Lockstin calling Quaquaval “Blaziken’s bottom” literally made me do an actual spit take.

The community: "The new starter designs are lazy and uninspired" Lockstin: inhales*

It's worth noting that in addition to the theming of celebrations from former colonies, they're also all different types of performers (A magician/jester, a singer, and a dancer) and they also all have a floating accessory (the flower bomb, the fire bird, and the water feathers). Seriously incredible theming as a trio in my opinion, especially in contrast to the loose connections between the Galar starters

Scarlet's Pokdex entry for Quaxly actually states that it was originally from a distant land, and both of Quaquaval's entries mention its dances originating from far-off lands. If we ever get a region based on Brazil, I wouldn't be surprised if Quaquaval and/or the rest of its evolution line end up getting regional variants.

Fun Fact: crocodiles are closely related to birds, more so than to other reptiles. As birds are descended from theropod dinosaurs, all dinosaurs, birds, and crocodiles are classified as archosaurs

Brazillian representation and explanations about the cuca, carnaval, capoeira and everything else are so well articulated and without any flaws, I thank you so much for representing such a colorful nation with the most respect and optimism

I now appreciate Meowscarada much more than I ever thought I would. I already love cats, but a sneaky Spanish stage magician/jester cat is absolutely perfect.

As a Brazilian I fell glad for the representation in Quaquaval. Also worth mentioning Hitmontop (capoeira) and Whimsicott (this one being a little bit more stretchy reference in our folklore, the Saci Pererê). Hope we get a Brazilian region inspired eventually!

When it comes to Meowscarada, don't forget that Zorro was from Spanish / Mexican California. So all three lines originate from different Iberian colonial territories: California, Brazil, and Mexico.

These have been the most unique STARTERS of the Pokemon series. All 3 have such personalities! My personal favorite is the Fuecoco line. But, the Cat and the Duck have my respect.

What I appreciate about this channel is it allows for me to have a deeper appreciation for the Pokemon and Game Freak's work. It speaks to a love of humanity, history, nature, and art all in a format designed towards community and bringing people across cultures together.

I love how all the three starters have an element in their design that's detachable or disjointed from the main body. Meowscarada has the floating flower bomb, Skeledirge has his li'l bird pal and Quaquaval has his whole feather array. We don't have that often in Pokémon designs but they all really did it well and they're very cohesive as a trio. I think they may be my favorite starter set overall.

Really love how Meowscarada is a suave, mischievous cartoon villain, adds even more layers to my new favorite starter

As someone whose Brazilian, I just loved your work on quaquaval! Cheers from Brazil!!

I’ve got to admit, I love the thumbnail for this video. It looks like the trio are standing together like a team of three heroes. Entertaining the masses and fighting together as not just a trio of starter Pokémon, but a trio of friends. Anyone else feel the same way?

The Paldean Starters are indeed a solid set of Starters. It makes me want to have all three starters in my team.

You forgot to mention the connection between Skeledirge's name and it's signature move, Torch Song. A torch song being a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love. So it's singing dirge about a sad but passionately hot love that was not returned. And to to think our sweet innocent baby Fuecoco grew up to only to learn of love's cruel, cruel sting.

One awesome little detail that I love about Meowscarada is the potential reasoning why it probably has Protean as a hidden ability. You see, Meowscarada is indeed a stage magician but it also has a bit of a Jester theme. The Jester is usually a figure that represents the Fool arcana in the 78 Tarot Card deck. "The Fool" represents "new beginnings" but is also is described as an individual who doesn't know what to expect, fairly inexperienced, having beginners luck, and has very good improvisation. Basically, Meowscarada is the Joker card of pokémon, which I find super fun and creative (most persona fans probably see the correlation). But Meowscarada may not just be the fool arcana, but "The Magician" arcana as well, seeing as it is its title. The Magician Arcana is also a Tarot card that states "The message is to tap into one's full potential rather than holding back, especially when there is a need to transform something." I feel of the 3 protean starters, Meowscarada has the most creative take to justify an ability for a starter that I've ever seen. Also, Mari Shimazaki, the lead character designer for Bayonetta (and the person who designed Bayonetta herself) was the one who designed Meowscarada and Quaquaval. Looking at them, it makes much more sense now considering their personalities and flamboyant styles.

