UPDATE: The artist for the second rumor has come out to say it's a fake. The original story follows.
There is no official information on the upcoming Pokémon title for Nintendo Switch but rumors regarding the Gen 8 titles are coming in faster than fans expected. Two new rumors center around the supposed starting Pokémon of Gen 8, and their designs are vastly different from one another.
“NEW” RIDDLER RUMOR
The first Gen 8 starter rumor comes from a Japanese forum by way of PokeJungle . The anonymous poster claims to have insider knowledge of the upcoming Pokémon games and shared hints or riddles in the same vein as the Chinese Riddler for Pokémon Sun and Moon. This is NOT the same person; however the following images hint at specific designs for the starter Pokémon of Gen 8.
The first image is of the main protagonist of DragonQuest VIII but there doesn’t seem to be any discernible design choices you’d expect for one of the starter Pokémon. PokeJungle points out the mouse on the character’s shoulder while users of the site point out that the protagonist is a descendant of dragons.
The second image is of a labyrinth, often associated with the minotaur in ancient Greek mythology. A connection between the Fire-type starters and the Chinese Zodiac has fans predicting this may be the Ox Fire-type that has yet to be made into a Pokémon.
Finally, the third image shows a picture of Sha Wujing, a character from the classic tale A Journey to the West. This character is referred to as the “water buffalo” because of his stubborn nature, and because of this the image has been pegged as the Water-type starter.
MORE “CONFIDENTIAL” ART
The second rumor comes from some new art with the now famous “confidential” markings on them. PokeJungle , again, has the supposed image of the three starter Pokémon. This is similar to when some artwork appeared on Twitter showing a Fire Horse, Grass Bear and Water Coral Pokémon; however, the Japanese on those were not grammatically correct but in these new images it is.
The Grass-type starter looks like a lemur while the Fire-type is of a rabbit, which goes along with the whole Chinese Zodiac motif those starters seem to follow. The Water-type starter is of a platypus Pokémon, and in the corner, there’s a sketch of the Pokémon using its tail to smack a person who has a hat that looks very similar to Ash’s hat from the anime.
So what is your take on these new rumors? If they are real, which would you prefer to start your Gen 8 journey with? Let us know in the comments section below.
