Ever since the Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass was revealed, many questions have plagued fans of Game Freak's flagship creature-collecting RPG franchise.
Some of those questions have pertained to the mysterious new appearances of Generation 1 Legendary Pokemon Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres. Reddit user Robbedob thinks they may have cracked the origins of Moltres in particular through a fan comic showing how the fiery bird (possibly) got its pink-and-black color scheme.
Much like the Regi family who will also receive new members in the upcoming DLC, Moltres has traveled all across the Pokemon world since its introduction in the late 90s. Various remakes of games in the Kanto and Johto Regions have seen the phoenix perched in the cavernous Victory Road and on Mt. Ember in the Sevii Islands. It has also been found roaming Sinnoh in Pokemon Platinum and the Sea Spirit's Den in Pokemon X and Y.
However, it was entirely absent from Sword and Shield before the Pokemon Direct on January 9 — and as of now it's still unknown what the new colorations for its trio will entail. Robbedob's comic posits that perhaps Moltres has been absent for this long because it was busy joining Team Yell; the conspicuously similar pink-and-black "evil team" of the Galar Region who turn out to just be huge fans of one of the player's rivals, Marnie.
It's hard to blame Moltres for being entranced. Marnie has been a fan favorite character since the games dropped last November thanks to her pastel punk aesthetic and tertiary plot exploring some of her insecurities. Seriously, there's a truckload of Marnie fan art all across the Internet.
Robbedob picking up on the color connection makes for an ingeniously simple concept with an execution that resonates. Since the comic was posted to the r/Animemes, r/PokemonSwordAndShield, and r/pokemon subreddits hours ago it has received a lot of love (including over 16,000 upvotes on r/pokemon as of this writing).
With the new areas for Sword and Shield's DLC based on the Isle of Man and Scotland, who knows whether Moltres (or Zapdos and Articuno for that matter) will have any connection to Team Yell.
But the potential option is certainly more appealing than if Moltres decided to follow a different rival. As Reddit user KenCannonMKXI said in one of the comic's top comments on the r/pokemon subreddit: "Imagine if it chose to root for Hop instead. It would have turned into a parrot and it's [sic] only move would be chatter."
While it's hilarious imagining a Legendary Pokemon themed after the Normal/Flying-type Chatot from Sinnoh, the suggestion alone speaks to a continual desire for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes as fans wait to see if the true origins of Galarian Moltres holds a candle to the fans' interpretation.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.