16:33 in Litten's defense, the Alolan starters are likely themed after endangered species (as Hawaiʻi is the endangered species capital of the world) that live in tropical climates: Rowlet is the Pueo (Hawaiian Short-Eared Owl) and Popplio is the Hawaiian Monk Seal, that much is obvious. As for Litten, itʻs likely based partially on the Iriomote Cat: a rare, dwindling species native to Iriomote Island, located just East of Taiwan, with a population of less than 110

Something else I noticed in Skeledirge's design, specifically it's shiny, is because I played Persona 3 recently. The social link of Akinari, the Sun arcana (fire), has a little story of a pink alligator being lonely and not finding friends nor prey because of its coloring. On one day however the alligator meets a little bird and it becomes it's first friend. However after a time the alligator became very hungry and ate his bird friend (ghost typing). After this the alligator was very sad and cried so much that he drowned in his tears, but his tears turned into a lake with beautiful and fruitful trees, that attracted the local animals, thus the alligator made others happy. The character Akinari dies at the end of the social link, making the ghost typing an even stronger fit. And Skeledirge's shiny coloring is pink. I know this might be farfetched (skledirge is a crocodile not an alligator and game freak wouldn't want to copy other Japanese company's work), but I like this as a head cannon for shiny Skeledirge.

As a Tusconan I. FLIPPIN'. LOVE. Skeledirge. He's *so* Spanish. And yes. I know, _I know_ that Dia De Los Muertos is a MEXICAN holiday. And a lot of my Spanish friends are pretty divided over if that should be repped in a Pokemon game that has a region based in Spain, not Mexico. But the way I look at it is this: Spain colonized Mexico. Dia De Los Muertos came about during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas to encourage Mexican nationalism through an "Aztec" identity. Not to mention similar traditions can be traced back to Medieval Europe, where celebrations like All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day are observed on the same days in places like Spain and Southern Europe. There's also the European traditions of Danse macabre and their allegories of life and death personified in the human skeleton to remind us the ephemeral nature of life. Skeledirge is a perfect combination then, of mixing cultures together, which is just brilliant when you take in Spain's history of colonization. It's not a PROUD part of their history sure, much like how America has its own dark past, but it IS part of history nonetheless, a history that if you look on the brighter side, allowed different traditions to spread across the globe. Now onto Skeledirge's name, it's just good stuff. Skele = skeleton and a dirge is a lament of the dead, which is a VERY Catholic/Christian thing vs Dia de Muertos which is very lively and colorful. Skeledirge's design is just TOP. NOTCH. The skull is very reminiscent of sugar skulls, and the flames on the corners of his jaw aren't flames, but MARIGOLDS. You do see the petals floating in the battle and idle animations. This Pokémon is just amazing, a big, hulking reptilian creature that just LOOKS like it could death roll you easy thanks to a couple of Torch Songs. Which, by the way, is FLIPPIN' BUSTED. It's. Straight. BUSTED. Also also speaking of Torch Song, I LOVE that it's based on crocodile/alligator bellows. Bellows that vibrate the water, and can be felt for MILES. God these animals are COOL. GOD I love this fcking reptile Pokémon.

