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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are finally here, and while early reviews for the game were not all favorable due to some performance issues, fans are enjoying Gen 9 games for their incredible open-world setting and the many interesting new pocket monsters. One of the hardest choices for many trainers is always which starter to pick, and Gen 9 made that particularly challenging because The Pokemon Company didn't reveal the starters' middle-stage or final evolutions beforehand. However, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet starter evolutions leaked online several days ago, and those may have helped players on the fence decide based on the looks of the new critters or things like their type combinations and moves.
Sprigatito has been a fan-favorite since it was first revealed in February of this year, and while it doesn't remain a quadrupedal critter when it evolves, unlike what fans had hoped for in the beginning, both Floragato and Meowscarada don't disappoint in terms of design and themes. They are one of the most consistent evolution lines in the game in terms of aesthetic, but there's a lot more to Sprigatito and its evolutions that make it a great Pokemon. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Sprigatito final evolution ends up having multiple advantages over the other two starters, making it arguably the strongest of the bunch.
Why Sprigatito's Type Advantages Make it a Great Starter
The first factor to consider is that Meowscarada is a Grass and Dark hybrid, which is admittedly not the greatest type combination in terms of defenses, but it does have its pros, especially against the other starters. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Fuecoco final evolution is called Skeledirge, and it is a Fire/Ghost pocket monster, meaning that it has both a type advantage and one weakness against Meowscarada, as Fire is supereffective against Grass, but Dark is supereffective against Ghost. This is not uncommon in type trifectas throughout the series, and it follows a similar pattern to Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
The same holds true for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Quaxly evolution, called Quaquaval, which is a Water/Fighting critter, with Grass being supereffective against Water and Fighting being supereffective against Dark. However, Meowscarada is the only starter to have a supereffective type against both the remaining ones, as Skeledirge is actually immune to Quaquaval's Fighting moves, but it's not supereffective against it. On top of that, Sprigatito's Hidden Ability is Protean, which has been nerfed, but it still remains a very powerful tool in a game where Terastallization exists and allows one to change any Pokemon's types.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Meowscarada is Faster Than Skeledirge and Quaquaval
What may be Sprigatito's selling point, however, is the fact that it is by far the fastest of the bunch, with Skeledirge being the slowest and Ququqaval being somewhere in the middle. Still, Speed is a very important factor in Pokemon battles, and Meowscarada can make great use of it thanks to its utility moves as well as its signature move, Flower Trick, which never misses and is guaranteed to land a critical hit. Because Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's battles move away from Pokemon Legends: Arceus' style, Speed remains a dominant stat in many scenarios.
Because Meowscarada is faster than the other starter evolutions, and it has a type advantage against each of them, with the right build it could very well end up beating Skeledirge and Quaquaval in a single hit. This is a similar situation to Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's starters, as well as the base Gen 4 games, where each of them can potentially one-shot the others, but Infernape outspeeds both Empoleon and Torterra. As such, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Meowscarada may very well be the best starter evolution in the game by a mile.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.