Though Pokemon Scarlet and Violet grabbed fans' attention when it announced Sprigatito as the Grass type in the starter trio, many have since been won over by this floral feline. Despite Game Freak seemingly revisiting concepts for inspiration for each generation's starters, as had been pointed out between Chimchar and Grookey, fans were open to the idea of another cat-based starter line as they contrasted Sprigatito to Gen 7's Litten. This optimism was likely due to Incineroar quickly becoming a fan favorite, ultimately setting a high bar for Sprigatito.

So now that Meowscarada has finally been revealed and is joining the Grass starter family, fans are already comparing the latest addition to all those that came before it. Whether it's talk about the reintroduction of dual-type starters, the first of its kind to be a Dark-type, or that it's another bipedal like the last three before it, the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Grass starter evolution is a distinct newcomer to the lineup. Seemingly inspired by the European embrace of masquerade balls both for its design and namesake, Meowscarada could become the next fan-favorite among all the other Grass types.

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Venusaur

Pokemon VGC Tanks Venusaur

Comparing any of the starters to the originals from Gen 1 can get a little hot under the collar for any Pokemon fan, but Venusaur was among the first to set the standard for dual-type final evolutions and the first not to be bipedal. Still, while Venusaur has received a variety of facelifts over the years, from Mega evolutions to Gigantamax forms alongside Blastoise and Charizard, Meowscarada has its charm and character baked in from the start. Leaning into its masquerade inspiration, Meowscarada embodies its Dark-type as much as Venusaur might allude to its Poison-type.

Meganium

Pokemon Meganium in battle

The second of the Grass starters to be introduced and another quadruped like Venusaur, Meganium not only missed out on Mega evolution, but drops the dual-types along with all the other Gen 2 evolution lines. With little else, Meowscarada has a slight edge on Meganium comparatively in terms of type diversity, but the two share a floral design, from visual looks with a flower collar to a moveset that takes advantage of the flower-like attributes. While Meganium's Pokedex entries point to it being a calming Pokemon, Meowscarada goes in the opposite direction and is characterized as much more antagonistic and deceptive.

Sceptile

Sceptile

Much like Meganium, Sceptile becomes the third Grass starter that drops the dual-type standard, which is unusual given the other Gen 3 starters all becoming dual-types. While this was later "fixed" with Sceptile being given a Mega evolution that gave it the Dragon-type, Meowscarada has the same edge on Sceptile as it did on Meganium. But unlike those before it, Sceptile demonstrated that Grass starters could also stand on their own two feet. Given that Gen 3 and its starters continue to be among the most well-liked of generations, it will remain to be seen if Meowscarada's design will favor it as Sceptile's has.

Torterra

Torterra

As if in a return to form Torterra, like Venusaur and Meganium, not only joined the Grass starter family as a quadruped, but it alongside other Gen 4 starters galvanized the dual-type final stage leading it to become a staple of the Pokemon series. Gen 4 also marks the beginning of when starters began to incorporate gimmicks into their designs, proven by Meowscarada and Torterra being the Magician and Continent Pokemon respectively. However, while it may be difficult to compare their design influences, Meowscarada suffers from more type weaknesses than Torterra does, which could set it back competitively.

RELATED: How Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Sprigatito Stacks Up Against Past Grass Starters

Serperior

Serperior as it appears in the Pokemon Black and White anime

A great deal of thought went into the development of Gen 5, and as a result, each of the starters for this generation has been carefully designed. As stated by Ken Sugimori, Serperior represents Western culture, drawing inspiration from plenty of European sources. In this sense, Serperior and Meowscarada might actually be the most closely related despite Serperior's solo Grass-type, as they both take influence from a similar era of history. With the Gen 5 remakes all but confirmed following Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Black and White fans could be spending more time with Serperior soon.

Chesnaught

chesnaught pokemon anime

In contrast to Chesnaught, Meowscarada appears to be the exact opposite. Not only does Chesnaught have the type advantage of Fighting against Meowscarada's Dark type, but it appears the two differ in styles of attack. Moreover, while Chesnaught focuses on physical stats, Meowscarada has high attack and special attack, making it a less defensive Pokemon. It's even more interesting when considering that the Paldea region is based on Spain, while Gen 6's Kalos region is based on France, making these two starters very close cousins geographically. As fans anticipate DLC for Scarlet and Violet eventually, perhaps this might factor into the two starters' development in Gen 9.

Decidueye

Decidueye from the anime

Unlike Chesnaught, however, Decidueye and Meowscarada appear to be cut from the same cloth given how the Ghost and Dark types are so closely associated more often than not. But while Meowscarada's Dark typing makes it an effective opponent against Decidueye's Ghost type, it still leaves Meowscarada with more type weaknesses, so it's the players' choice which they might prefer. It becomes more complicated when considering Deicdueye's Hisuian form which, like Chesnaught, is Grass/Fighting and would be more formidable. But despite Gen 9's Paradox Pokemon and their ancient forms, Hisuian Pokemon don't naturally appear in Scarlet and Violet.

Rillaboom

Rillaboom from the anime

As the generation that has just gone, Rillaboom is probably going to get compared most to Meowscarada as players move from Sword and Shield to Scarlet and Violet. In particular, Gen 9 has returned to having its final stage starters become dual-types, something which Gen 8's starters diverged from despite some obvious opportunities for Ghost or Dark typings. The Grass/Dark typing could be making amends for Rillaboom's missed potential, but what it does have over Meowscarada is its Gigantamax form which gave it some prestige. However, this was only added in the DLC, so there could be more in store for Meowscarada yet.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Nintendo Switch.

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