As a duck owner I’m kinda sad you didn’t go into the Wood or Mandarin ducks in regards to Quaquaval, since their behavior is very much flamboyant and in character to the titular mon

The Paldean starters are some of my favorite batch of starters since Gen 3. I also think it’s important to note that “exploration” is not only a huge theme in Gen 9, but also the promotional material leading up to Gen 9 was “exploration” themed and so it makes perfect sense to have all 3 starters represent old Spanish/Portuguese colonies

This video made me respect Meowscarada even more, it was already perfect, but getting a cat who's a masked magician, who's also sneaky is incredible, i don't even care about it standing up on two legs, i just care about lore and backstory. I always wanted a Puss in Boots based fully evolved form for Sprigatito. There's also a fan art for Sprigatito's final form which highly resembles Puss in Boots even before Meowscarada was revealed and it is much, much cooler, but i still respect the current Meowscarada.

I gagged when he said Blaziken’s bottom when he referred to Quaquaval! 😂 While my favorite of the Paldea starters is Meowscarada, I love Quaquaval’s idle animation. Talk about fancy footwork!

I think it's kinda funny that Tsareena sees Quaquaval as its rival. Given its kicking prowess and its big bum, it makes sense, but it's rare fir an older Pokémon to have a new dex entry referencing a new _starter_ Pokémon, especially a fully evolved one. Not to mention how coincidental it is that this specifically is the case for one of my favorite Pokémon, too.

I was hesitant on quaquaval when I saw the leaks but I just loved quaxly so much so I picked him anyways, but man I love quaquaval now. He has the best personality of any starter and is so much fun to see battle, run around, and it’s just like he’s always trying to impress you. People don’t like how it looks like he has a big rump but I like that it actually keeps him looking bird like unlike blaziken

Somebody had fun editing the Quaqueval section.

10:52 So this is why Meowscarada knows "Chilling Water" as a TM Move. Neat.

Quaquaval took the "favorite starter" place in my heart, it completly annihilated Serperior, and seeing how much Brazilian this pokemon is makes me smile a lot, not often we get some good representation, usually we are just "spanish speakers" or the shadow of portugal, even tho we have A LOT MORE people and kinda some influence around the world also, there is a Brazilian person near you right now, be 1 km, 50 km, or right next door 👁👄👁 (no, really, there is Brazilians everywhere in the world, we are like a invasive species taking over, you can't escape from us)

I didn’t realize they were that deep with inspiration. I just saw the pattern as forms of entertainment. Meowscarada is acting Skeledirge is singing And quaquavel is dancing

Lockstin is the guy that makes you like a pokemon a lot more after watching any of his videos

I'm kinda surprised the secretary bird wasn't mention for quaquaval since there kicking technique and feet are simular to each other as well as it would explain the red coloring on quaquavals face.

Something I find odd about Skeledirge and Krookodile is that they’re exclusive to the mostly mammalian Field Egg group. Like it’d make a lot of sense to put them in Monster as well. Other than that I love Skeledirge and I’d love more quadrupedal fire starters. Would be down to see it get a regional variant

You won’t believe the huge smile on my face as a Paper Mario fan when I saw what my Floragato became.

I had already chosen Quaxly before seeing either of its evolutions, but soon as I saw Quaxwell and Quaquaval, the Quaxly line instantly surpassed the Oshawott line as my favorite starter line of all time. Everything about them is perfect, and I loved your deep dive on their design origins! I also have a special fondness for the Sprigatio line as well and I LOVE Floragato. It's really rivaling Raboot as my favorite middle stage starter.

I got excited after you mentioned Cipactli because I thought you were going to also mention how Cipactli was also the name of the first hour of the night, which is ruled by Xiuhtecuhtli, the Aztec god of fire and the personification of life after death. He wore a turquoise xiuhtototl bird on his forehead, the Xiuhcoatl fire serpent on his back, and owned fire serpent ear plugs. He had a paper crown on his head, painted with different colors and motifs. During his annual festival, quails were sacrificed to the idol, and his priests spent the day dancing and singing before their god. Also crocodilians release heat from their mouths. Also magician cats, also know as Matagot, were said to bring wealth but also prolong suffering if it has not been freed while you're dying. It is derived from the Spanish matagothos.

