Nintendo and Pokémon are usually very good at keeping tight-lipped about their projects, and many leaks tend to be fake as a result. Still, it gets people talking about the next generation of Pokémon, Gen 10, hoping that something big is coming, given that the last two generations have been a little disappointing. With Legends: Z-A around the corner, it seems there will be somewhat of a wait until anything Gen 10 is officially revealed, but a specific rumor surfacing could build speculation about what the generation will be.

Pokémon generations are defined by a few things, namely the location the area is based on and the new Pokémon that inhabit said area. Of course, familiar Pokémon like Charmander and Pikachu are going to make an appearance of some sort, but a good way to see how iconic a generation will be is to look at their starters. Unfortunately, for these specific rumors, the starters seem like pretty horrible ideas, so much so that I'm glad that they're most likely fake. Still, it does present a problem that Gen 10 will face when it launches.

Pokémon Gen 10 Starter Leaks Probably Aren't Legit

Pokémon Has A History Of Leaks Being Fake

Game Freak runs a tight ship when it comes to leaks, and although they are getting harder to avoid (just look at all the leaks Marvel Rivals has suffered), not a lot tends to appear online. Hidden Power Podcast posted on X about an alleged leak, detailing the names of the games, their rough geography, their gimmicks, and their starters. Again, given Pokémon's history with leaks, none of this information is probably legit, although Hidden Power Podcast is a frequent poster of Pokémon news. There's a slim chance some of the information is based on truth.

Gen 10 games will allegedly be called Pokémon Tides and Gales, with the region being made up of 16 main islands and 150 plus mini ones. These numbers seem far too high for a Pokémon game, although the region being separated into many small islands does sound somewhat similar to the Alola Region of Gen 7 and could possibly point to the game being based on a famous archipelago. Perhaps something like the Caribbean will inspire Gen 10 games if there is any truth at all to these rumors, even if the sheer number of islands sounds too large.

The Alola region is heavily inspired by Hawaii, with Game Freak staff visiting the islands to conduct research.

The apparent gimmick will revolve around Gigaxis Pokémon, island guardians that Pokémon can swear loyalty to in order to later change their appearance and type. There would be one on each of the main sixteen islands, although having a type-changing feature seems to contradict the idea of Gen 10 adding a ground-type Charmander, which is also part of the leak. These features seem somewhat intriguing, and I wouldn't be opposed to a Pokémon game on this scale; however, something I cannot get behind are the proposed starters, which seem like repeats of existing Pokémon and lack creativity.

Even If The Leaks Were True, Gen 10 Starters Would Be Disappointing

We Have Enough Water Octopus Pokémon

The leak proposes that the starters are Embaah, a fire goat, Octopop, a water octopus, and Mosshell, a grass snail. I will it I chuckled at Embaah's name, but these starters don't exactly inspire confidence, and I'm glad that they likely aren't true. A large problem with the starters is how similar they are to many pre-existing Pokémon, particularly Mosshell and Octopop. Gen 9 added the Treasures of Ruin, one of which is Wo-Chien, a Dark and Grass snail Pokémon, so it would be odd if back-to-back generations added a grass snail, especially because Wo-Chien isn't popular.

The Treasures of Ruin are a quartet of legendary Pokémon inspired by Chinese culture and history.

Octopop would practically be part of a specific category of Pokémon, given how many octopus Pokémon there are. Gen 8 added Clobbopus and its evolved form, a fighting octopus, and then there are the three Water-type Pokémon already in the games. There is Tentacool and the evolved Tentacruel, which are also Poison-types, and Octillery, a pure Water-type octopus. Octopop wouldn't be anything new, and the idea would be stronger if it was made into a different type, similar to the Nu Udra from Monster Hunter Wilds, but this has been a growing problem with Pokémon starters.

There is already a goat Pokémon line (Skiddo and Gogoat) and if the Embaah is literally just a fire goat, it doesn't seem like it will offer anything too different from Ponyta and Rapidash, which are essentially just fire horses. None of these ideas seem particularly strong, and although this probably applies to many starters, it does feel like the starters are becoming less iconic and beloved as time goes on. These particular ideas just feel uninspiring, especially in Octpop and Mosshell's case, given that Pokémon based on those animals with those types already exist.

Gen 10 Starters Need To Be Something We Haven't Seen Before

Game Freak Needs To Buck The Trend Of Lackluster Starters

At least in the West, reception of Pokémon games has been declining as the entries go on, and while this isn't solely because of the starters, they certainly don't help. It feels like Pokémon fans aren't taking to the starters in the same way they used to, and this might be because of their designs. In my opinion, Gen 9 suffered from some reasonably boring starter ideas. A Water-type duck Pokémon (Ducklett) already existed before Quaxly, and there isn't too much a design team can do with a water duck creature.

Sprigatito just looks like a cat without much plant life going on and Fuecoco is cute, but isn't too iconic. These designs are fine, but just a bit boring, and Gen 10 needs these starters to be iconic. Pokémon games are always going to print money no matter how good they are because of the IP, but improving people's opinion of the games is important to keeping the gaming side of the IP healthy. Gen 10 needs to come in with a bang, and giving players creative designs that haven't been seen before is a way to help that.

Thankfully, the leaks most likely aren't true. It seems like there are too many islands, a ground-type Charmander seems ridiculous, and Pokémon's history with leaks indicates that this is nothing but fake news. Although there are some interesting ideas in the leak, the three starters proposed aren't going to live up to the iconic trios of the early generations. Everyone will just move on from them and might not have the attachment they had with the starters from earlier generations, and this is something that needs to change.

Source: HiddenPowerPodcast/X