the icon for “grass.” When the page is being coded, the icon’s longer name is used, and the small icon is what appears in the finished product.

See where the longer name for the grass type icon contains the text “icon1?” Well, the longer text for Rowlet’s second type, flying, is the same as the first line of text, except it contains “icon2” instead of “icon1.”

After “icon2” is where it starts to get interesting. One would think the next icon, “icon 3,” would correspond to the typing of the next starter, the fire type Pokemon Litten. However, the “fire” icon corresponds with icon4. Icon3 is actually tied to an icon that reads “ground.”

Icon5 leads to an icon for the water typing of the third starter Pokemon, Popplio, as one might expect, but icon6 ties to an icon for fighting type.

“Why?” one might ask. Does this mean Rowlet’s final evolution will be a grass and flying type Pokemon, Litten’s final evolution will be a fire and ground type, and Popplio’s final form will be water and fighting?

Possibly. The typings could also refer to the starter Pokemon’s middle stages. There is even a small chance they could be duds, either purposefully or accidentally thrown in there by the Pokemon site creators, maybe as simple mistakes or maybe as ploys meant to throw us off.

A third theory is that the unused Pokemon type icons in the site’s code will be assigned to completely separate Sun and Moon Pokemon that are to be announced and added to the site in the future. But the appearance of only six typings, two for each starter, seems too perfect not to be meant for the starter Pokemon.

Another possibility that has been discussed is that the order of the icons the types are associated with is intentionally misleading, and the Pokemon types found will actually be scrambled up to form the actual final evolution types. For example, according to the theory, Rowlet’s final evolution could be a grass/ground type Pokemon, Litten’s a fire/fighting Pokemon, and Popplio’s a water/flying type.

In any case, the few sources on the internet that have covered this leak, which include the original Redditor TheLagoon22 as well as Pokemon-themed Youtube content creators TyranitarTube, Pdwinnall, and Giancarloparimango11, are going with the theory of placing the final evolution typings in the order they were shown in the code, so let’s discuss what it could mean for the three Pokemon’s evolution lines.

Rowlet’s final evolution typing is the least surprising of the three, as his basic form, the one revealed in the Pokemon Sun and Moon trailer dropped on May 10, is already grass/flying. That portion of the leak does little more than disprove the theory proposed by some that Rowlet, whose Japanese name suggests a dark owl, would gain the dark type later in its evolutionary line.

Litten’s final evolution typing, fire and ground, has already been accused of making it too weak. Pokemon aficionados will recognize that a fire/ground type Pokemon is four times weak to water, a very common attack type. That fact that has rendered some Pokemon with that same typing, such as Mega Camerupt, virtually useless in competitive play. Others point out, though, that there are some Pokemon, such as Groudon, that are fire/ground type and very usable, as an ability that weakens water (such as Groudon’s Drought or Mega Groudon’s desolate land) can negate the typing’s flaw. In addition, some add, fire/ground is an extremely effective offensive typing, and it could make Litten’s final evolution a great sweeper Pokemon.

Popplio’s final evolution typing, water and fighting, disappointed many Pokemon fans who hoped Popplio’s ultimate form would be a water/fairy Pokemon. Fairy, after all, is a fan favorite typing due to the fact it has only been around for one generation of the Pokemon main series video games. Others argue that water/fighting is both a strong and interesting typing. It suggests that the eldest member of Popplio’s Pokemon family will be a mixed attacker (fighting moves are generally physical and water moves are usually special) rather than just a special attacker, as a water/fairy Pokemon would most likely be. Also, Pokemon has only ever seen two water/fighting monsters, Poliwrath and Keldeo, and they have both managed to do a lot with the typing, so another one will be welcome.

Pokemon Youtuber TyranitarTube notes that the fact Popplio will gain fighting type probably means its later forms will take on more of a tough, hardcore appearance than earlier fan art based on the idea that Popplio might become a water/fairy Pokemon may have suggested, which just shows that the Pokemon company always know how to keep us guessing.

Do you have any ideas about the starter Pokemon typings or the Pokemon website leaks that are not expressed in this article? Are you happy about or disappointed by the probable starter Pokemon evolution typings? Make yourself heard in the comments section!

[Photo by Koji Sasahara/AP Images]

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