Other than the fact that the crocodile is in the aztec zodiac ( which is even more fitting of skeledirge with its other Latin American inspirations ) I think the ancient egyptian goddess Ammit is also worth mentioning for skeledirge since it's already based on the "symbiotic relationship" of the nile crocodile and egyptian plover, A diety with a crocodile's head, a lion's mane and front legs AND and a hippo's back legs, she was known as the devourer of the dead and fuecoco loves to eat, it also has hair like fire energy on it's head and skeledirge has those flames coming out of both sides of it head which kind of make it look like a mane! Aaanndd it's ghost bird also goes into its mouth except it doesn't devour it ( which i think would've been a cool detail if did eat it and it spawned on it's head again lol )

As a brazilian I really love Quaquaval, it brings out so much the culture here, often forgotten in so many games, but it also makes me a little worried because it may point aout that we will never receive a representation of a region in the pokemon world, but it's like we say here in Brazil "hope is the last thing to die" hehe. And great job on your investigation and video overall, i realy like your videos and this formate is great and suits the content veary well!!

I think meowscarada's line really is one of the best designs we've got in a while, sure I was hoping it wouldn't be bipedal, but it just works for it's concept more than a quadrupedal look.

I loved doing the lore dive on meowscarada with New Orleans. Couldn’t help but make the connection between voodoo and the dark type, magic and all that. These starters were incredible this Gen. Thank you L&G and thank you game freak.

Hot take I believe every starter should be in every pokemon game going forward, I feel they help represent all the older games.

You should make just the Quaquaval cry part a separate video so people can loop it for hours on end if they want xD Plus it deserves its own video. It's a gem 💎

Finally someone else sees Quaquaval for it's gloriously flamboyant majesty!!!

“LOOK AT THOSE FEET!” And I bust out laughing, spooked all my dogs. Great work as always Lockstin. I really like this longer form vid.

Fun fact! The crocodile is in its own zodiac. Specifically the Persian and Old Mongul Zodiac where it replaces the Dragon

As an illustrator and someone who is working on their own Pokémon fan region/story and ideally game. I love these longer videos which work great as background noise and keep me in the right head space to design Pokémon 😁

This makes me appreciate the other two lines so much more And the mewoscarada line even got some extra points too

This trio is so great. I fell in love with the first stages immediately, and the last stages are great too (even though they had to grow on me).

Meowscrarada might be based on some theater elements, hence the spot light, and the trope is also quite common in theater things I believe, great video lockstin.! And the yoyo also looks like a rapier when you pause it, like in the pokedex. And the mask i just realized is very theater-esk

Could the bird on Skeledriege's head also be based on a phoenix? Being based on death, rebirth and fire. Just a thought.

Quaxly was initially my least of the three Paldea starters - but no joke, after this video, I have some MAJOR appreciation and hype for the Quaquaval line! This is a fantastic an insanely detailed video, I can't wait to watch more!

God I am so thankful you gave my boy Quaquaval so much love. He’s so my favorite and I was not not at all disappointed at the evolution surprise. 200,000,000/10 deep dive.

Note that the Firebird on top of Skeledirge also stems back to the story of the Cuca, where it resurrects its Soul into a Songbird to continue singing its Somber Songs...

The only S-tier thing to come out of Pokémon is the caliber of work this channel makes. Seriously, the amount of research is an obvious factor but the script and editing is the true star. Brilliant work! Edit: Also, this video backed up my realization that Quaquaval might be the best starter. Yesterday I used it for the first time (I started with Sprigatito) and I was in awe watching it spiral out of control with Aqua Step and Moxie.

