After the release of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and considering that there is currently no information regarding Pokemon Generation 9 games, the next big hit for the series is going to be Pokemon Legends: Arceus. The game will explore the Sinnoh region in the past, back when it was known as Hisui, and players will be the first Trainers to ever work on a Pokedex and gather information about Pokemon in the region by directly interacting with them - or being knocked out trying. Pokemon Legends: Arceus will also feature a range selection of starters, considering it's going to be Cyndaquil, Oshawott, and Rowlet.
None of these Pokemon are actually available in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, with Cyndaquil being the only one of them to be featured in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, instead. This always made players wonder what could have happened to these critters in between games, and Pokemon Legends: Arceus might explain that by introducing new lore and new Hisuian evolutions for them. In fact, there have been numerous clues and leaks regarding the trio's possible evolutions in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and one of the biggest hints was provided by the game's trailer themselves, which never show any of the starters evolved.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Hisuian Starter Evolutions
A source that's considered reliable by now within the Pokemon community is "The Riddler", also known as Riddler_Khu on Twitter, and they correctly predicted a lot of what came to modern Pokemon games. Recent riddles about Pokemon Legends: Arceus question what types of Hisuian evolutions for the game's starters could be, leading with Typhlosion being Fire/Ghost, Samurott being Water/Dark, and Decidueye being Grass/Fighting. These are all based on the riddles and the leaks that come thus far, and while it's not guaranteed that they are going to be in the game, there are a lot of leads that make it at least credible.
Besides the reasoning behind each of the 12 riddles shared with the community, one of the most convincing bits about the types for Typhlosion, Samurott, and Decidueye is the fact that there's been an ongoing trend for starters to have double the advantage over the types of other starters. An example comes from Pokemon X and Y, with the three starters growing to be Fire/Psychic, Water/Dark, and Grass/Fighting, which is oddly similar to the situation for Hisuian starters. Fire is strong against Grass, and Psychic is strong against Fighting, whereas Grass is strong against Water, and Fighting is strong against Dark, and so on.
The exception with Hisuian starters is that Typhlosion is rumored to be Fire/Ghost, which would sort of break the cycle with Ghost-Type moves not being supereffective against Fighting Pokemon. However, Fighting-Type moves have no effect against Ghost Pokemon, which makes sense and makes it work in a different way. To add credibility to the leaks and the riddles, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl include a teaser for Pokemon Legends: Arceus about Qwilfish.
In fact, there is a new book in Canalave City's library in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, which talks about an ancient Qwilfish with huge spikes - which the version of Qwilfish currently available in the games lacks. There is an image of a spikey cactus among the riddles, and many players guessed it was about Qwilfish even before the release of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. As such, there is a strong chance that Pokemon Legends: Arceus' starters will have Hisuian forms with the aforementioned types, albeit fans should still wait for an official confirmation in the coming weeks, considering the game is going to launch in less than two months.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus will release for Nintendo Switch on January 28, 2022.