This video really made me appreciate the starters a lot more than I already have, and that's saying something because I already loved all the starters. I choose Quaxly and I absolutely ADORED Quaquaval, especially how it always seemed to dance to the music every time it was in a battle, so seeing all the tidbits that could have potentially gone into its design and origins is just so much fun to learn about. Seriously, I never really considered the storyline of the Quaxly line being a sort of narrative of "finding your passion", with Quaxwell being a teen dancer trying so hard to "fit in" and follow strict forms and routines, compared to Quaquaval which has learned that dance is a form of self-expression and that you can really just do whatever the hell you want. It's pretty inspiring.

the quaquaval cry samba bit had me cackling the entire time, i love this bird

I’m surprised that you mentioned Meowscarada’s connection to New Orlean’s Mardi Gras, but you didn’t mention how the city was also famous for witch doctors and hoodoo practitioners

Quaquaval has been my starter since quaxly, i loved it even more when i saw that beautiful final evolution, just perfect

thank you for giving the quaquaval the love he deserves 💙

Here in Brazil, we have a lullaby about Cuca, one of the scary stories for kids on that Fuecoco’s line is based. Interestingly, he is a ghost singer since the lullaby is about a kid who's sleeping alone at home and needs to sleep asap because Cuca is approaching to capture him. It is mostly sung to kinds who sleep late and is used to teach them a lesson that if they don't sleep at the right time, Cuca will come and there's nothing they can do it because their parents aren't at home.

0:58 I will forever refer to Quaquaval as Blazikens Bottom, thank you Lockstin

Another fact to reinforce the bird-crocodile connection : some crocodiles actually lay their eggs near nest of sand-nesting bird, and both protect nests without attacking each others.

39:13 Oooh. I knew there was a reason I loved that flip kick.

One funny thing I want to bring up is the idea that we TECHNICALLY got two bird starter Pokémon in the same generation. Quaquaval and Skeledirge's fire birb friend, though to be frank, I can see the latter being able to be its own Pokémon eventually. Perhaps that Pokémon would have lost its partner Skeledirge or had some unfortunate falling out, with it, it wonders on its own, and eventually be capable of evolving into its own thing. Hell, even have the final evolution of the little birb be either friendly or rather hostile rivalries with other Skeledirges that still have their bird friend.

With this deep dive I love Quaquaval even more!! 🌊🌊🌊

Part of why I never touched these games was because I couldn’t choose between these three. My cultural heritage quite literally lies in the Sprigatito line, as someone from New Orleans. Hell, look at my username. But for Quaxly, I am a water type loyalist and haven’t picked any starter that wasn’t water for my first playthroughs since I got my first pokemon game in gen 4. But Fuecoco is adorable and I love the way that design came together. Also I am happy we have a quadrupedal starter again. I could never choose one of them… All three are amazing.

"Ducks' feathers are extremely hydrophobic, which means they don't like water getting married!" XD

Out of all the starters, Skeledirge is my favorite, and I can't wait for other Pokemon that were revealed recently with Walking Wake and Terapagos looking more awesome!

I realize that the 3 starters of paldea are based on performers Meowscarada is a magician,Skeledirge is a singer and Quaquaval is a dancer

Quaxswell is wearing lil birdie shoes, i love it 😆

I love Quaquaval and that entire segment for it was just perfect 😂😂

I love how skeledirge goes all like whaaaaaa it’s epic

Yes, please more long-form videos like this! I'm happy to learn as much as possible about the delightfully deep inspirations behind so many Pokemon designs, it lets me learn new things while getting to appreciate characters from one of my favorite franchises in a whole new light!

For one I absolutely love the longer videos, just as much as I love all 3 starters being a reference to different festivals

0:59 that fricken killed me 28:16 minor detail but i've never heard anyone mention it before; Crocalor's sombrero hat-bird's nest ALSO looks A LOT like a lil campfire! dunno how that'd be thematically relevant other than "it's fire", but i think it's a neat and fun way to tie the hat and nest with the Fire-type and stuff :))) also yes, i love the new format with the "being deep and long up in my skull" :D))

meowscrada is like such a good pokemon I adore them

The amount of research this guy had to do must be enormous, amazing content

8:30-8:43 Kind of reminds me of how the group of thieves ZIdane Tribal was a part of in FFIX were under the guise of a theater troupe. Part of their MO was using their performances as a distraction and Zidane fancied himself a dashing rouge, even though he really wasn't.

I love this video and the deep dives, and I love that you gave Quaquaval so much love! I'm definitely getting its plush once it's made!

A starter deep dive? Yes, please! *Grabs some blueberries for a snack.*

These starters were so much deeper than I ever thought. Wow.

As a Portuguese I was hoping that Quaxly would be mostly a sailor or conquistador I'm bit sad we don't have a boat pokemon or a pirate pokemon... But I think every pokemon in this Gen are amazing and have good inspirations... Hoping they add seafaring pokemon with the dlc to fill my hopes of that era... Keep the awesome work and a hug to our brothers from Spain and Brazil

The mugger croc might have been a mild inspiration for the head accessories on the Fuecoco line. The mugger croc has been observed resting sticks atop their head in order to attract a bird looking for nest material, which it then eats.

Honestly, I love this trio more than I have loved starter trios in a good while. Meowscarada is elegant and mischievous, Skeledirge has incredible stage presence, and Quaquaval.

I love Meowscarada even more now!

Fennec foxes in Kalos may actually be referencing the French colonial possession of Algeria, a colony many Frenchmen argued were a core part of France during decolonisation. Fennec foxes not only being native to Algeria but also their national animal.

37:03 Love it!!! The obsession with Quaquaval begins!!! I personally love this pokemon. I chose Sprigattito for my starter but the instant I could get a Quaxly I did!

I LOVED this video! I love the Fuecoco line so much. When I first saw Skelidirge I was a little iffy on it, considering how in love I was with Fuecoco, but after learning about some of its origins I instantly fell in love with it as well. So I appreciate how in-depth you went with it. One thing that I love about Pokémon is how it helps people learn about different cultures and these videos of course help with that a lot as well.

Another thing that connects Quaquaval to capoeira is its idle animation in battle! It’s an 1 to 1 of the Ginga step, which is like the “basic stance” of capoeira. Bonus points in that when performing it, Quaquaval dances to the background music XD

The fuecoco line was already my favorite of the three but knowing all this inspiration makes me like it so much more

36:56 … On Quaquaval … & its cry “something’s really wrong with me” 😳

When we first saw it my Dad thought Skeledirge was a clown with the bird being the red nose.

Quaquaval is my favorite mostly because I prefer water over the other types, nice to have a water bird that’s not flying type, also I always wanted a Pokémon with peacock inspirations Meowscarde my second for competitive reasons and the VR clips Skeledirge I still like but I would prefer the shiny color over the base.

I nicknamed my Skeledirge starter “Carmen”-after the French Opera based in Spain. Plus the Habanera that is sung mentions “love is like a rebel bird”. So the opera reference sprang to mind as soon as I saw the design and description of Skeledirge when it was first announced.

Two other thing for the Quaxly line. The Qua could also be a reference to a "quiff", a kind of hairstyle popular in the 1950's. And Quaxwell's sports like outfit could also be a reference to leotards many dancers wear.

0:58 best line

OMG I had been waiting for the lore of the starters and to have them in a single 50 min video? Just perfection!! Personally i do enjoy longer videos since I usually have KZfaq or podcasts on the background when I work. I absolutely love how well documented this is and how deep the design for all three starters go! It makes me appreciate them more, because I wont lie, I didn't like some of the Gen9 designs at first, but after seeing so many of your videos, I've come to look beyond the drawing and try to appreciate the design and potential lore behind each one of them. Thank you!

i absolutely loved this longer, in depth explanation format!!

I absolutely loved the depth of this video. I always learn so much knowledge from your content. Even when it may or may not be completely linked to a Pokemon, your insight and imagination play a massive role in making your Pokemon Lore videos so great. Keep up the amazing job!